African American Communication

COM 370/372

John R. Baldwin

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klxGFAnY4nI

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G43-J6wfFbY

• Hooked on Ebonics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj3qeMNs7h4

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EvR3_S23KM

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Some Key Points

• Communication interacts with history, cultural values, and surrounding contexts

• Some of what we find about African American identities and communication may apply to other identities

• Cultural values and communication styles “guide but do not dictate” identities of individuals, with many in a group not holding to these values and styles

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5

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/44289999/US-Black-or-African-American-Population-by-State-Percent

Some questions

• Is there such a thing as “Black” communication?– If so, what is it?– What are some possible

limitations of thinking in terms of “Black” communication?

– Why does it exist?• Deficit hypothesis• Difference hypothesis

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Limits on “Racial” Generalizations

• More difference within than between: Different ways of living out blackness (etc.)

• Ethnicity or ethnicities

• The role of social economic status(S. Hall, 1992; Asante, 1987;

Halbserstadt, 1985)

Houston & Wood

• “Race” as a social and political construction.

• “Although mythical and arbitrary,” “race” has real impact

• “Disparate opportunities and status” Standpoint

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• Standpoint theory– Different knowledges of the

world, all incomplete– Some groups have “better”

knowledge than others• Subordinate must know dominant

• Dominant doesn’t want to know..

– It is worth our while to understand the perspectives of disadvantaged groups…

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• “Class” as culture?

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Historical Contexts

• What are some key historical contexts that have influenced African American values and communication style?– Slavery

• Western Africa• Central Africa

– Institutional racism• Segregation (de facto & de jure)• Jim Crow laws• Discrimination (continued)

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Social Institutions:

How do these institutions shape African American experience?

• Church• FamilyConnections to Heritage• Africanisms• AfrocentrismCultural artifacts• Music• Dance, etc.

Racial Differences in Communication

• A deeper look: Values• Some African

American Values– Community– Authenticity– Personal Expression– Goal accomplishment

(mutual social support)– Acceptance/Equality

(Johnson, 2002; Hecht, Ribeau, & Jackson, 2003)

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Questions on themes

• How do you see these played out in African American culture?

• How might they lead to miscommunication when used with Whites?

• How do they relate to historical, social, economic contexts of Blacks in America?

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Influence on all of American Culture

“The more that cross-over occurs, the more every person who is not African American becomes increasingly African American; this is the course of cultures in contact” (Johnson, 1992, p. 121)

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AAVE

• What is it?

• Why be aware of it?

• Who uses it?

• Is it growing or receding?

• Why does it exist?– “Deficiency” hypothesis– “Community” hypothesis– “Resistance” hypothesis

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Discourse Patterns

• Phonology (sounds) (pp. 141ff)– L-lessness: /toe/ v. /told/– R-lessness: /fot/ v. /fort/– Weakening of final consonants: /res/

v. /rest/– Substitution of voiceless /th/: /dere/

v. /there/– -ang/-ing substitution– /-ks/ substitution for /-sk/: axxe– /gon/ for ‘going to’: /she was gon go

home/

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Discourse Patterns• Semantic:

– Crossovers– Different feeling based on speaker?

• Syntactic (grammatical structure):– Habitual “be/bees”– Remote time “been”– Absence of “be” copula– “Done” constructions– Unmarked plurality– Unmarked past tense– Zero 3rd-person singular: She run…– Multiple negation

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Modes of (Pragmatic) Discourse

• Indirection (form of criticism)• Emphatic language routines: Woofin’,

signifying, braggadocio • The “dozens,” dissin’, talking trash• Call response (sermonic form)• Tonal semantics• Narrative story style (experience as logic)

• Rap (and “rappin’”)• Women’s discourse• Dissimulation

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Implications

• Have you seen any of these forms reflected in your own conversations with those of different races?

• How might some of the issues surrounding African American values and communication relate to other marginalized groups in America?

Racial Differences in Communication

• Race > Black/White

• Some cultural differences– Conflict styles

– Directness (Kochman)

– Eye contact

– Space & touch

– Questions (Shuter)

What happens in “intercultural” interaction?

• Disconnect in values and, thus, in communication

• Attribution (based on own view)

• A model of conflict in the workplace

• Adjusting. . . And misadjusting!

• Code-Switching• Hyperexplanation

(Gallois et al., 2005; Waters, 1992)

Communication Accommodation Theory

Accommodation:• Convergence• Divergence• Maintenance

Channels• V/NV/Paralanguage

Factors• Goals• Social structure• Abilities• Norms

Communication Accommodation Theory

Accommodation:

• Adaptors

• Expressiveness

• Interruptions

• Smiles

Attributions?(Booth-Butterfield & Jordan,

1990; Houston, 2003)

Luster 25

Research: Results & Implications(Booth-Butterfield & Jordan, 1989)

Results: Behaviors by Race & Group Results: Behaviors by Race & Group CompositionComposition

HomogenousHomogenous HeterogeneousHeterogeneous

BlackBlack WhiteWhite BlackBlack WhiteWhite

SmilingSmiling 46.746.7 25.7825.78 28.728.7 47.3347.33

AdaptorsAdaptors 6.66.6 9.899.89 5.35.3 9.119.11

InterruptInterrupt 5.45.4 1.781.78 2.32.3 1.551.55

ExpressiveExpressive 11.8611.86 8.868.86 10.4310.43 9.22 9.22

Co-Cultural Theory: IR Comm & Power

Separation Accommodation Assimilation

Nonassertive •Avoiding•Maintaining interpersonal barriers

•Increasing visibility•Dispelling stereotypes

•Emphasizing commonalities•Averting controversy

Assertive •Intragroup networking•Exemplifying strengths

•Using liaisons•Educating others

•Extensive preparation•Overcompensating

Aggressive •Attacking•Sabotaging

•Confronting•Gaining advantage

•Mirroring•Strategic Distancing

M. P. Orbe, M. P. (1998) Constructing co-cultural theory: An explication of culture, power, and communication. Thousand

Oaks: Sage.

Co-Cultural Theory: IR Comm & Power

• Six “universal influences”– Preferred outcomes (identity

goals)– Communication orientation– Field of experience– Situational context– Perceived costs and rewards– Abilities

M. P. Orbe, M. P. (1998) Constructing co-cultural theory: An explication of culture, power, and communication. Thousand

Oaks: Sage.