Our Living Language In the United States, Black English usually refers to the everyday spoken varieties of English used by African Americans, especially of the working class in urban neighborhoods or rural communities. (Some linguists use the term African American Vernacular English.) It is an error to suppose that Black English is spoken by all African Americans regardless of their background. In fact, the English spoken by African Americans is highly varied—as varied as the English spoken by any other racial or ethnic group. · Sometimes Black English is used to refer to other varieties of English spoken by black people outside of the United States, as in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom.