Language Appropriation

by Emily Hacala

Language appropriation, as defined by Jane Hill in her article "Linguistic Appropriation: The History of White Racism is Embedded in American English," is a type of complex cultural borrowing that involves a dominant group's "theft" of aspects of a target group's language. Hill argues that this process, especially when a dominant White group "borrows" from less prominent racial groups such as African Americans, Native Americans, or US Spanish-speakers, will "add value to an 'American' identity - one that is prototypically White... at the same time, the project of appropriation denigrates and marginalizes members of donor groups" (Hill p.160-161). Linguistic appropriation allows the dominant group to control the language of the target group in a variety of different ways: from changing word meanings entirely to associating certain words or phrases with cultural phenomena such as being "cool." Furthermore, linguistic appropriation can indirectly perpetuate racial stereotypes by allowing the dominant group to claim features and qualities that will then define the target group, such as "hypermasculinity" or "coolness" from African American culture or "hypersexuality" from Spanish.

These racial stereotypes can often have a very negative effect on the group being targeted. Over time, linguistic features may become inextricably linked as a part of the inherent nature of the racialized group. Hill notes that, "these stereotypes of African American males mean that the extraordinary rates of violence in African American communities and the incarceration of a very high percentage of African American men are considered by many Whites as merely consequences of their essential nature" (Hill p.169). Problems within a racialized neighborhood or group can then be attributed simply to "essential nature" and as a result can lessen efforts made to remedy the policy or attitudes that might actually be causing these problems. In addition, members of the targeted group could internalize these negative attitudes and stereotypes, so that some may consider their own language to be incorrect or a "lesser" version of White Standard English.

Cecilia Cutler's article "Yorkville Crossing: White teens, hip hop, and African American English" introduces Mike, a white teenage boy who has adopted African American Vernacular English speech patterns as well as an affinity for rap music and style of dress typically associated with African American youth (baggy jeans, sneakers, backwards ball cap, etc.). Despite Mike's affluent background and attendance at private school, he began to strongly identify with African American culture around puberty until his mid-teenage years when he distanced himself from the "black identity" but continued to speak in AAVE phonology and lexicon. Save for a few instances, Mike's grammar was generally inconsistent with that of AAVE. However, Mike still strongly identified with hip-hop culture and lifestyle, which is often considered to be a multi-cultural style and therefore available to non-African American youths. Cutler argues that this "allow[s] whites access to a commodified, ephemeral black experience at various moments of phases of their lives without required overt claims of black ethnicity, and the sociolinguistic meaning of AAVE appears to be adjusted in the process" (Cutler p.435).

The cinematic masterpiece "Bring it On: All or Nothing" (the third installment in the "Bring it On" movie series) provides an example of how racial stereotypes can be reinforced via a member of a dominant group's appropriation of the linguistic and cultural features of a racialized group. In the film, Britney is the captain of the cheerleading squad The Pirates, a white (with the exception of a wealthy Asian "model minority" female cheerleader), extremely wealthy squad until her father loses his job and her family is forced to relocate to Crenshaw Heights, a poor and predominantly black neighborhood. The movie seems to blend racial minority groups into one category - her new school (and eventually new squad) is a mix of Latin@ and African American students that make up one racial minority group with a combination of AAVE and Spanish speech patterns. Initially, Britney is completely rejected by this new group; her clothes and speech are too different (or too white), and she is simply referred to as "white girl" instead of being called by name. Britney's friends from her old "white" school voice their fears about her seemingly inevitable transformation into a "wigger" after she stands up for her new friend and teammate Kirresha in the following dialogue:

(Skip to about 48 seconds into this VIDEO - I apologize for the poor video quality but there are subtitles)

Winnie: "Because after you make friends with those people, you start shopping with them. Then you're dating one and the next thing you know you're going to be on some bad talk show screaming at your baby daddy..."
Britney: "Winnie, you're such a candy cane."
Winnie: "And you're such a wigger."

Not long after this scene, we witness Britney's transformation from this (rich, preppy white cheerleader, center):

to this:

Britney adopts the slang terms, styles of dress (booty shorts and cornrows), and styles of dance (krumping) the seem to define her new squad in order to fit in with her new "real friends" and new Latino boyfriend, Jesse, that has replaced her blonde, white boyfriend, Brad. This "white girl's" appropriation of her racialized minority squad's culture, dress, and speech is what ultimately allows the once "cheer-trocity of a squad" from Crenshaw Heights to win the final competition and become recognized as a team worthy of competing with the rest (ie. the white teams).

“When is it appropriate to say the word N-word?”

