Avery’s post on BSV (Black Standard Vernacular) got me thinking about speech and accents, which lead me down another path entirely, thinking about poverty, and the things that are associated with it.

Raised in West Virginia, I grew up associating a drawl with poverty. Not everyone who had a drawl was poor, and not every who was poor had a drawl, but still, there was a major association.

And I have stories from my grandmother, how her father came here at 18 speaking no English, but worked to become a fluent speaker. How when she took my aunt to school, the teacher refused to believe that they were from Baltimore, because my aunt didn’t have the local accent. (The one that turns Baltimore into Bawlm’r.)

All of this lead to my impression that speaking well was very important.

Dress had similar associations. Clothes with holes, clothes that were too big or too small, clothes that looked worn and dirty–all those things are associated in my mind with poverty.

So I speak without an accent. And I get upset when I spill something on myself. And I’m embarassed to be seen in worn and ill fitting clothes. Because those things signify poverty, and poverty means you have no power in society.

And so I stare in incredulity at those who choose to dress in ill-fitting clothes. Who wear clothes that are torn and ragged by design. Who wear clothes that look permamently dirty by design.

I can’t understand choosing to look and sound powerless.