>I'm not talking about the (legitimate) lexical and grammatical differences between Standard American and AAVE, I mean the way speech sounds. But the article d

>I'm not talking about the (legitimate) lexical and grammatical differences between Standard American and AAVE, I mean the way speech sounds. But the article doesn't distinguish between accent and things like grammar and word choice. I agree an accent is just an indicator of your origins, but poor grammar and slang are a legitimate indicator of a substandard education. That's what I meant about speaking standard English. Employers aren't charities - they have a legitimate interest in hiring people who sound professional. The study would have been a whole lot more useful if it made some attempt to separate accent from grammar and slang. If you read the article (you did read the article, right?) you'll see they mention (in passing, of course, because it's the NYT and coastal liberals don't care) people who "sound southern" have the same pay disparities. Which makes me wonder how well controlled the underlying study is, frankly. This may all just be a statistical artifact of the fact that bankers and stockbrokers in NYC make a lot of money compared to everyone else.