# Any African-American news anchors who speak on air with an African-American Vernacular accent? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 4, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016 "2019-06-04T15:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/21 "2019-06-05T02:36:24Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Subcultural Vernacular English is more of a dialect than an accent. When your job is to read the words you’ve been given to read, using dialectal versions of them is not doing your job correctly. The people writing the words are going to be writing in Standard English because they know everyone learns to listen to it, even if they trouble producing it themselves. When I worked with some lower-class people, there were elements to their dialect that I didn’t understand right away, and if they had been using them on TV I would be confused. By using Standard forms, you make sure you’re not scaring away people. > > I agree that there definitely is a certain “black” accent apart from vernacular language, and that some black people are able to hide their skin color while only being audible, but there are plenty that cannot. I think most of it has to do with early upbringing; I went to high school with quite a lot of black folks from various socioeconomic classes, and you could tell how rich their parents were by their accent. Assumptions are often wrong, though I have a slight “blaccent”. I speak AAVE very rarely, but I can’t hide the dirty Souf inflections in some of my pronounciations. You can take the girl out of ATL but you can’t take the ATL out of the girl. However, people frequently remind me that I don’t speak the way they expect me to. Black people rag on me about how “proper” I speak, and white people still congratulate me on “speaking so well”. I wish both would STFU. My speech is neither a put-on nor an achievement. It’s just that my parents do not have apparent “blaccents”. Despite growing up very much poor and working-class. The only explanation I have for this is that they are from Indiana. In Indiana everyone sounds kind of bland. I blame all the corn and flatness. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/22 "2019-06-05T03:24:01Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Assumptions are often wrong, though > > I have a slight “blaccent”. I speak AAVE very rarely, but I can’t hide the dirty Souf inflections in some of my pronounciations. You can take the girl out of ATL but you can’t take the ATL out of the girl. > > However, people frequently remind me that I don’t speak the way they expect me to. Black people rag on me about how “proper” I speak, and white people still congratulate me on “speaking so well”. I wish both would STFU. My speech is neither a put-on nor an achievement. It’s just that my parents do not have apparent “blaccents”. Despite growing up very much poor and working-class. The only explanation I have for this is that they are from Indiana. In Indiana everyone sounds kind of bland. I blame all the corn and flatness. I like the way you talk. Can I touch your hair? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/23 "2019-06-05T12:40:34Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I have a slight “blaccent”. I speak AAVE very rarely, but I can’t hide the dirty Souf inflections in some of my pronounciations. You can take the girl out of ATL but you can’t take the ATL out of the girl. > > However, people frequently remind me that I don’t speak the way they expect me to. Black people rag on me about how “proper” I speak, and white people still congratulate me on “speaking so well”. I wish both would STFU. My speech is neither a put-on nor an achievement. It’s just that my parents do not have apparent “blaccents”. Despite growing up very much poor and working-class. The only explanation I have for this is that they are from Indiana. In Indiana everyone sounds kind of bland. I blame all the corn and flatness. At least once a year some white person feels obligated to let me know “you’re _SO_ articulate! Your parents must be proud!” Seriously, the pizza delivery guy who almost cut his hand off with a chain saw said this to me several weeks back. Being a natural born asshole, whenever I get this comment I just can’t help myself from responding “compared to you?” How do you respond to this? I think my approach might need some adjustment Moms majored in English and would often do public speaking engagements so she had very little tolerance for improper grammar and modes of speech. I was also educated in the Richmond public school system so I learned lots of AAVE. Add those 2 together and I have found that I can navigate most environments and comfortably switch between different methods of speaking (though I do lean heavily toward the “sounds like a white guy” side of the equation). I also have a hard time keeping the country out of my accent and I find the more comfortable I am around a person the less I try to hide it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/24 "2019-06-05T12:55:06Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > white people still congratulate me on “speaking so well”. That’s rude as hell. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/25 "2019-06-05T13:08:08Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > At least once a year some white person feels obligated to let me know “you’re _SO_ articulate! Your parents must be proud!” > > Seriously, the pizza delivery guy who almost cut his hand off with a chain saw said this to me several weeks back. Being a natural born asshole, whenever I get this comment I just can’t help myself from responding “compared to you?” > > How do you respond to this? I think my approach might need some adjustment > > Moms majored in English and would often do public speaking engagements so she had very little tolerance for improper grammar and modes of speech. I was also educated in the Richmond public school system so I learned lots of AAVE. Add those 2 together and I have found that I can navigate most environments and comfortably switch between different methods of speaking (though I do lean heavily toward the “sounds like a white guy” side of the equation). > > I also have a hard time keeping the country out of my accent and I find the more comfortable I am around a person the less I try to hide it. I try to tell myself their assholishness is unintended and just hand them a very dry “thanks”. To be honest, I have a harder time with deflecting “you speak so proper!” Because to my own ear, I do not speak THAT proper, if by proper they mean “like a white person”. I have no problem code switching and using some AAVE expressions when I am feeling comfortable with folks. But I still get the “proper” accusation. