Cannot Use '|' or '?' In BB

[advark]

As the subject says, for some odd reason i cannot use the pipe or question mark keys while in blackbox. When i try and use them i get a beep sound emanating from my PC speaker. This isn't a problem in KDE or any other WM i use. I am useing Slack 8.0 and the keymap says its the normal US keyb settings.Im thinking i need to add something to my .xinitrc file to get the pipe the work. This isn't a problem with just 1 program either, i cannot use it in any program in BB but can in those same programs run in KDE for example
Below are the contents of my .xinitrc file

exec blackbox

that is all....