YouTuber who speaks a dozen languages gave a “Gen Alpha slang” speech—and is catching serious backlash
Polyglot YouTuber Xiaoma, known for speaking dozens of languages with people around the world on his channel of over 6.6 million subscribers, is facing backlash after giving a high school speech in what he described as "Gen Alpha slang." The speech was meant to inspire appreciation for language, but critics called it culturally insensitive and appropriated African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
Many students at the event laughed along with Xiaoma, a 34-year-old millennial, as he converted a standard high school graduation style address into a style of speaking that pulled words from AAVE. Some of the other students, though, did not seem entertained.
@hennytwote shared a recording of the speech on May 14 and directed viewers to “look at every Black kid in that room every single chance you get.” The post has 9.7 million views on X, and many commenters on the thread are not laughing.
Internet reacts to Xiamoa's "Gen Alpha slang" speech
Look at every Black kid in that room every single chance you get… and that's all I'm saying on that. https://t.co/hiLI6OFhSZ
— henny twote (@hennytwote) May 14, 2025
@hennytwote posted, “Being a polyglot who studies linguistics and failing to recognize the sociological overlaps of your field that basically have you micro-aggressing Black members of your audience is actually so fucking funny to me. White people are insane.”
Critics say "Gen Alpha slang" is just rebranded AAVE
People on X responded to @hennytwote’s comment about watching students’ reactions.
“Omg okay, I didn't want to say anything when I saw it at first lol, but the moment he started and it panned to the audience the first time and everybody except the black guy was laughing….,” commented @eyeamwema.
@KeeperofReal16 disagreed and commented, “All of them but 1 were laughing. Stop being such a humorless crank.”
But it’s impossible to guess what the students are thinking by watching the video.
@NahasNephilim pointed out, “White Americans depend SO HEAVILY on the fact that humans smile both when they're genuinely amused and when they're super, super uncomfortable to get away with the sketchiest shit around people of any ethnicity whatsoever.”
"What would popular culture be without Black people…"
People commented that the speech was a microaggression. The general sentiment of many sharing their thoughts was that all culture is Black culture. By labelling his speech “Gen Alpha slang,” Xiaoma participated in the ongoing cultural erasure of Black Americans.
“This video is simply showing me America would have 0 culture or style without black people. Like even calling this "Gen Alpha" speak is insulting lol,” said @BenzNPenz.
“I'm super f**king tired of sh*t we do and say getting appropriated,” commented, @KiD_ENiGMA19. “Literally 90% of what he said was AAVE but it's ‘Gen Alpha’ to white people? Like we use our dialect and get called ghetto for it but other people use it and it's cool? Man, stfu…”
“What would the popular culture be without Black people…Wow,” commented @ultimategem1n1.
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