SNL Appropriates AAVE and Labels It as Gen Z Slang
In a segment called “Gen Z Hospital,” supposedly SNL poked fun at Gen Z slang, but in reality, mocked and appropriated African-American Vernacular English (AAVE). The comedians dressed like stereotypical people in Gen Z and pretended to be in a hospital waiting room while their friend or “bestie” waited on their death bed.
They crammed “real one,” “bro,” “bruh,” “no cap,” “stan,” “go off, king,” “sis,” “cuh,” “iconic” in a matter of minutes. Many of these words have entered the mainstream because it is popularized by Black people who don’t get an ounce of credit.
This Gen Z hospital skit on SNL is so stupid. I’m so tired of nonblack people throwing random AAVE terms in their sentences and calling that horse shit “Gen Z language”. pic.twitter.com/3Qhu47zyqj
— Pfizer Princess (@imanimlewis) May 9, 2021
They labeled AAVE as Gen Z slang, which made Black people feel unheard and dismissed. AAVE is not slang, it’s a dialect that Black people have been speaking since slavery to communicate with one another. Taking what’s a part of Black culture and using it as a joke is seen as offensive, ignorant, and hurtful to Black communities.
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
“I’ve been reading about how my ‘gen z’ sketch was misappropriating AAVE and I was stunned cause what the f— is ‘AAVE’? I had to look it up,” SNL co-head writer and, “Weekend Update” anchor Michael Che said. “Turns out it’s an acronym for ‘African American vernacular English.’ You know, AAVE! That ol’ saying that actual black people use in conversation all the time…”
Che has since removed the post after receiving backlash for coming to the sketches defense and dismissing the appropriation. SNL and Elon Musk, who played the doctor in the sketch and hosted the episode, has yet to make a statement regarding the topic.
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