Sorry, folks. When I am hiring employees, it's a turn off to hear incorrect english. Using english this way advertises a lack of basic education, and this is what mainstream america disrespects. I also had a young white woman come in to apply for work, she was dressed fine, but she had a broken off mercedes emblem on a chain around her neck. While this might be a fashion statement accepted anywhere else, to me, it said, "I am a thief". I drive an 80's vintage Benz, and got tired of replacing the emblem on my car after getting it ripped off several times.

It's about image, and I don't care what color you are. If you are working with our customers, I want a professional image conveyed, period.

Recently arriving from Germany and holding a position which requires professional discourse with clients all over the U.S., I am expected to communicate effectively. You are not the only ones, by the way, who are teased about accents ! Alot of it is meant as lighthearted and I can choose to accept that, although...like the writer I wince inside, I take the high road and accept it.
However I take pride in my employer and do the job required and concur strongly that mispronunciation is not acceptable on the job....and to equate it with 'dialect' is simply ludicrous.....there is proper English, technical English, and the English spoken with friends. I would consider it a point of pride acumen, and accomplishment that one can move between them.
Americans seem to have a case of terminal uniqueness.....in Germany we have an overabundance different dialects so pronounced that after merely a few words I can almost pinpoint what part of a city in what region the person hails from.
Let's remember that not all well meant advice and differing expectations are based in prejudice or bigotry, but what is proper for the situation at the moment.
Tonight I will be on the phone with my girlfriend in the Pankow district of Berlin speaking our version of 'street' and switch gears again tomorrow.

I think that we all should do our best to speak correctly; when the time calls for it. There are professional ways to talk while on a job, just as there are ways we speak to friends and family. True, some at the top of the ladder look down on "regular work folk". Though I agree with an earlier post that the lower class whites will get treated the same if the speak slang, etc..

Who's to say what is or is not proper english. English to black people is a broken language due to the fact that when our ancestors were slaves they weren't taught properly, so for us to have our own dialect then I'm all for it. We can talk just as proper as them or not and there's no ignorance on our part because at the end of the day they still see us a inferior to them and any other race on this planet. Speaking "proper" english is nothing more than mental slavery making us think they we aren't on there level and pushing us to strive to be more like their culture instead of our own. If a foreigner can speak broken half ass understandable english then why the hell can't we regardless if we were born in America or not. I'm black and I'm pround that we have our own way of talking amongst each other. The less they know what were talking about the better off we are. They have copied so many different cultures and stolen their ideas but no one wants to speak on that shit......I say fuck em all.....The revolution is comin and it wont b televised......RBG 4 LIFE

WHATS THE POINT IT HAPPENS AND IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT DIALECT,AND I SO AGREE WITH WITH U MISTERJAY.WHY BE WHO U NOT GET RESPECT FROM WHO U ARE AN STOP LOOKING FROM APPROVAL FROM PEOPLE WHO WILL NEVER APROVE OF U.......MAN

As a black foreigner from Haiti, I have learned there effective communication was THE key to succeed in life. Of course, the majority of Haitians in Haiti are black; nonetheless, this does not prevent social stratification between those are educated and can effectively communicate (by effective communication, I am implying the following - read, write, & listen effectively) and those who are not educated.

There is no excuse to call it racism in Haiti since we are all black. My point is very simple; wherever you are in this world, you are going to be judged by your communication whether you like it or not. As a Haitian who immigrated to this country with no English, I become a success of the American dream even though I have a THICK accent.

It should be noted that having an ACCENT (or thick accent in my case) does not prevent you from communicating correctly and effectively. At time, I have to deal with few people who struggle to understand me; however, they cannot say that I do not speak a good English.

Let me inject another perspective; I have observed a lot of African-Americans have a tendency to view everything they do not like or fail to accomplish under the angle of racism, rather than accepting this is a very competitive society which rewards the best of the best. Thus, to be among the best, you have to horn your various skills.

Stop whining!!! LOL

Please ignore my typos!

I have less a problem with speech as I do the written language. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me when I see a co-worker, write something like "Its in the pass" when he meant, "I'ts in the past." It makes me think he slept all through those gradeschool and secondary school years. I lose respect. It tells me that he/she doesn't pay attention to details, and doesn't care enough to strain themselves to learn it correctly. So, it's not the dialect, I object to, but the lack of pride, care, and respect for doing things "right." I just like to know that at least you KNOW what is correct even if you don't actually use it commonly.

When you decide to play the corporate game, you gotta play by the rules. That's what comes with the territory. You gotta act like them, dress like them, and pretty much speak like them. It comes at a price. So they'll expect you to alter your dialect since you are representing that company and/or corporation. When African Americans decide to take back their power and stop supporting the very system that is exploiting them, then they can make their own rules and build their own corporate system. But until then, that's what it is. And it will not change.

I have to agree with a few others on this topic. Announciation plays a big role in this situtation. I am from Texas and almost everyone speaks with an acient. However, that does not mean that they all speak improperly. We speak with a twain but are capable of announciating the words correctly. While I'm around me peers I speak a certain way, but I know how to turn it off and on. Sometimes as people we don't realize how we're speaking while in relaxed settings and just because many around you say things a certain way doesn't make it correct. I think that if you're trying to get a job it would be ignorant of you to speak incorrectly and then attribute it to being the right way because of your race. Now, I must say that even while speaking perfectly I can still somehow tell for the most part when it's an afrian american. It's just the way that it is, and if an employer holds that against you what can you do? That's just racist.

