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I would have to say that many AA's in St. Louis, Kansas City, and Chicago DO have a Southern accent becuase of migration from Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas. You don't hear many AA's in Chicago with a nasally Great Lakes accent. However, in Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo that Great Lakes is often heard in AA's.
It's heard but it the Southern accent is still very much there in Black American's sometimes more than Great Lakes. Detroiters mostly came from Alabama and Tennessee as well as Ohio. Mostly Missisippians, Arkansans, and people from Western Tennessee went to St. Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Texans went to California like you said.
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Unlike many general speech patterns in Florida, where Southern accents are usually lost south of Ocala, many AA's have Southern accents throughout the entire state. Most of the AA's in Central and South Florida are not recent migrants to the area, and many ancestors of many natives are actually migrants from other areas of the South.
I respectfully disagree. I have family in South Florida and they all have a Southern accent. They have the drawl, the speech, and the way of life equal to that of any other Southern area. It's starting to die out in Miami due to there not being that many Black Americans there compared to the Black Caribbean's outnumbering them down there.
True, many blacks from Detroit (as well as Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Grand Rapids, Lansing, etc.) sound very southern, at least to me. They even say y'all and things along those lines. They certainly don't sound like they're from Michigan or anywhere in the Great Lakes.
Blacks from suburban areas, rural areas, and those with higher levels of education sound like typical Michiganders. I know many people from these backgrounds, myself included, who have no accent whatsoever, and certainly don't sound "black" or southern.
True, most blacks speak some form of AAVE, which itself is an offshoot of Southern American English.
Many middle to upper class blacks either lack AAVE entirely, or are able to code switch and turn it "off" when appropriate.
An interesting aside: In the working class parts of Fort Wayne, you can find whites who speak a watered down form of AAVE, either because they live in an area of people whose ancestors were predominantly Southern, or because they grew up around and went to school with blacks who retained their Southern accents (likely the latter).
As for me--I save my AAVE for the crib, and turn it off when I'm at work!
True, most blacks speak some form of AAVE, which itself is an offshoot of Southern American English.
Many middle to upper class blacks either lack AAVE entirely, or are able to code switch and turn it "off" when appropriate.
I lack it entirely! I couldn't speak it if I tried. I speak Standard American English with a typical Northern Midwest accent. No one in my family speaks in AAVE either.
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An interesting aside: In the working class parts of Fort Wayne, you can find whites who speak a watered down form of AAVE, either because they live in an area of people whose ancestors were predominantly Southern, or because they grew up around and went to school with blacks who retained their Southern accents (likely the latter).
As for me--I save my AAVE for the crib, and turn it off when I'm at work!
Interesting. Of course, to me, being from Michigan, all Hoosiers sound like they have a slight Southern accent.
ckhthankgod - Are you Scotian by any chance? Your a fountain of info on Black Scotians - pretty impressive for an American...
No, but I became interested once I found out about the Black community there and it's history during a Canadian Politics class in college.
Also, I found out that many of the people of that community have ties to the South, with South Carolina, where my mother is from, contributing many in the first wave of Black Loyalists.
No, but I became interested once I found out about the Black community there and it's history during a Canadian Politics class in college.
Also, I found out that many of the people of that community have ties to the South, with South Carolina, where my mother is from, contributing many in the first wave of Black Loyalists.
It really is a fascinating history of war/migration/racism and survival... It is a shame that many people in Canada only know 1/2 the story... If they know it at all!
It really is a fascinating history of war/migration/racism and survival... It is a shame that many people in Canada only know 1/2 the story... If they know it at all!
Exactly and I have contributed information to the Black Canadians article in Wikipedia because of the lack of attention given to such a strong sense of hisory and community they have.
Another wave I found out about was the wave of Blacks from Oklahoma and Great Plains state that came to Saskatchewan and Alberta in the early 1900's. Some of those that descended from that group of people still live in those provinces, with most seemingly living in the Edmonton area. A couple of people that descended from that wave of people are former NFL RB Rueben Mayes and former Canadian sprinter Harry Jerome.
People also forget about the strong Black communities in Southwestern Ontario too. Actually, Amherstburg has a Black mayor and a Black cultural museum. Windsor, across from Detroit has long had a Black community that has rotts from Black runaway slaves. Dresden is around 12% Black and also has had a long Black history. Same with Chatham, which is where Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins is from. Inventor Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester and was the son of runaways from Kentucky, where many of the runaways came from along with Tennessee. Ebony did an article on North Buxton, a rural community with a long Black history.
I also for got about the travesty called the removal of Africville in Halifax, which was an all-Black settlement of about 400 people that the city cleared for a bridge.
To go back on topic, check out the lack of accent from this group of people from Dresden back in the mid 50's and the people from the Owen Sound area:NFB - Across Cultures
Exactly and I have contributed information to the Black Canadians article in Wikipedia because of the lack of attention given to such a strong sense of hisory and community they have.
Another wave I found out about was the wave of Blacks from Oklahoma and Great Plains state that came to Saskatchewan and Alberta in the early 1900's. Some of those that descended from that group of people still live in those provinces, with most seemingly living in the Edmonton area. A couple of people that descended from that wave of people are former NFL RB Rueben Mayes and former Canadian sprinter Harry Jerome.
People also forget about the strong Black communities in Southwestern Ontario too. Actually, Amherstburg has a Black mayor and a Black cultural museum. Windsor, across from Detroit has long had a Black community that has rotts from Black runaway slaves. Dresden is around 12% Black and also has had a long Black history. Same with Chatham, which is where Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins is from. Inventor Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester and was the son of runaways from Kentucky, where many of the runaways came from along with Tennessee. Ebony did an article on North Buxton, a rural community with a long Black history.
I also for got about the travesty called the removal of Africville in Halifax, which was an all-Black settlement of about 400 people that the city cleared for a bridge.
To go back on topic, check out the lack of accent from this group of people from Dresden back in the mid 50's and the people from the Owen Sound area:NFB - Across Cultures
Once again - great post with good info. I'm starting to think you work for the national film board though!!!!
--Offtopic--
The Africville evictions are a pretty well known event in Canada. I remember learing about it in high school.
As for the black community in Ontario and else where - I think they have been almost completly eclipsed by the much larger (and later arrived) West Indian/Carribean community.
I think many of the African-American decendant communities have either assimilated into the larger West Indian immigrant communities in the larger cities, or disapeared into "White Canadian" society through marriage etc...
I remember reading an article about a SW Ontario town with a black past, where many of the "white" residents were keen on suppressing history, especially in regards to genealogy.
Only the Black Nova Scotian community has any real presence.
Blacks in every city have southern sounding accents. Some are thicker than others. The only place I have lived where blacks DO NOT sound southern at all is NYC, Jersey and Boston. In DC and Baltimore, there is a mix of north and south. They say Brova for brother and farva for father just like in NY but they are drag out the R's. Murland for Maryland and urea for area. In Baltimore, they say Dug for Dog. Its a Midatlantic accent if anything because it's not all the way northern or southern. In Philly, you can hear some of it but it is more Jerseyish. In Virginia, especially the Tidewater region, you can hear it. Notable African Amercans with the Midatlantic accent. Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, Dave Chappelle, Taraji P. Henson, Martin Lawrence, Carmelo Anthony.
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