“When is it appropriate to say the word N-word?”

by: Cathleen McCaffery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Y9e9pzCFw&feature=related

In the video above GloZell, an African American comedian, parodies uses of the word “nigger.” Although she is African American, she states that her grandmother was upset by the use of “nigger.” To her grandmother, this word has different connotations than it does for GloZell, a third generation African American. GloZell discusses the different pronunciations and manifestations of “nigger,” such as “nigah” “nigo,” etc… stating that each form has a different use and meaning. This builds on our last class discussion. We debated whether or not “nigger” has evolved from its original meaning as a derogatory term used towards African slaves in America. Some students said they don’t think it means the same thing anymore. Has the denotation of “nigger” changed over time? Other students think the person who uses the word determines its meaning, while others think that it is still a taboo word in American society and should not be used by anyone, despite their race. Within our small, diverse class, there is a lot of disagreement over the use and appropriate-ness of “nigger,” reflecting popular ideas about its use throughout American culture.

I have to agree with GloZell on different spellings and their respective meanings. Maybe it is just because I am from California but everyone I know my age from the Bay Area, regardless of his or her race, uses “nigah” in casual spoken and written conversation. Within in this territorial space, “nigah” is appropriate and allowed because of its spelling and pronunciation. It also has a positive association and is used to refer to friends. It is a term of endearment. However, I asked friends from the Bay Area and they said they would never use “nigger” vs. “nigah.” The difference between two letters is crucial and changes the meaning and agenda of the speaker. However, speakers like my friends occupy a very different stance than Mike, the white teenager portrayed in Cutler’s article Yorkville Crossing. The friends whom I know from the Bay Area are middle-upper class college students who do not fit into the stereotype of African American hip-hop culture. They are white, black, and Asian and none of them are considered “wiggas” like Mike. All of them use “nigah,” in the exact same way, in phrases like “my nigah,” to invoke a sense of closeness. Mike on the other hand takes on what is perceived to be an African American hip-hop identity, using AAVE, not only the word “nigger” or “nigah,” like my friends. He is positioned as a cultural and linguistic outsider who takes on an inauthentic identity. Mike is both white and male, two things that give him privilege in American society. As a young teenage, Mike takes on the identity that “many white male teens interpret hip-hop culture” to be: gangs, tagging, fighting, and drugs. This new identity contrasts with Mike’s racial appearance and social upbringing. My friends on the other hand did not adopt any of these things despite their habitual use of “nigah.”

I do not think that “nigger” connotes slavery anymore, at least for our generation. Our generation is so far removed from slavery that I don’t think many young people who use the word “nigger” have close ties to slavery anymore, or even living relatives who experienced slavery. Pop culture, rap especially, has also had a huge affect on destigmatizing its use in everyday life. The videos we watched in class of Fat Joe and JLo using “nigger” in their music videos shows how prevalent the word is in current pop culture. However, JLo received a lot of criticism for it while Fat Joe received none.

As Hill states, masculinity is intertwined with linguistic appropriation. It allows white members of society to claim terms, such as “nigger,” that connote desirable “masculine” traits like street-cred, strength, and power. Because of their gender differences, Fat Joe was allowed to use “nigger” because it perpetuated his image of toughness. JLo, as a woman, and an American musical icon is thought of as feminine. She is also aligned more closely with dominant, white ideals, while Fat Joe is positioned as “the other,” associated with a grungier, lower class audience. Classmates described him as “ghetto,” while JLo is perceived to be classier, and therefore white. And, “nigger” is still an inappropriate term for whites to use in America. While I think this is changing, it is still a hot topic, and the press uses linguistic rigidity to create stories and conflict.

This is either linguistic evolution or “flattening” (Hill). The movement away from “nigger”s association with slavery could be due to the fact that white usage is denying African American’s a part of their history. The new, positive use of “nigger” could also show how it is being reclaimed by African Americans and associated with a sense of brotherhood and common, shared history. It seems like current usage of “nigger” occupies a gray area between evolution and flattening. I think “nigah” has some positive aspects but “nigger” is still not widely accepted in American culture. It is reserved as a term used appropriately only by African Americans. The uneasiness on the part of white Americans shows that racism is still ever present. The need to tiptoe around sensitive topics like the use of “nigger” exemplifies current attitudes towards race and language. “Nigger” is one of the unresolved, unclear issues that people of all races and ages cannot come to a consensus on. America is supposed to be the land of freedom of speech but we are we really all that free?

A Tale of Two Cultures

-by Whitney Childs

In "Yorkville Crossing: White teens, hip hop and African American English", Cecilia Cutler makes reference to an argument by Tricia Rose in which she states that "whites are 'fascinated by [black culture's] differences, drawn in by mainstream social constructions [of black culture]...as a forbidden narrative, [and] a symbol of rebellion" (Cutler 428). Whites participate in African American youth culture through fashion, music, and especially language, and these are often drawn from stereotyped ideas of African American culture, particularly in reference to gangs, violence, or identities expressed in the hip hop community.