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/26 "2019-06-05T13:11:29Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Ana Navarro has a Latina accent which she doesn’t try to hide, but she’s an analyst, not an anchor. Calle Ocho accent (Spanish as primary language, Miami area). There’s no such thing as a Latina accent (it would be a Latino accent anyways), as there are a ton of different Spanish-influenced accents in the US. The specific accent changes depending on the local mix of Spanish dialects, Spanish media available locally, which language is that person’s primary and even by languages at schools (as general-lesson languages I mean, not as second languages). ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/27 "2019-06-05T13:23:41Z")
Ignorance of the existence of AAVE in America is astounding, IMO. I have little doubt it’s tied to the general sort of background racism and disdain that broader culture and society has for people and things that are unapologetically black. A while back I started a thread about how ignorance of the existence of AAVE as a real dialect (as opposed to it being “improper English” or some other bigoted/ignorant nonsense) is doing real harm to many black children: [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=850747](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=850747) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/28 "2019-06-05T13:34:46Z")
I recall in the early 1990s when there was general OUTRAGE over the fact that a public school (in Oakland perhaps?) was using “Ebonics” in school. I don’t know exactly what people were upset about, but I suspect it had something to do with recognizing that AAVE is a dialect rather than just “mistakes” or “laziness.” ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/29 "2019-06-05T15:09:01Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I try to tell myself their assholishness is unintended and just hand them a very dry “thanks”. Every time someone asks me that question their tone is filled with the implication of “I was expecting someone more stereotypical but you’re not like the black people I see on TV! You’re not selling drugs, robbing people, pimping women or anything!” I guess I have a hard time looking past that. > [@monstro](#): > > To be honest, I have a harder time with deflecting “you speak so proper!” Because to my own ear, I do not speak THAT proper, if by proper they mean “like a white person”. I have no problem code switching and using some AAVE expressions when I am feeling comfortable with folks. But I still get the “proper” accusation. To quote my man Phonte from Little Brother: “…black folk saying that I’m too intelligent and white folks saying I’m a little too niggerish…” It’s like we are forever stuck in the middle but I guess that isn’t such a bad place to be. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/30 "2019-06-05T15:16:15Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I recall in the early 1990s when there was general OUTRAGE over the fact that a public school (in Oakland perhaps?) was using “Ebonics” in school. I don’t know exactly what people were upset about, but I suspect it had something to do with recognizing that AAVE is a dialect rather than just “mistakes” or “laziness.” In my experience a lot mainstream America feels that black people should be forced to assimilate to white culture and there should be zero tolerance for anyone who doesn’t happily march in lock step with their expectations. Allowing black people to speak in a manner that might make us more comfortable with the environment is too much like accepting others despite their differences. And we know those people have zero tolerance for different. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/31 "2019-06-05T16:22:24Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > At least once a year some white person feels obligated to let me know “you’re SO articulate! Your parents must be proud!” > > Seriously, the pizza delivery guy who almost cut his hand off with a chain saw said this to me several weeks back. How does one say “be careful with that chainsaw” in AAVE? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/32 "2019-06-05T17:48:57Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I recall in the early 1990s when there was general OUTRAGE over the fact that a public school (in Oakland perhaps?) was using “Ebonics” in school. I don’t know exactly what people were upset about, but I suspect it had something to do with recognizing that AAVE is a dialect rather than just “mistakes” or “laziness.” Yep, it brought the anti-black racists out in force. A couple of quotes: > [@](#): > > “I am incensed …The very idea that African-American language is a language separate and apart can be very threatening, because it can encourage young men and women not to learn standard English.” [RIGHT]–Maya Angelou [/RIGHT] > [@](#): > > “While we are fighting in California trying to extend affirmative action and fighting to teach our children so they become more qualified for jobs, in Oakland some madness has erupted over making slang talk a second language…You don’t have to go to school to learn to talk garbage,” [RIGHT]–Jessie Jackson [/RIGHT] [RIGHT] [/RIGHT] ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/33 "2019-06-05T19:23:04Z")
