标准腔既是阶梯也可能被当成叛变

父母要 Michelle 和 Craig 把音发全：going 不要说成 goin’，isn’t 不要说成 ain’t。家里楼梯间放着词典和一套金字书脊的大英百科。遇词、遇概念、遇一段历史，先去书架上找。

Our parents had drilled into us the importance of using proper diction, of saying “going” instead of “goin’” and “isn’t” instead of “ain’t.” We were taught to finish off our words. They bought us a dictionary and a full Encyclopedia Britannica set, which lived on a shelf in the stairwell to our apartment, its titles etched in gold. Any time we had a question about a word, or a concept, or some piece of history, they directed us toward those books.

这套训练后来成了通行证，也成了麻烦。说得太“白”，有人会听成背叛，听成自以为高人一等，听成否认自己的文化。

Yet it also could be problematic. Speaking a certain way—the “white” way, as some would have it—was perceived as a betrayal, as being uppity, as somehow denying our culture.

堂亲在门廊上不自觉抛来的怀疑，后来会以更大的声音落到 Barack 身上：

America would bring to Barack Obama the same questions my cousin was unconsciously putting to me that day on the stoop: Are you what you appear to be? Do I trust you or not?

语言在这里不只是工具。它标出你可能去的房间，也标出谁还肯认你是自己人。群体规范：人会模仿亲近者、多数和强者 解释人为什么会向显性标准靠拢；这张卡补的是另一面：靠拢成功以后，旧圈子可能把你的嘴本身当成证据，怀疑你已经站到对面去了。

Born a Crime 里，语言常常是跨过肤色围栏的梯子。两边都承认话怎么说会改命运。差别在于，Trevor Noah 更多写语言打开的门；Michelle Obama 还写了门后回望时，有人觉得你不该那样说话。

Michelle Obama，《Becoming》

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