Hill describes how Mike was introduced to other linguistic forms during his time spent out on the street and in nightclubs, she then makes a comparison to one of Mike's friends who lived in a poorer neighborhood and 'was in a much better position than Mike to acquire AAVE directly" (Cutler 434). I thought this was an incredibly interesting point because it suggests that a claim to language or culture has to do not with race or ethnicity, but with authenticity. Cutler then goes onto describe how hip hop has allowed non-African Americans access and freedom to have a "commodified, ephemeral black experience" (Cutler 435). Comparing these two statements side by side, I was confused as to who Cutler believes should have access to any given culture, such as hip hop culture. What defines authenticity? For me this also brought up the idea of how much environment has to do wiht the formation of identity, especially in cases where there are two or more identities coming together within the same space. These questions led me to this video clip:

"Save the Last Dance" is generally considered a cliche American teen film, but I think it highlights many of the things that we have been discussing in class and the stereotypes that Cutler sees being glamorized in the media. Sarah begins the movie living in the suburbs, as a typical white American teenager. When the clip shifts to her entering the new school, the music immediately switches to a harder, hip-hop song, and images of 'city life' are displayed. The main character is portrayed as dorky in comparison to her more 'hip' peers - standing in the lunch room, in her glasses, surrounded by classmates who dress better and spend their time dancing on top of tables.

Language wise, we see the main character assimilating herself and being assimilated into AAVE. Upon remarking on her friend's 'cool' outfit, her friend informs her that she should replace 'cool' with 'slammin'. And thus begins her transition into hip-hop culture and AAVE. Later in the clip, when discussing going to a club, Sarah takes her first step on her own, telling her peer (and future love interest), "I'll dance in circles, probably around you." Her delivery of the line and the attitude behind it is in stark contrast to her earlier, shy, reserved personality.

The rest of the clip is rampant with stereotypical 'urban culture' images, reinforcing this image of rebellion that Cutler described. There's a very 'wrong side of town' aspect to the movie, as you see instances of violence, gang members, high school students going to nightclubs and dancing much more provocatively than the ballet that Sarah performs in the beginning of the clip. This transition is not just a step from 'white' to 'black', but from rural to urban as well. There are associations that are made regarding the city and all that comes with it - areas that are of lower economic status and all that comes with that connection. Sarah finds herself appropriating not only the language of the environment she finds herself in, but with the fashion and with dancing styles as well.

To demonstrate another example, here's another corny teenage movie clip:

"Step Up" differs in the fact that both of the main characters are white - one is another example of this nerdy, uptight white girl who is shown how to loosen up with her exploration into hip-hop culture. Her guide in this movie, however, is another white person who has grown up living in an urban environment and is completely assimilated into urban street culture - he is a foster child, has been in trouble with the law and only ends up at the prestigious private school attended by the female lead character because it part of his court-ordered punishment. As the movie continues, there is a storyline associated with gang violence as well. Not only does the female lead become more associated with hip-hop culture, but also the male lead gets drawn into the more prestigious, formal private school, becoming more versed on technical dancing rather than freestyle and on stage performance rather than street dancing.

Is this assimilation authentic? Sarah from "Save the Last Dance" is in a different situation than that of Mike, who actively sought to embody the characteristics of people he had seen on the street and the identity that he associated them with, but the movie also demonstrates the conflict that she faces being a white girl in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. The movie ends with her incorporating hip-hop style into her dancing, suggesting an idealistic blend of the two cultures which she finds herself in. What would Cutler think of this ending? Is it possible to claim aspects of several cultures to form your own identity, or will you never be considered natural? I would be inclined to argue that authenticity is based on the audience that receives you and their opinion on who can lay claims to certain languages or aspects of of culture.

Distinguishing Blackness and Hip-hop Identity by: Alex Edelstein

Who's the 'authentic' hip-hop artist? Mike Jones or George Watsky?

In discussing issues of authenticity surrounding linguistic acts, one has to first acknowledge the present stereotypes of language, and more specifically, individual linguistic varieties. Because of its imperial and slave history, the United States has myriad anxieties involving the use and proliferation of what linguists currently call African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Within dominant white ideology, there exists an interesting fascination with all things deemed black, especially regarding linguistic practices. Over the past few decades, in conjunction with the global rise of hip-hop and its subsequent cultural institutions, it has become increasingly popular for white, often affluent, youth to participate and claim a stake in the various facets of hip-hop music. This has resulted in numerous national conversations surrounding the implementation of AAVE (the ‘language’ of hip-hop) into the mainstream. Essentially, as hip-hop has expanded into other varieties of music and culture, so too has AAVE ‘mongrelized’ the U.S. notion of unmarked, standard English. In this way, discussions of hip-hop as a valid and productive art form center on its often provocative lyrics present in Top 40 songs. In her article “Yorkville Crossing: White teens, hip hop and African American English”, Cecilia Cutler suggests that when white youth implement AAVE into their everyday linguistic processes, they are appropriating an ethnolinguistic identity to which they have no claim. For Cutler, when an affluent, white teen, Mike, adopts AAVE as his language of choice, without attempting to claim an authentic black identity, Mike is somehow adulterating hip-hop culture, black identity claims, and AAVE linguistic meaning:

