In the United States, Standard English is considered H while AAVE is considered L. Its pronunciation is, in some respects, common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States. Several creolists, including William Stewart, John Dillard, and John Rickford, argue that AAVE shares so many characteristics with creole dialects spoken by black people in much of the world that AAVE itself is a creole,[2] while others maintain that there are no significant parallels.[3][4][5][6][7] Many African-Americans do not use AAVE, but those who do not are at risk of being criticized about their identity.[8] Additionally, many non-African-Americans use AAVE, depending on where they live and their socioeconomic status.