Qualifying Exam
This essay seeks to find out the relationship between African American Vernacular English (AAVE), racial prejudice, and institutional racism in the American court system. It assessed several contributions from different scholars on AAVE concerning the murder trial of George Zimmerman, who killed a young African American boy. During the trial, the testimony of Rachel Jeantel was discounted solely due to her speech patterns. There is an effective way of addressing issues related to AAVE. This paper is significant in highlighting the critical role played by culture and language as far as the African Americans in the United States is concerned. This is an issue that focuses focus on justice is not only the education system but also the courtroom and how the two aspects indirectly relate to each other. Many authors have argued that the distinctiveness and accessibility of AAVE holds a special place in understanding patterns of speech in everyday language.
AAVE is a framework of analysis used by linguists as well as scholars in social science research. The framework is intricately linked with the American culturewhen seen from different perspectives. The reason behind this paper was informed by the idea that there has been a lot of difficulty among students to understand this topic in our educational system, especially African American students. It is also a challenge to them when dealing with the justice system. This is also a current issue which the country is trying to address.
The work of ten scholars was used in this essay to understand AAVE. Their contributions formed the basis of this essay. Some of the scholars focused on the George Zimmerman trial on AAVE in the courtroom. Some reviewed articles regarding the development of AAVE. These two categories of scholarly works were considered in this essay because they are closely related, and they provide a significant contribution to not just understanding AAVE but its significance as well. The critical aspects drawn from these scholars were the language, the central features of patterns of speech as well as the social identity of African Americans. The essay also chose the murder trial of George Zimmerman because it is highly publicized and also bears the testimony of Rachel Jeantel was discounted solely due to her speech.
Amanda Carlin (2016) is a scholar selected because she utilized a scientific method that explained the critical race theory regarding the use oflanguage in the courtroom. She also demonstrated her support as well as an understanding of AAVE – its meaning and significance. His study, entitled, The courtroom as white space: Racial performance as non-credibility, confirms the existence of institutional racism and racial prejudice in relation to AAVE using a critical race theory. She uses the theory to demonstrate the difficulty that exists for an African American tohold a significant position in the U.S courtrooms as a judge, attorney, or defendant. She uses the case of the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, which highlights credibility determinations as a tool of exclusion. This scholar is essential for this essay because she argues that the courtroom has always already discredited narratives and testimony of color” (Carlin, 2016, p. 449). It shows the prejudicial treatment in the courtroom reflects a fundamental issue of the U.S. courtrooms.
Alyvia Walters is another scholar selected for this essay for analysis since he views language as a unique form of sociocultural and ethnic identity. This scholar was also chosen because he explores the usual intersections of the legal system and institutional racism in America but from a new angle–from that of voice” (Walters, 2018, p. iii). He also explains the unique language of AAVE, arguing that it provides a significant level of meaning to the African American culture. He observes that Rachel Jeantel’s testimony in the Zimmerman trial was discredited for the wrong and invalid reasons. For instance, Rachel spoke in vernacular, and it was considered difficult to understand and, therefore, not included in the trial. This scholar presents the underlying thread of discrimination throughout U.S. history as well. This aspect has been damaging for African Americans in culture, language, and the legal system, where it affects the legal outcome.
Sealey-Ruiz (2006) is another scholar selected for this essay for analysis. The scholar focuses on language and cultural aspects of African Americans using a cultural heritage perspective. The variables he uses are the American dialect and the Spoken Soul, which are central to AAVE.The author contributes to this essay, also be defining AAVE as a rich cultural heritage that emphasizes imaginative language and creative approaches in academic settings. The author also introduces the issue of language diversity using a lens of analysis explained by scholars of significance for the African American culture. He argues that while AAVE may be the predominant social language of the African American culture, the main form of communication in the courtrooms is the tone of Standard English. He concludes that African Americans are battling the stereotype of having cultural and language deficiencies.
Walt Wolfram is another scholar used in the essay. His contribution on this topic includes the development of several new theories on AAVE. He also defines AAVE as a general area of study, where linguistic and social elements of language patterns are considered equally. He used sociolinguistic approaches to study bidialectalism. Other contributions to the study of AAVE are especially crucial in terms of field studies. He focused his research on the sociocultural aspects of language and the various ways that humans perceive them. He argues that the U.S has traditionally used the more fixed perception of teaching Standard English as it is understood from an academic perspective ignoring the culture of African Americans.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson (1997) is another scholar selected for this essay. His contribution to this essay is the way an approach to language diversity in relation to the African American culture is negatively developed during the Ebonics discussions prevalent decades ago. His main points are on the ways that discussions of Ebonics might have been used to perpetuate stereotypes rather than to advance the discussion in a positive, enlightening manner.Hutchinson has added to the existing knowledge in the field as it relates to AAVE, racial prejudice, and institutional racism, as it may be viewed in the education system.Hutchinson explains the controversy in such a way that it is clear precisely what the issues were and why AAVE has progressed considerably since that time.
References
Carlin, A. (2016). The courtroom as white space: Racial performance as noncredibility. UCLA Law Review, 63, 449-484. https://www.uclalawreview.org/courtroom-white-space-racial-performance-noncredibility/.
Hutchinson, E.O. (1997). The fallacy of Ebonics. The Black Scholar, 27(1), 36-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.1997.11430839.
Sealey-Ruiz, Y. (2006, March). Spoken soul: The language of Black imagination and reality. In The Educational Forum. Taylor & Francis Group.
Walters, A. (2018). Race, language, and performance in American legal space: Rachel Jeantel, testimonial truth, and the George Zimmerman Trial. [Doctoral Dissertation, Georgetown University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
Wolfram, W. (1998). Language ideology and dialect: Understanding the Oakland Ebonics controversy. Journal of English Linguistics, 26(2), 108-121. https://doi.org/10.1177/007542429802600203.