Hip-hop is increasingly claimed to be a multi-cultural lifestyle rather than a symbol of ethnic group identity, particularly by white adolescents but also by others. As such, it seems to allow white access to a commodified, ephemeral black experience at various moments or phases of their lives without requiring overt claims of black ethnicity, and the sociolinguistic meaning of AAVE appears to be adjusted in the process (Cutler 435)

This quotation seems to argue that there is something beyond language that makes hip-hop a uniquely black cultural formation. By tying the linguistic practices of AAVE to a cultural phenomenon in hip-hop, Cutler suggests that hip-hop should be a “symbol of ethnic group identity”. I find this troublesome because it seems to lead to the conclusion that merely by using AAVE, in combination with some understanding of what black looks like, an individual is necessarily part of the hip-hop group identity. Additionally, it understands hip-hop to only consist of those linguistic practices that are inherently African American, which we know do not exist; there is no such thing as a linguistic feature that is a priori tied to a racial group, since both race and language are constructs. As such, I am willing to argue that there are many instances in which an individual identifies with the black group identity without using AAVE, as well as situations where those who consider themselves black use AAVE, yet disregard hip-hop. There seems to be something more than AAVE and blackness at play when discussing ‘authentic’ hip-hop culture.

I am interested in complicating Cutler’s assumption that it is Mike’s linguistic appropriation of AAVE that functions as the medium through which hip-hop culture and black identity are threatened. I wish to suggest that while the white appropriation of AAVE certainly has a major role in complicating hip-hop identity, at its core, hip-hop is an issue of individual identity ownership, rather than a set of linguistic practices. Knowing that racial grouping is socially constructed to fabricate nonexistent boundaries between groups, it becomes difficult to suggest that a cultural formation belongs to one group of people and not to another. Further, just because a group of people share an arbitrary characteristic (in this case race and/or language), it does not logically follow they then must share the same culture. Instead hip-hop is predicated on an individual’s ability to successfully perform self. Even though MCs like Mike Jones and Soulja Boy are black and use AAVE, there are questions surrounding their validity as rappers because they appear to be performing some abstract understanding of what hip-hop represents, rather than using hip-hop to convey individual identity. Those rappers with the most ‘credibility’ or ‘authenticity are those that are able to tell a cohesive individual story, often utilizing AAVE and blackness as sources of inspiration. 

 

Understanding hip-hop as this complex collection of individual narratives, as opposed to a culturally unified race and group of language users allows for us to reevaluate who should be allowed to appropriate hip-hop. Consider the case of my friend, George Watsky; George is a professional slam poet who recently released a hip-hop album on which he produced, rapped, and mixed all of the tracks. George is an affluent, white college educated 23 year-old male from San Francisco, CA. Several months ago, George released a YouTube video titled “Pale kid raps fast”, in which he eloquently represents his extreme whiteness, using ‘standard’ English in a hip-hop format. Based on Cutler’s understanding of the intersection of language acts and hip-hop identity, Watsky would be appropriating hip-hop culture in a way that transforms its group identity away from blackness. However, this video, with its 7.5 million views, has been championed by many hip-hop figures and fans. The content of his rapping covers individualized topics from his fears (“I don’t wanna end up in the gutter with a bottle of malt liquor”) to his confidence in self (“Who’s he? You gotta be kidding me. Do me like Gabourey Sidibe.”) Even though Watsky compares himself to a homeless drunkard and an overweight, black actress, there is no issue of appropriation because he is able to elucidate his ownership of these anxieties, using culturally relevant metaphors and stereotypes. In this way, Watsky is enacting the true essence of hip-hop, beyond the linguistic and racial stereotypes fabricated through the commodification and globalization of the art form. By using his own language and identity in a hip-hop context, George Watsky does not deteriorate the significance of hip-hop as a tool for voicing black identity, as Cutler suggests. Instead, he  successfully demonstrates the ways in which the structure of hip-hop lends itself to creative expressions of individuality and struggle.

