Saturday Night Live is under fire for its latest episode — and we’re not talking about host Elon Musk’s hosting chops, either. Saturday’s telecast featured a scene titled “Gen Z Hospital” that appeared to poke fun at the proliferation of Gen Z colloquialisms across the internet, but what Black Twitter (a sub-community largely consisting of African American users on the social network Twitter focused on issues of interest to the Black community, particularly in the United States) witnessed was yet another act of appropriation in mainstream media.
The skit in question followed four Gen Zers — with pastel-colored hair and wearing the modern revisionism of cheugy swag — awaiting the news on their “bestie” who got into a car accident while on Instagram Live. After talking to the neon-haired nurse, who remarked “Don’t be pressed. The doctor will be in shortly bro, dead*ss,” the cast’s dialogue quickly spirals into a glaring example of how internet slang has co-opted a distinct vernacular. From advising that the doctor (played by Musk) was “gone catch hands on gang” to blurting out of “no cap,” “sis,” and “cuh,” the show’s consistent left turns are apparent and for anyone remotely fluent in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), it felt like hearing the jumbled language of beginning try-hard learners who are overly confident in their abilities.
This is why black people (AA) want to gatekeep aave. Aave isn’t some funny internet language created by some teens on TikTok nor is it slang, it’s a whole dialect with its own rules. Black people have been literally speaking like this during slavery of course-
— My @ makes no sense (@MTimmitjr) May 9, 2021
One Black Twitter user wrote, “This is why black people (AA) want to gatekeep Aave. Aave isn’t some funny internet language created by some teens on TikTok nor is it slang, it’s a whole dialect with its own rules. Black people have been literally speaking like this during slavery. Of course, more words have been added and changed but still Aave is a part of Black culture.” AAVE isn’t a vernacular that was birthed out of the Internet’s inception. It is a harmonious blend of African and Caribbean Creole dialects brought to the Western Hemisphere via slavery. Over time, this creolized English has been a form of communication and cultural survival for a community that has been admonished to supplant their native tongue with “proper English.” Another user tweeted, “Love the relabelling of AAVE and a few assorted BLACK LGBTQ+ phrases as “Gen Z” speak. Love to see the erasure in real time.” And that is exactly what the long-running comedy platformed: erasure.
love the relabelling of AAVE and a few assorted BLACK LGBTQ+ phrases as "Gen z" speak. love to see the erasure in real time. https://t.co/FQvG7HXWgb
— embalming fluid (@kewashere) May 9, 2021
The conflation of AAVE with internet language has long existed. We’ve seen how “on fleek,” “slay,” and “go off, sis” was quickly swept into the go-to lexicon to appear hip. Even recently, Black TikTok creators whose ingenuity fuel the dance crazes on the app become mislabelled and de-platformed. Though they have yet to release an official statement, SNL allowing its platform to bolster the appropriation of Black culture in such a magnitude is callous at best.
