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so true <3
(lemmy.blahaj.zone)
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this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2025
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Trans Memes
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Hey, uh, please don't appropriate AAE.
Edit: Thanks so much for listening to us!
Edit 2: To all the people still arguing about this: Enough! We said all that we are going to say on the matter, if any care that much they should also go listen to black people, research history, language, colonialism. We get it, people don't like their 'toys' being taken away for no reward beyond being a good person, but it's the right thing to do.
Are you actually a black person in real life? This sounds like white-knighting but correct me if I'm wrong. If you wanted to talk about appropriating sacred symbols or minimizing centuries of suffering that's one thing but....language is meant to be used? Is the goal here to make some sort of insular language community that is inscrutable to outsiders?
No, we just listen to black people.
hey so, as a trans person who sometimes sees cis people trying to "defend" the trans community in unwanted and unhelpful ways - could you like, ask someone who's black first if what you're doing is helpful? especially things like this
because it looks to me that you could be misinterpreting the issue and possibly causing more harm than good
No, because asking black people for every specific situation is putting more labour on them and probably would cause them more harm.
Those of us who were raised in white 'culture' need to listen to black people (as we have) and call this stuff out or in. It shouldn't be black people's job all the time to either or both call it out/in or answer our inane questions.
We are also trans and would not want to explain every specific situation either, it would get overwheling, and we wouldn't feel very good having to see every transphobic etc instance either. It should be on cis people who understand to stand up for us. Sadly they likely would get pushback from other cis people also, but that shouldn't stop them.
so you just assumed black people want you to do something, without ever asking or confirming if that's what they want because you don't want them to experience more "labour" and "harm".
That's the definition of white knighting, and is incredibly patronising. Do better
Also, you as a white american might not think that you have any meaningful culture, idc about that. But do not make blanket statments implying the entire race of white people have no culture because what?
What black person has requested this? Who is we?
I believe they are using we to refer to themselves, theypossibly a system, though I’m not super versed in that.
It's an established meme phrase, I would be reluctant to call it appropriation at this point. It's just a phrase that's made it into general circulation.
No, it is, it came from AAE, it being a 'meme phrase' doesn't change that.
Online culture is inextricable from american and thus black culture, asking people to not use decade old memes won't be fruitful. It'd be like asking someone with dreads to change their hair to make you more comfortable.
sighs
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines cultural appropriation as "the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the practices, customs, or aesthetics of one social or ethnic group by members of another (typically dominant) community or society". This act carries connotations of exploitation and dominance, particularly when a more powerful culture adopts elements from a marginalized or non-Western one. The term emerged in the context of post-colonial critique and gained traction in the late 20th century.
Anyone would, if asked say the phrase came from AAVE so it is acknowledged
It first became part of mainstream vocabulary through streaming and memes so it is an appropriate use of the phrase.
It is not meant to be exploitative or to establish dominance.
Making "it do be like that" memes meets none of the prerequisites for cultural appropriation because, primarily it's use is not meant to belittle the black American population. However the "we wuz kangs" meme popular on 4chan definitely is. There is a clear difference between the two and not acknowledging that means people start to se all things dubbed as cultural appropriation as equally inconsequential.
Genuine acts of appropriation are harmful and you shouldn't cheapen the term by associating it with harmless memes.
If you don't see how this instance exactly fits the definition of cultural appropriation then we don't think this is going to be a useful conversation.
It isn't even AAE, it's using the "emphatic do". Like "I do sing really good".
Nothing to do with "I be singing", which would be the AAE form of "I sing".
In this case, instead of "it is like that" the "is" becomes "do be" (although the correct form would be "does be").
Believe me, I understand cultural appropriation. Symbolism from my own country's history are now more closely associated with white nationalism than their original use.
AAE?
African American English, though usually there is a v in there, aave. Vernacular would be the v.
Lots and lots and lots of popular phrases have actually originated from black people online. I guess off the air isn’t a big fan of others using it
The more I see people demanding people stop using AAE online under the presumption they're appropriating culture, assuming they "grew up in white culture" as offtheair said further down. The more I feel this is attempts at invalidating AAE as a language again.
It's the same mentality that originally gave that its somehow incorrect language, as in the "vernacular" distinction they also made further down.
The people saying its meme words are missing the point, but so is anyone whos under the assumption that cultures don't mix, that people dont pick up words, sayings, and ways of speaking from the people they spend time around.
I just see more and more people making assumptions online and demanding people "speak correctly for their race" which is a whole can of worms from the past being repackaged in new wrapping paper.
We literally have seen black people say don't take our words, and only black people can speak like this/say these words, are you saying they were wrong to want that?
Also, cultures mixing doesn't work like this, it isn't taken, but given freely.
Edit: As we said, it harkens back to a long history of colonialism and people taking things that aren't theirs.
Edit 2: Also, no, one culture only being allowed to use a langauge isn't the source of its invalidation it's 'official' forces like school, government etc not recognising it as a langauge, not people saying it shouldn't be appropriated, you're still welcome to learn and understand it, just don't use it. It really is that simple.
Edit 3: Also people online taking it and changing it to fit their own needs, using it to the point parody, not recognising that black people invented it, and saying it's a 'meme' also invalidates it as a language. It's literally a language they needed to create in order to survive, having it memeified is disgusting and misses its entire point.
African American English (also called Black English), the V, or Vernacular, was dropped as that implies it's not a real language. "It be like that" comes from there: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitual_be and a lot of people, mostly white people, both appropriated it and use it incorrectly.
Sadly, a lot of people appropriated a lot of AAE/Black English online and use it indiscriminately and usually incorrectly, though it being online just makes it easier to do, it definitely happened before the internet (cool is AAE for example).
Racists usually like to come out of the wood work whenever this is brought up and say that it's their right to use whatever they want, harkening back to years of colonialism etc where oppressive powers thought it was their god given right to take from and destroy land, culture etc.
Is "so true" AAE?
No. Our Edit 2 is to the people still talking about this.
Edit: Also this was about something else that has been changed since.