Hall and Double Standards
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As a black American, I say there is a double standard for black dialect.
Tenet No. 1--Black English with its unique cadences, inflections, syntax and vocabulary is good; 2--blacks have the right to use that which is good (black English); 3--black English must not be mocked, derided or devalued.
No one tells more closely observed and culturally accurate jokes about Jews than Jewish comedians. The same can be said of Italian, Hispanic and black comics. However, when a joke about culturally unique characteristics comes from outside the group, group members perceive an attack.
What a black man may deride in himself and his fellows is not a fit subject for ridicule from one outside the group.
WALT RUTLEY
Hollywood
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