I worked for a Black boss at the Georgia Education Dept. in the 1980s and he always maintained that a child who said "AH AX" could not learn to read "I asked." He said first you have to train the ear, then you can train the child to read. And if you can't learn to read, you can't learn anything else that's going to get you ahead. Just liaten to the parade of Katrina Whiners demanding that we "hep' them (i.e. carry them on our backs). Not a one that i have heard speaks recognizable English.
The problem with judging someone strictly on their 'pronunciation' is that there are different dialects in this country, outside of any racial consideration.
I've heard plenty of white people say "hep."