Black English for Lawyers: A Primer

Lawyers do not know as much about Black English as they should, and people’s freedom hangs in the balance. Differences between language varieties in sounds and grammar can change and have changed the outcome of cases: “He at work” and “He be at work” mean two completely different things. To reduce misinterpretation and therefore wrongful outcomes, this Article provides a primer on the sounds, words, grammar, and social context of Black English targeted directly at legal practitioners. It begins by explaining key concepts in linguistics and making the case for why lawyers must foreground accurate description over normative prescription when facing nonstandard language. The Article then systematically walks through the most important phonological (sounds), lexical (vocabulary), and grammatical features of Black English that are prone to misinterpretation, such as vowel mergers, consonant cluster reduction, habitual “be,” and quotatives like “talkin’ bout.” It explains terminology along the way. Learning requires repetition and exposure, and because the goal here is to teach lawyers rather than to do formal linguistic analysis, the Article provides numerous real-world examples from sources like Twitter, rap lyrics, and linguistics literature to illustrate usage and common points of confusion. The Article has a companion website that also allows learners to listen to authentic speech. The Article also delves into some controversial social aspects of Black English. The law should recognize that there is a difference between calling someone “a REAL nigga” and “a real NIGGA” and understand which usages of “bitch” are more probative of misogynistic beliefs. The Article also considers the lawyer’s role. Finally, but most importantly, while this discussion deals with specifics, it also shows a more general point about language: to merely summarily cite a dictionary or other general source (like this Article) for the meaning of an utterance is not to take language seriously. Language is mercurial and diverse, and discovering the plausible range of meanings requires more work than often imagined. But the law must — if it is to be just.