"Proper" or "Ghetto"

“Proper” and “Ghetto”

Let’s be honest here, we all know that the way we talk in front of our friends is way different from the way we talk around our parents, teachers and other authorities. I know mine is. When I’m talking or texting my friends our conversations sound more like this.

“Yo whatchu doing today?”

“I don’t know, what you trynna do?”

Oh yeahh, that’s the language. This may look very familiar to some people. But we all know once we start talking to our mother’s, the conversation has to change to something a little more like this:

“Hey mom, what are you doing today?

“I’m not sure, what do you want to do today”

The difference is very easy to see. Why we do this, is very clear. It’s not that they don’t know what were saying, it all comes down to who you are. But why not talk the same way to everyone? When it comes to language, age, race and gender has everything to do with it. For some reason, when it comes down to speaking, everything changes.

Since I’m a teen, female and African American from Philly, people tend to think that my sentences should sound more like this:

“Hey, you know whatchu doing on the jawn.”

From my point of view, this can be seen as a stereotype but to others, it could just be the way they grew up and heard a person of these characteristics speak, which to them can be seen as normal. Now when others tend to see a person of the same characteristics speak more like this, especially to another peer, it could leave many shocked faces:

“Excuse me, do you fully understand what you are doing on this?”

This statement doesn’t say much but, it seems way better than the first sentence and it shows that this person may have more of an “educated” side to them, this too is a stereotype. By both speaking in different ways, someone could put the label on that the first statement is “ghetto” and the other sounds more “white”, when realistically they just have different ways of speaking. Now that they have both shown their speaking styles, their colors no longer matter, leaving them to now be judged off of their language. 

            As we all know, there are two categories of speech in this world. “Proper” and “Ghetto”. It doesn’t matter what language we speak, every language has these two categories. That’s just the thing, both of these things we’re not invented to be a type of speech, especially ghetto. “Ghetto” truly means a part of a city, a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups. Not once did it say anything about language, so where did we get this from and why do we mostly use it to signify African Americans? The answer lies within the same reason people signify the term “That’s so gay” as a way of saying something isn’t cool or normal to them. Just as people don’t like that term, well black people don’t always like to be called ghetto. It’s all about the way people address things.

            When it comes to my speaking, I like to mix them all together. I don’t really have a particular language when it comes down to speaking to other people, I guess it all depends on the person and the kind of conversation we’re having.

Neighborhood friends:

“Yo, what time you coming out?”

“I’m not sure yet, what time you gonna be out

 I like to talk the way I talk but that can only happen when I feel comfortable, as of everyone. No one should have to change the way speak because their scared that someone will judge them by the way they talk. This is why I feel as though the way I speak is one of my identities., this is everyone’s identity when they take the time to think realize it.