Viral Local News Celebrities: Are We Laughing with or Laughing at?
Is spreading and remixing someone’s speech patterns mockery? You’ve heard it said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Linguistically, no form of speech is “worse” or “better” than another, and I think that AAVE (African-American Vernacular English) is beautiful, like some people think British accents sound nice, or what have you. Perhaps many of the people viewing this are having a good laugh at Charles’ expense. But I think it’s very possible for modern folk to enjoy his delivery...