Chet Haze- Don't Call Him Chester

by Monica Burton

In Cecilia A. Cutler’s “Yorkville Crossing: White teens, hip hop and African American English” she examines Mike, a white, 16-year-old who lives in an affluent part of Manhattan, yet speaks African American Vernacular English with his friends and at home. His connection to African American culture exists through the hip hop music he listens to and the groups of African American adolescents he sees on the streets. He is, what some would term, a wigger.

While there is initially a fascination with the African American community for Mike,  he does not feel accepted by members of this community and grows to resent them because of this. Rather than be flattered by this affluent white teen mimicking AAVE and the behaviors he associates with it, which include violence and gang activity,   To them, his use of the language is theft and not flattery. What’s more, when Mike employs AAVE, he advances the most negative stereotypes attached to it because of his tendencies toward reckless behavior.

What I find interesting about Mike is that though he may use AAVE most when with friends, he generally uses it all of the time, regardless of the context. He did not grow up hearing this language, yet his speech is closer to that of African Americans than the white people that surround him. This puts Mike in an unusual position. He is not accepted among the community whose language he speaks, and his language marks him as an other within his own community.

In popular culture, people like Mike are mocked for the way they speak and the image they attempt to embody because-- as Hill quotes Smitherman in the chapter “Linguistic Appropriation: The History of White Racism is Embedded in American English”--“Whites pay no dues, but reap the psychological, social, and economic benefits of a language and culture born out of struggle and hard times” (Hill 12).

Recently, there has been some media buzz over Chet Haze (his rap name). His real name is Chet (short for Chester) Hanks. Yes Hanks, as in Tom Hanks. The progeny of Hollywood royalty Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Chet attends Northwestern University and is beginning a rap career. His song “White and Purple,” a remake of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” hit YouTube in January and from there came waves of criticism and mocking. The criticism is not always of the song, but the identity Chet projects, including the language he uses. Everyone knows that this is not the language he was accustomed to hearing growing up in Los Angeles with successful actors for parents, and some take issue with this. 

A young Chester Hanks with mother Rita Wilson

Shock Jock Howard Stern was especially critical of Chet, discussing him on his Sirius Satellite Radio show. In this clip, Stern mocks Chet’s authenticity, or lack thereof. Stern, like Smitherman in the quote above, views the use of the language and adoption of an identity aligned with hip hop culture as a theft, because Chet did not grow up experiencing poverty or violence-- hip hop themes and experiences commonly associated with speakers of AAVE.

Chet responds to such critics on his Twitter. On February 17 he tweeted: “There should be a new twitter just for Haters. Call it Twatter. Cuz they most likely getting none. Lol.” Here he drops the “are” following “they” as in standard AAVE. He does, however, keep the gerund on “getting” in keeping with standard English. The next day he spoke out against “haters” again tweeting, “People need to realize that hip hop is more than race or economic background. If it speaks to you, then you're a part of it.”

This last tweet rests completely within standard English. It is grammatically correct and he avoids using any AAVE slang. In fact, Chet’s ability to switch between registers of speech is evident throughout his twitter feed, which appears to contain a mixture of standard English and AAVE. This led me to question the contexts in which Chet appropriates elements of AAVE. He chose to defend himself in two different ways, perhaps appealing to two different audiences. In the first tweet, he seems to be addressing those who already approve of his use of AAVE and his career as a whole. This is evidenced not only in the inclusion of AAVE structure, but in the familiar, jokey tone and content. The second tweet, however, is an appeal to a wider audience that includes those who may have mocked Chet’s language and career aspirations. He uses standard English to reason with those who speak this standard and may not understand his adoption of AAVE.

I wondered how Chet divides his speech outside of the Twittersphere. A friend of mine who attends Northwestern cast Chet in a play she directed. Though she said he didn’t talk to her much, he seemed to include more AAVE elements after winter break and that he tries to be “rough and tough.”  His speech changed, however, when she asked him to discuss his character. She described him as “perfectly articulate" in this specific context. The character, she said, was a “tough guy” and everything he could have wanted as it “showed him off how he wants to be perceived.” 

Chet Haze

It seems that as Chet’s rap career began to take off (this winter), his adoption of a hip hop identity intensified. His appropriation of AAVE likely becomes more frequent as he meets more with producers and attracts increased amounts of attention for his burgeoning rap career. He is “Chet Haze, Rapper” in all contexts relating to his rap career, such as his self promotion on Twitter, and when discussing his songs as heard in parts of the Howard Stern radio show clip. However, he switches back into the mode of “Chet Hanks, Northwestern Student” when asked to discuss his character by the director of the play in a theatrical, academic setting.

Chet’s admiration of hip hop and passion for the genre are apparent through his appropriation of AAVE. It seems that he wants very much to be a part of a community of rappers and hopes (at least subconsciously) that his use of the language will encourage acceptance. At present, any actual approval from the African American community is yet to be seen, but perhaps his dedication to the music, and not his adoption of AAVE, will one day earn him legitimacy.

