(NOTE: I'm trying the Ifemelu-mirroring thing. I frankly would not talk like this, and I think most of it is very extreme, but that's what I think of Ifemelu. I hope this works *crosses fingers*)
The Talking Dead - Will English Kill the Little Languages?
Dear Non-American, Non-British readers,
People may say to you, "It's a blessing that English is taking over - everyone will be able to communicate with one another easily." However, especially for the Non-American, Non-British blacks, your lives have been getting shittier and shittier, your cultures diminishing more and more, and you don't realize it. Recently, I read a list of Nigerian idioms. The stark similarities between these idioms and common American language are disheartening. Phrases like "to step aside," "to put hands together," and "to be stinkingly rich" were all classified by study author Dele Adeyanju as Nigerian idioms, when they've always been prominent in America. This is a dire message to non-American blacks - this study is a prime example of American English swallowing your languages and identities. When your people make studies about idioms that they deem country-specific, but many are, in fact, American, that is a HUGE red flag. When you immigrate to another country, there will be narrow-minded people that tell you to "speak English or get out." Ignore these people and adhere to your culture, to your identity.
To any American, British, or white readers - I have a parallel for you guys to consider. While you may not feel much pity for Non-American blacks, you certainly do for your fellow whites. Many white Jews were stripped of their culture by the Nazi regime, ruthlessly starved and killed simply because they spoke another language or didn't act the same way as Hitler. Now, white readers, think of that bullshit happening to every single group that doesn't speak impeccable, perfect English. The Holocaust is certainly an over-the-top example of this, but it has the same general principle: conservatives take over a big, populous country and strip everyone who doesn't look, talk, or think like them of their identities, forcing them to essentially turn into clones. THAT'S NOT FAIR!!! Even people who speak other forms of ENGLISH are discriminated against by many Americans. Ifemelu was clearly treated this way by people like Cristina Tomas, who purposefully slowed down because she thought Ifemelu couldn't understand her even though Ifemelu knew perfectly well what she was saying. Just because your home country's flag doesn't have stars, stripes, or a Union Jack on it doesn't mean that you have to give in to the people from the US or the UK.
One last point I want to note: people from the US and the UK are MAKING THINGS EVEN MORE CLEAR! When you say that 'racism ended in the 1960s,' that's just proof that you're a blind racist. When you adopt accents like the UK's Received Pronunciation - a sociolect that was created solely to exert social status - that's proof that you're the problem. When you speak in a different way for people who say "y'all," "lah," or "o," you're racist. And, most importantly of all, when you try and enforce your language upon other people, even if you think that striving for a lingua franca is a good cause, you are, without a doubt, racist.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS POST, ESPECIALLY THE SECOND PARAGRAPH. DO NOT THINK THAT THIS IS WHAT I WOULD SAY, I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO MIRROR A LITERARY CHARACTER.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and if you want a more balanced, good commentary, please look at my other posts.