The most recent Saturday Night Live episode, hosted by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, drew heated controversy on Twitter.
The "Gen Z Hospital" skit delved into slang, attributed by the show to Gen Z. However, people online criticized the show for its poor execution and mislabeling what most in the Black community would identify as African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) that's since been appropriated by white teenagers.
The video shows a group of mostly white actors playing teenagers at the hospital, anxiously waiting to hear how their "bestie" is doing.
"Don't be pressed, the doctor will be in shorty bro, deadass," one of the characters stated.
The cybersphere, had their own thoughts on the Gen Z sketch, which received a 2-star rating from entertainment news website, Vulture.
Say it with me.
AAVE. IS. NOT. GEN. Z. LANGUAGE. ???? https://t.co/sbJ73HEifN
— CEEBEE ! (@CriticalBard) May 9, 2021
and y’all wonder why i’m hateful https://t.co/N7wbYiF5m0
— jay (@JAYVERSACE) May 9, 2021
AAVE is not = Gen Z. AAVE is a cluster of dialects in which there are generational differences, especially in vocabulary, just as there are within any dialect of a language. And most white Gen-Zers are not fluent in AAVE. This sounds like a bunch of people faking French accents. https://t.co/KazVQMd4Kv
— Mangy Jay (@magi_jay) May 9, 2021
the misuse of aave and calling it "gen z talk" is embarrassing pic.twitter.com/ZGzzOehkq3
— Luci ⧗ (@luciferverse) May 9, 2021
According to Feminuity, AAVE, also known as Black Vernacular English (BVE) is often used out of context in an effort to be "relevant, relatable, or for credibility." Amid the rise of social media, AAVE has become a commodity for non-Black people to use in both online and personal conversations.
1. the misplaced black vernacular is horrible
2. jesus christ their acting is terrible
3. defund and abolish SNL. its been over for like 25 yrs. https://t.co/XXmK09VZJX— zahira???? (@bad_dominicana) May 9, 2021
yeah no, this is unacceptable. AAVE is NOT Gen Z slang, it’s NOT twitter slang, and it’s definitely a form of appropriation when used like this so thanks for mocking Black culture.
if a bunch of millennials can do the research, i know SNL can too ⬇️ https://t.co/Vm6hJvRWfU
— chyenne tatum ⍟ (@chyandblack) May 9, 2021
the appropriation of AAVE by white people is gross, the mislabeling of AAVE as a "Gen Z phenomenon" is also gross, but on top of that, the SNL skit reads like they just pulled a list of terms from UrbanDictionary and sprinkled them in, not caring that AAVE has a defined grammar! https://t.co/4Og94adTJw
— Aditya Mukerjee, the Otterrific ???? ????️???? (@chimeracoder) May 9, 2021
Normalize gatekeeping AAVE. https://t.co/0iTi0sqGDy
— Bri ???? (@storymodebae) May 9, 2021
this was so painful for the racism (misusing aave and calling it gen z language) and the fact they're trying to make fun of gen z in a way only old crusty bitches will laugh at https://t.co/HAgKipCcWB
— river || blm and acab ✨ (@localferalchild) May 9, 2021
So y'all wrote a script, acted out, rehearsed, and recorded this sketch, and still saw nothing wrong with it? pic.twitter.com/a6eYxePjlD
— Jammie ;; {????} (@jammiemulti) May 9, 2021
AAVE originated in the American South in the 17th and 18th centuries, coinciding with the first 100 years of British colonization according to Oxford Handbooks Online. Despite its origins, AAVE rose to prominence in the South during slavery, and made its way across the country during The Great Migration per PBS.
"In the large cities you had spatial segregation but you also had the formation of separate communities often with a kind of oppositional culture to the rest of the U.S. This created an ideal context for African American Vernacular English to develop along a sort of separate track," linguist Guy Bailey told PBS.
According to the Linguistics Society of America, AAVE is derived from two possible sources: some linguists contend that the vernacular stems from the combination of nonstandard English used by indentured servants mixed with African colloquialisms while the two groups interacted, and others assert that the dialect originated from exclusively African language structures.
"The Black folk who learned to speak English learned to speak it from English people who were ignorant themselves, historian and kemetologist, Anthony Browder, said on BET's The Breakdown during a March episode focused on "Black English."
"But even within us adapting this foreign language, this oppressive language, there were methods of speaking and communicating that were part of the African culture that we use to dress up this language, to give feeling and soul to this language…It is because of the energy that emanates from the body that gives life to the words that transform the consciousness of the people hearing those words," he added.