Eminem is a Wigga?

By: César Veras

In previous posts, people dealt with this week's readings in ways that vilify white people for adopting AAVE language practices.  This might not be the exact idea people have been trying to encapsulate, but arguments are based around negative opinions facing this phenomenon.  Through my post, I try to delve into race relations as constructions of identity and try to elucidate what white teenagers socially achieve by taking on these practices in the first place.  In my opinion, people's language ideologies are always adopted by profound reasons.  The borrowings of AAVE practices by white people are not the exception. 

First of, this phenomenon of language appropriation is not novel.  In fact, "this tradition of symbolic appropriation created some of the most important symbolic wealth of 'American' - that is, white American - culture, from nineteenth-century mineresly to ragtime and jazz, through rhythm and blues rock and toll to the current international fad for hip-hop music (Hill)."  Hip-Hop today is a multi-million dollar industry composed of the wittiest rap lyricists and talented sound engineers.  It is widely known that this cultural manifestation has AAVE language practices as the backbone of its creation.  AAVE is the unmarked language skill under this environment, white, standardize English is not. 

With the rise of Hip-Hop markets taking over American culture, the hip-hop culture is quite accessible.  It's easy to go on the Internet and find hip-hop videos, songs and lyrics; hip-hop artists also set cultural trends.  Also, let's not forget, the latest phrases and sayings are made up by hip-hop artists as well.  Hip-hop has been able to singlehandedly transcend what is perceived as being "cool" in the United States.  With these ideas of coolness, toughness, and latest hip slang being constructed in front of the nation's eyes, when certain identities want to negotiate these processes and embody a sense of coolness at a certain specific moment, language appropriation is the outcome. 

In other words, whites don't adopt AAVE in order to become something "they are not" or because they are not "sticking with what they know".  At the end of the day, these claims are drawn from ideas of how they should speak given their physical appearance and social standing anyway.  On the other hand, "speakers use appropriated words and ways of speaking to make claims on a wide range of desirable qualities: learned, cosmopolitan, regionally grounded, cool, hip, funny, street-smart, tough, masculine, laid-back, rebellious, etc" (Hill, 161).  These claims are enforced by anxieties of not being cool, or hip enough according to their surroundings.  They also may come from feeling like their experiences reflect an African American style of living instead of one more stereotypically situated with white people (life of poverty and high crime neighborhoods compared to middle class living conditions). 

However, what happens when these processes are done with success.  Are they still looked upon as white, or are they now radicalized as black?  When I was reading the articles for this week, I was constantly thinking of the successful rapper Eminem.  Through his career, he has openly spoken about growing up in the tough streets of Detroit.  His environment made him develop proficiency in AAVE and because of modes of survival his language repertoire is filled with witty, fast thought remarks.  Eminem is indeed the stereotypical wigga.  On the other hand, the ideas subscribed with a wigga usually don't apply to him.  Eminem is usually perceived as cool and tough with a crisp stilo.  His success in the rap game is rather astonishing.  Not only is he the white boy with one of the best rap flows in hip-hop, but he has also been able to do this through a series of controversies and national drama.  In the song “Sing for the Moment”, Eminem speaks about what it’s like to grow up white yet feel like your environment does not fit with your identity.  Below I have also attached the lyrics:

"Sing For The Moment"

[Verse 1]

These ideas are nightmares to white parents

Whose worst fear is a child with dyed hair and who likes earrings

Like whatever they say has no bearing, it's so scary in a house that allows

no swearing

To see him walking around with his headphones blaring

Alone in his own zone, cold and he don't care

He's a problem child

And what bothers him all comes out, when he talks about

His fuckin' dad walkin' out

Cause he just hates him so bad that he blocks him out

If he ever saw him again he'd probably knock him out

His thoughts are whacked, he's mad so he's talkin' back

Talkin' black, brainwashed from rock and rap

He sags his pants, do-rags and a stocking cap

His step-father hit him, so he socked him back, and broke his nose

His house is a broken home, there's no control, he just let's his emotions

go...

[Chorus]

{C'mon}, sing with me, {sing}, sing for the years

{Sing it}, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears, {c'mon)

Sing it with me, just for today, maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you

away...