Not only can your African-American dialect affect your getting hired, it can affect how seriously you are taken in a variety of environments. I've seen black citizens speak out against injustices in their communities and not be taken seriously, yet when a white community bands together, they have almost instant credibility and authorities are quick to act. The concerns are the same--these people want safe neighborhoods, they want criminals brought to justice, etc. But just the difference in dialect and socioeconomic status can affect the way people are treated.

Speaking of internationals, I have an Indian co-worker who has remarked at how differently I (an African-American woman) speak. How unlike even some of the blacks we work with. I attribute this to my upbringing. My parents were constantly on me growing up to speak proper and not to speak slang. Because of the variety of environments I was in, I learned how to be versatile and can speak slang with one group and so-called proper English in others. One question that could be asked is, who gets to say what is proper English? Why is the way a person talks automatically seen as a judgment on their intelligence, qualifications, etc.? I've seen plenty of people with bad grammar have good ideas. They may not speak the best English, but they read up on current events and politics and are knowledgeable, but because of dialect, grammar or an accent, they are minimized and marginalized. I've even had a white co-worker remark about some of the internationals that we work with that some of them just use their accent to play dumb to get over. There may be some that do that, but when we label an entire of group of people, that is wrong.

Don't care how smart or educated ya are, if ya speak like an "ijit" ya gonna be treated like one.

Ax is somethin' ya cut dix off with.
Ask is a verb.
Dialect is a different WAY of speaking the same language everyone else shares; it is NOT mispronouncing words.
No such thing as a damned "lie-berry" or ambu-lanch"

"They" (meaning the uptight asshole majority) do it to lower class whites who sound like trailer trash and they're gonna do it to ghetto-sounding Blacks. If they're hiring and firing, then it's their prerogative and no amount of our stubbornly clinging to ways to push ourselves out of the running is gonna change that.

I enjoy making them squirm, too, with my perfect English and refusal to put "those others" down. They're a bunch of assholes. I don't admire them; I just want their f***ing paychecks. There are few of them who wouldn't cut their own mothers' throats for a dollar, so they have nothing from their "culture" I want.

Firstly, I have to agree there is a huge difference between mispronunciation and dialect. The words "ask" and "ax" have a completely different meaning. True most people would be able to ascertain the correct word being used based on the context in which it was used but it is still an incorrectly used word.

I would agree that having a southern dialect can hurt a person's chances of obtaining employment and that could be a form of prejudice. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is a form of racism because all races have been affected by that particular form of prejudice.

I grew up in Wyoming and being an African-American was tough but I learned how to be a chameleon. I developed the ability to speak properly and to be articulate. This ability has served me well over my years. At the same time, I can hang wit da homiez and BS wit dem the same as I do with a Corporate boss!

The point I am making is there is a time and place for everything. We (African-Americans) have to be versatile in all situations. It may not be fair but it is the game that we play! Play it and play it well!

They can kiss the top of my ass!!! They need to try to get like us instead of us getting like them. They need to search the heavens and get the big stick outta their asses. Also they need to stop thinking Black are beneath them. People come from other countries and succeed and its because this country doesn’t value blacks still till this day. Well they are in for a treat. I am young, attractive, educated, ghetto and talented… yeah I said it EDUCATED I’d run circles around some of these mofo’s with my vocabulary and insight. So again I say… They can kiss the top of my ass crack.

Is it fair? No! Is is right? Of course not, but it is what it is, people. These are the rules of the game. We all know that. And there's no indication that the rules are going to change. We also know that there are "honorary" members of the majority society - of which Blacks and Brown folks with Spanish ancestry do not qualify. What we need to do is flip it so the rules work to our advantage. Play the game so well that we are better at it than "they" are. I LOVE the expression on some people's faces when I inform them that I'm from "the projets" in The Bronx. I typically get a "really?" or their mouths gape open. Then there's always at least one knucklehead who says something stupid like "Oh, but you're not like the 'rest of them'". To which I respond, "I AM the 'rest of them' and they are ME". Curtains close, fade to black, because they have NOTHING to say after THAT!! Oooh, I get tickled just thinking about it!!

"Play by the rules, but be ferocious" --- Phil Knight, Nike founder

Sorry for the many typos...that would be:

"Play by the rules, but be ferocious". Hopefully, you knew what I meant. Dare I say - my bad!

Much luv!

They can kiss the top of my ass!!! They need to try to get like us instead of us getting like them. They need to search the heavens and get the big stick outta their asses. Also they need to stop thinking Black are beneath them. People come from other countries and succeed and its because this country doesn't value blacks still till this day. Well they are in for a treat. I am young, attractive, educated, ghetto and talented... yeah I said it EDUCATED I'd run circles around some of these mofo's with my vocabulary and insight. So again I say... They can kiss the top of my ass crack.

There is a difference between an accent and not being able to say the word right. If you were born here, you know damn well that "Ax" is wrong, as is "birfday," "Libary" Or the ever popular inability to use one syllable words like "of" and "are" example-"Get out the car," or We ready". Jesus! Wise up, if you talk like a dumbass, people will think you are one. Period.

That was just an example she gave.

She said that she spoke proper English. My thought is, if you can't pronounce "ask" correctly, then you don't speak proper English . . .