> [@BeagleJesus](#): > > In my experience a lot mainstream America feels that black people should be forced to assimilate to white culture and there should be zero tolerance for anyone who doesn’t happily march in lock step with their expectations. Allowing black people to speak in a manner that might make us more comfortable with the environment is too much like accepting others despite their differences. And we know those people have zero tolerance for different. I don’t know if that’s it, necessarily. What I do see a lot is that a lot of the AAVE constructions are, when looked at through the lens of Standard American English, flat out incorrect. So what you end up with is a dialect with its own rules, etc… and the rest of the country who’s in tune with another, more prevalent dialect making judgments about that dialect and it’s propriety. This isn’t limited to AAVE and the black community either- I’m sure that people of all sorts of minority dialects run into this same problem. Quebecois French suffers this to some degree. Cajun English definitely does- there’s lots of stuff they say colloquially that’s incorrect in Standard American English. Same with Pennyslvania Dutch English. And I don’t doubt that Texas German sounds weird and more than a little wrong to a modern German speaker. I think the difference is that what’s really going on here isn’t so much the idea that AAVE is a separate dialect is questionable, it’s that it requires separate instruction when none of the other (mostly white) dialects _seem_ to require that. Maybe they should- it would seem to me that a hillbilly child who speaks only Appalachian English would have the same need for instruction in that dialect as a black child raised speaking AAVE would. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/34 "2019-06-05T23:52:08Z")
I can understand that businesses would want their employees who meet the public to sound like Johnny Carson. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/35 "2019-06-06T16:27:30Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yep, it brought the anti-black racists out in force. A couple of quotes: > > [RIGHT]–Maya Angelou > > [/RIGHT] > > [RIGHT]–Jessie Jackson > > [/RIGHT] > > [RIGHT] > [/RIGHT] Black people are not a monolith, and old black people are just as crotchety as old white ones. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/36 "2019-06-06T16:56:30Z")
Dan Rather, in his autobiography _The Camera Never Blinks_, wrote about suppressing his Texas accent. He was told by a network vice-president that he should attempt to sound as if he had grown up in the vice-president’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/37 "2019-06-06T17:34:27Z")
Ayesha Roscoe came to my mind, too; I was listening to a story of hers on “Morning Edition”, driving into work. (She’s a White House correspondent, but she seems to get very basic “The President said this…” stories, usually. But today, she had a long analysis piece on Trump’s negotiation style.) I admit, when I hear her voice, I think that she doesn’t have enough gravitas to be a reporter, but that’s my lingering racism (and sexism, too – I have the same reaction to Zoe Chace, of “Planet Money”, who has a very strong Cleveland accent). Both are perfectly good reporters. But as\*\* monstro \*\*pointed out, Roscoe simply has an accent. She doesn’t display any dialectual features of Black English like deleted copula or continuous “be”. I’ve never heard a broadcast journalist use AAVE on air. It’d be interesting to hear – the dialect is expressive and, I think, engaging. I’m not a sneakerhead, but I subscribe to a shoetuber, just because I admire the fluency of his AAVE. Well, that, and he’s a really nice, cheerful guy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/38 "2019-06-06T18:52:08Z")
I’ve begun listening to Ayesha Roscoe critically after reading this thread. All I’ve noticed is a nasal sound and twangy speech. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/39 "2019-06-07T22:27:14Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Calle Ocho accent (Spanish as primary language, Miami area). There’s no such thing as a Latina accent (it would be a Latino accent anyways), as there are a ton of different Spanish-influenced accents in the US. The specific accent changes depending on the local mix of Spanish dialects, Spanish media available locally, which language is that person’s primary and even by languages at schools (as general-lesson languages I mean, not as second languages). She’s Nicaraguan, not Cuban. ---
**Author:** ![edwardquigley\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@edwardquigley\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardquigley_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016/40 "2019-10-19T18:03:12Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Whenever I see black news anchors, they speak entirely without any [African-American vernacular English accent.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Vernacular_English) In some cases it sounds natural (e.g. Lester Holt of NBC News), but in other cases it sounds like they are speaking in a very forced way, as though they may be deliberately suppressing a natural AAVE accent. > > Are there any black news anchors that speak _with_ a definite AAVE accent? Or is it really not possible for black people to get hired as mainstream, on-air news personalities unless they speak “white”? There is no such thing as a white accent in British or American English, and almost the American cable news reporters speak a midwest accent, which is regional, not white. A. Roscoe’s black sounding English (I would guess she is black if I never saw her) is therefore unusual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-african-american-news-anchors-who-speak-on-air-with-an-african-american-vernacular-accent/835016.md?page=3)