[Verse 2]

Entertainment is changin', intertwinin' with gangsta's

In the land of the killers, a sinner's mind is a sanctum

Holy or unholy, only have one homie

Only this gun, lonely cause don't anyone know me

Yet everybody just feels like they can relate, I guess words are a

mothafucka they can be great

Or they can degrade, or even worse they can teach hate

It's like these kids hang on every single statement we make

Like they worship us, plus all the stores ship us platinum

Now how the fuck did this metamorphosis happen

From standin' on corners and porches just rappin'

To havin' a fortune, no more kissin' ass

But then these critics crucify you, journalists try to burn you

Fans turn on you, attorneys all want a turn at you

To get they hands on every dime you have, they want you to lose your mind

every time you mad

So they can try to make you out to look like a loose cannon

Any dispute won't hesitate to produce handguns

That's why these prosecutors wanna convict me, strictly just to get me off

of these streets quickly

But all they kids be listenin' to me religiously, so i'm signin' cd's while

police fingerprint me

They're for the judge's daughter but his grudge is against me

If i'm such a fuckin' menace, this shit doesn't make sense Pete

It's all political, if my music is literal, and i'm a criminal how the fuck

can I raise a little girl

I couldn't, I wouldn't be fit to, you're full of shit too, Guerrera, that

was a fist that hit you...

[CHORUS]

[Verse 3]

They say music can alter moods and talk to you

Well can it load a gun up for you , and cock it too

Well if it can, then the next time you assault a dude

Just tell the judge it was my fault and i'll get sued

See what these kids do is hear about us totin' pistols

And they want to get one cause they think the shit's cool

Not knowin' we really just protectin' ourselves, we entertainers

Of course the shit's affectin' our sales, you ignoramus

But music is reflection of self, we just explain it, and then we get our

checks in the mail

It's fucked up ain't it

How we can come from practically nothing to being able to have any fuckin'

thing that we wanted

That's why we sing for these kids, who don't have a thing

Except for a dream, and a fuckin' rap magazine

Who post pin-up pictures on their walls all day long

Idolize they favorite rappers and know all they songs

Or for anyone who's ever been through shit in their lives

Till they sit and they cry at night wishin' they'd die

Till they throw on a rap record and they sit, and they vibe

We're nothin' to you but we're the fuckin' shit in they eyes

That's why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and

hold it

Cause we consider these minutes golden

And maybe they'll admit it when we're gone

Just let our spirits live on, through our lyrics that you hear in our

songs and we can...

[CHORUS X2]

Through this song one can see that using certain AAVE language practices or acting “black” goes a lot deeper that trying to be black.  Through this song Eminem tries to redeem himself by explaining his situation as a rapper, father and public figure.  He is able to align himself with the African American population through his struggles and language use.  However, he is also showing some relevance to the white community by explaining the situation that many white kids go through in everyday life.  Hip-hop artists often glamorize the “hood”, and Eminem tries to explain that there is nothing to want from the “hood” anyway.  It is also imperative to realize that people will always have these glamorized ideas of the “hood”, and that even if some white people adopt AAVE language practices in order to adapt to poverty, others will do it in their attempts to look cool and distance themselves from the normative image.  These images of course are constructed around the idea that “’man of Color’ is sexually rapacious, sometimes seductive, usually predatory,’ while ‘White man is strong, dominant arbiter of truth, and self-designated protector of White womankind, defender of nation/territory” (Kiesling, 104).  The personas they embody depend on which one holds more social capital under specific situations. 

Hip-Hop is also a manifestation of social relationships.  The hardships of African Americans (which constitute a large portion of the population of poverty) are portrayed through the cultural adversity that they face in everyday life.  Through this song, Eminem is not only able to show his dexterity in navigating issues from street crime, to raising his daughter, but simultaneously he is able to distance himself from the White hegemony by marking himself as a poor person who struggled just as any other poor black person does.  On another scale, he is also able to note that there are people out there, who are white, who have specific profound reasons for adopting AAVE linguistic models.  This statement of course only perpetuates the hegemony, making it okay for white people to play on these identities when they want to rebel and act tough.  In reality, this is the case.  It’s important to understand how these processes work, it’s another monster to try and change people’s minds on how they process certain language practices.  At the end of the day, people do what they think will get their point across, and sometimes, this means holding on to other language practices because the same words won’t do the job in another style.  Everyday we navigate life and speak in a way that we’re perceived as cool, smart and important.  These kids are just doing that.  

Linguistic Appropriation in Mass Media

- by Whitney Childs

This week the theme of our discussions is appropriation, and the way that it has manifested into our spoken and written languages as well into cultural practices. Jane Hill begins her article by discussing the ways in which linguistic appropriation can be seen as 'thefts', where 'speakers of the target language....adopt resources from the donor language, and then try to deny these to members of the donor language community" (Hill 158). Hill points to the direct and indirect ways in which this is achieved, with the indirect described as "reshaping the meaning of the borrowed material into forms that advance their own interest, making it useless or irrelevant, or even antithetical, to the interests of the donor community" (Hill 158). These linguistic appropriations occur predominantly from three languages - American Indian languages, African American English, and US Spanish. In this posting I will focus on the prevalence of Mock Spanish in the media and then move on to the broader topic of non-standard words making the move into mainstream culture through the internet.

