> Also, black Americans don't call themselves "African-American" unless they were raised in a white environment. Never have.

I'm guessing you either don't remember or weren't alive in the 1990's. It was a whole grassroots movement and pretending it didn't exist is extremely insensitive, to put it mildly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans#Terminology

This doesn't look like John McWhorter to me. Does it look like McWhorter to you? It looks like Geoffrey Pullum. You know, that Geoffrey Pullum?

https://web.stanford.edu/~zwicky/aave-is-not-se-with-mistake...

> and is often far more similar to their white neighbors than to the black people in the next state over

Actually you might be right depending on how integrated the area is:

Exhibit A: Your Old Droog Exhibit B: Lord Sko

As an adult my normal speaking voice is closer to a relaxed California accent. It’s clear , but it always leaves room to weasel out of certain situations.

If I could I’d probably use a Mid Atlantic Madmen accent. That accent gets things done.

AAVE is the modern politically correct term for what was already called Ebonics for decades (by black people).