In FACES OF CULTURE you saw some of the ways that Black English Vernacular differs from Standard English. It has its own pattern of codes and cadence. As well, the rules of grammar SYNTAX in many ways. Syntax refers to the rules governing the ways words are put together in a language in order to form clauses, sentences, and phrases.

In Standard English using a double-negative violates the rules of syntax. In Black English Vernacular, however, double-negatives are frequently employed. Below are two responses to the question "did you break the glass?" Can you pick out the double-negative?

1. I didn't do it.
   
2. I didn't do nothing.

Many observers over the years have wrongly thought that Black English Vernacular resulted from a poor command of English. That is, that it was riddled with mistakes. This prejudice led to a court case in 1979, when a school system in Ann Arbor Michigan refused to recognize Black English Vernacular as a bona fide language, and refused to use it as a foundation from which to teach Black elementary students Standard English.

Based on the testimony from sociolinguist William Labov, the court ruled that Black English Vernacular comprises a linguistic system with its own phonology, semantics and rules of grammar. By simply looking at Black English Vernacular as a series of mistakes, teachers failed to understand its logic and structures, and this proved to be a barrier to teaching students Standard English. The court did not rule that children had to be taught in Black English Vernacular, but that teachers had to develop a strategy for teaching Standard English to students who enter school speaking Black English Vernacular (Ferraro 1995:124-125).

The fact that Black English Vernacular operates according to the same rules throughout America indicates that African Americans form a unique community within America. Because it is unique and governed by its own linguistic and cultural rules, anthropologists would refer to this community as a sub-culture.

Other sub-cultures would include Native Americans, Polish Americans living in Chicago (the second largest concentration of Polish people in the world, right behind Warsaw), and so on. While each of these groups may rightly be recognized by its members as a culture, anthropologists use the concept of sub-cultures to understand how all groups interact within the larger, societal setting we call America.