BE "due to the fact that" & No, no! Not again!

[Wilson Gray]

I thought that the problem of sending missives meant for my wife to
the listserv had been solved, but senior moments trump everything
else, I guess. My mind was on the listserv, to which I had the
intention to post the following:

BE _due to the fact that_ = "because"

This time, it was used by a thirty-ish, black-male speaker from Dade
County, Florida. But this phrase is used by black speakers of all
social levels in all levels of speech from coast to coast. It''s often
reduced to "dewd/dood th' fack that" [dIw:/du:d T@ f&k T&t]."

This phrase is *extremely* common in the 'hood and has been for as
long as I've been able to understand English. *Everybody* - from
street thugs to college professors - uses it! But, I'm not sure that
I've heard any white person use it.

So, my trivial question is:

Do white folks also use this?

-Wilson
--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain

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