They are every bit as essential to the vitality of black slang as is the presence of the mainstream American cultural scene. This also means that, even when there is relatively little direct outside contact or communication between African Americans and other American social and racial subgroups, cross-fertilization by way of television or whatever is essential for the continuation of a private black alternative language one that is, to some extent, destined to return to the white public arena from which it was borrowed. Most African Americans, like most Americans of any ethnic group, are skilled in what is called the common American culture and the American language is the instrument of that culture. Each group s individual cultural identity is essentially established through the bond of its own distinctive expression. As is the case for other subcultures, African Americans are also skilled in their own racial culture.
Informal speech is part of that culture, and they have many effective uses for informal speech.
In daily life there are situations so sensitive or painful that slang often seems the only way to deal with them. One of the primary functions of this language is its quest to create a coherent cultural construct of positive self-images. Though many of the words and phrases may sound harsh and even obscene to outsiders, the language is essential to the cultural enrichment of African Americans. Black speakers, in self-mockery, can call each other nigger and, in a sense, make null and void racial slurs of white bigots. As James Baldwin often said, I told you first.