Speaking Black Dialect in Courtrooms Can Have Striking Consequences - Faith Wangermann

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/us/black-dialect-courtrooms.html

In an article written by John Eligon, published by the New York Times on January 25, 2019, the details of a study on the usage of black dialects, referred to as African American English, in the courtroom are analyzed. In one Philadelphia court, a court reported transcribed the phrase "He don't be in that neighborhood" as "we going to be in this neighborhood", meaning exactly the opposite of the original phrase. Numerous examples like this one have been found in a soon to be published study that shows "African American English" is transcribed incorrectly very often. This can harm the defendant and is a form of unintentional discrimination. This sort of discrimination is similar to that seen in the early 20th century and late 19th century in the whole country. Discrimination and segregation cause divides in the development of language that have lasting effects even today.