A Twitter Spark.

Earlier today I was heated. Crazed. Militant. Ready to unleash an onslaught of pent up frustrations. Trust me when I tell you that it was B-A-D. What, might you ask, prompted this stream of emotions? Well, sadly enough, the perpetrator was Twitter. Here's what happened. I was casually scrolling down my timeline, searching for witty laugh inducers and NBA game updates, when I stumbled across the tweet that broke the camel's back. It stated, and I quote "I hate when white girls try to legitly talk black..dat shii ain't da move shawty." First of all, "legitly" isn't a word so we can already establish that the originator of this tweet is lacking where it counts. Secondly, what the hell? My response: "Well I hate when people refer to non-articulate speech as "talking black." Since when did every other race become perfectly articulate?" Here's my issue. As an African-American in what is described as modern times, I encounter a lot of racial ignorance. Granted, I was never exposed to slavery or even the climax of the Civil Rights movement as I wasn't alive during those periods BUT my frustrations are still legitimate and I assure you that tensions still exist. With this being said, I would like to direct my attention to a simple question. Why is ignorant speech so often pinned to the African American race? Are those who some coin as "white trash," perfectly educated in their speaking? Do participants of Asian gangs keep the Subject-Verb Agreement rule in mind as they banter across side streets? Does every single English speaking Hispanic form their words with perfection and intertwine the perfect twenty letter SAT term when needed? Let me answer these questions for those of you in a mental bind: No. Nein. Negative. Why then, is the inaccurate usage of one's language skills referred to as "black talk." Granted, slang infiltrates a majority of rap music by African-American artists. Slang is used in conversations. Slang may even be used in publications (whoa. GASP). But, is not some form of slang common to almost every race? Are we not allowed to loosen our hypothetical ties and chuck Grammar Mechanics 101 out the window regardless of our creed? Once again, call me answer woman: the answer is YES. True, the issue I have raised has been covered in various debates, articles, and the like. Despite these strides, however, I still hear "he/she/that dog (?) talks black" in casual conversation. Many a times, friends of mine have approached me asking "why don't you talk black???" WOW. stop. no. B-A-D. Usually, that's when they get educated and depending on how i'm feeling at the moment, it may or may not be a sweet "talking to." I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that talking in an articulate manner strayed away from the capabilities of a standard African American. Sarcasm. I appreciate your compliment. Sarcasm. I would never want to talk like a standard African American anyway. Also, Sarcasm. That sort of exchange frustrates me, although I know you probably can't tell. But here's the thing, I could easily brush it off, smile, walk away, shimmy, Harlem shake, anything other than actually address the issue. I, however, choose to address the issue. It doesn't make sense for a people weighed down with slavery, segregation, discrimination, and hardship to be pinned with yet another label. The number of educated African Americans in the United States is monumental. It shows how far we have come and how far we will go. On the ride up, I urge us all to shake off the dust that may weigh us down and bury the negative associations where they dare bloom. Think about it.