Kanye West on race and slang

[Wilson Gray]

I think Kanye was just messing with The Man a little bit. But the use
of black slang by whites is, somehow, weird, like the pronunciation of
"cool" as "coowul" while thinking that blacks pronounce as "coo." I
first heard a white person say knock yourself out" in 1962 and it
still sounds weird to me to hear a white person say that. I have the
same reaction to white use of "cop a squat." And, needless to say,
these are instances of slang that would be old-school by Kanye's
grandfather's standards. Maybe it's just some kind of black
psychological thang, dating from the times when "Negro dialect" was
used by whites primarily to ridicule blacks.

FWIW, I once came across a lexicon of words and phrases that the
compiler considered to be peculiar to a subset of the language used by
black Alabamians in the 19th century. An astounding proportion of
those are now considered standard. It was like a prescient extension
of Roger Abrahams's - 1962, if memory serves - claim that "stomp"
instead of "stamp" was a peculiarity of Black English.

-Wilson

On 9/12/05, Jonathon Green <slang at abecedary.net> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathon Green <slang at ABECEDARY.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Kanye West on race and slang
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>
> >---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
> >Subject:      Kanye West on race and slang
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >-----
> >http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/west%20reveals%20racial%20lines%20in%20slang%20use
> >
> >WEST REVEALS RACIAL LINES IN SLANG USE
> >
> >Hip-hop star KANYE WEST is advising his white counterparts that they can
> >only use certain slang terms when they're out of style for black people.
> >
> >The JESUS WALKS rapper - who recently charged that US President GEORGE W
> >BUSH "doesn't care" about African Americans - believes that certain slang
> >words should only be able to cross racial barriers when they're no longer
> >in style for black people.
> >
> >He says, "I think white people are allowed to say 'bling'. They are
> >allowed to say old-school black slang, like 'hottie' and 'homie'.
> >
> >"Actually, I do not think that (white people) are allowed to use slang
> >until it is at least a year old. If you say a slang word too early, it's
> >like you're trying to be black. So as long as the slang is a little played
> >out, you're all good."
> >-----
> >
> >
> >--Ben Zimmer
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Do we sense a tongue within a cheek? More interesting, I would suggest
> is the line on 'Crack Music' (on Kanye's new joint - to use a reasonably
> aged term): 'This dark diction, [sc. the black slang of rap] has become
> America's addiction' and notes that 'those who ain't even black use
> it.'. And not, as he's doubtless aware, just in America.
>
> JG
>


--
-Wilson Gray