Mock Spanish has become a common occurrence in popular culture - Hill describes teh reshaping of Spanish lexical items being used in Mock Spanish to 'service White purposes" (Hill 170). Take the example below:

Hasta La Vista...

The teenager in the video instructs Arnold Schwarzenegger to "listen to how people talk", implying that "No problemo" is a term already assimilated into mainstream or 'standard' culture. Important to note is this apparent agreement on the deletion of the grammatically correct 'hay' in the phrase,  as well as the tendency for Mock Spanish speakers to add the 'o' to the end of words rather than sticking to the correct 'a' ending. The other examples that the teenager goes on to give are vulgar phrases, prefacing them by saying that if 'someone comes up to you with an attitude', this is what you should tell them. Association alone indicates that he places 'no problemo' in the slang category. These phrases are in a group that is separate from Standard English, within which he categorizes Arnold's 'affirmative' response.

"Hasta la vista, baby" has become iconized in American culture and is predominantly associated with teh English language, and with Arnold's character, rather than the Spanish language which it originates from. Arnold Schwarzenegger is Austrian - he makes no attempt at an accent in his speaking and adds in 'baby', an English word, at the end of his phrase. This example reaffirms Hills' argument that MOck Spanish will "draw on Spanish for humor while actively distancing the spaker form the Spanish-speaking communities" (Hill 170). No oen would ever think to make a connection between Arnold and the Spanish language community, but by drawing on teh phrase, one that is replayed time and time again and one which I know I repeated in imitation several hundred times as a child, he is taking the meaning away from the Spanish language and claiming it as his own intellectual property. "Mock Spanish forms at every level of the American mass media and continually in everyday talk convey the message that Spanish is not a serious language" (Hill 170), and one that is drawn on for comedic effect. The second time that Arnold says the "Hasta la vista" line, it is before he is about to destroy his enemy. His monotone delivery of the words indicates that he doesn't view his opposition as a threat, and the line is delivered casually, almost in mimic of the inferiority of whom he is about to destroy.

To continue with another example of Mock Spanish in the mass media, I'd like to remind everyone of this:

Most of us have seen at least one of these commercials, with the only variation consisting in the background music or the outfit that the Chihuahua is wearing, but with the same basic meaning - "Yo quiero Taco Bell". Looking at the product it is associated with - cheap, pretty low quality 'Mexican' food that has had rumors spread about its alleged use of dog food for its meat, you can see the parallels that are drawn between the language, the product, and the culture. This is an example of how language interacts with cultural products such as food, music, etc. Combining the music being played in the background, the use of a Chihuahua and the accent of the voice-over, this would lead to the assumption that two tacos for ninety-nine cents is a good representation of Mexican culture. It is also an example of the tendency to use Spanish accents for comedic purposes.

The final example that I wanted to discuss was something that I continued to be reminded of during my reading of Hill as well as the readings that were for Monday's class. Hill mentions teh tendency for Whites to draw on African American English in order to exude "toughness, urban 'street-smarts', and especially 'cool'" (Hill 166). She discusses how certain African American words have become appropriated to all audiences regardless of age, as displayed in the example of Bob Costa's use of 'props'. Hill goes onto state that "appropriations from African American English obviously are intended to recruit desirable qualities to White speakers....while they lend to White people a 'cool' idenitty, they simultaneously index dangerous negative stereotypes" (Hill 169). This portion of th earticle remidned me of a website that has become extemely popular among young people - http://www.urbandictionary.com/.

Urban Dictionary is an online dictionary of slang words and phrases. It was created in 1999 by a computer science major, with, ironically enough, the first definition being 'the man' ("the faces of establishment put in place to 'bring us down'"). There are now over 5.5 million definitions on the website, which means that an estimate 15 million users a month are instantaneously educating themselves on teh 'street slang' they come across in their day to day lives. The example I have chosen to showcase is the Urban Dictionary definition of "what's up?", a phrase we have discussed in class.

This definition showcases the frustration of the individual who composed the definition at the use of the term 'what's up' and its' commonality in everyday social situations. The second definition that caught my eye is shown below:

I took note of this definition and the inclusion of the reply that can be used in 'urban settings'. As we discussed in class, 'what's up?' is of African American origin, but has become unmarked and extremely common in all social settings, even among older individuals. This definition implies that in certain localities there are specific replies that are expected or appropriate to use upon hearing this phrase.

How many of you have relied on Urban Dictionary to clue you in on an unknown term or phrase, or do you refer to the website as a more comical culture production that has sprung up in conjunction with the Facebook/Twitter/Internet craze among young people? To refer back to the earlier examples, how many of you have used to above 'catch phrases', and how do you think its' mass popularity and use have affected further appropriation?