Alright...this is an issue that I always hear about. It seems that some blacks are told that they talk white, or that they sound white, and whenever it happens these blacks will usually take offense. They will usually say something like, "Just because I speak correct english doesn't mean I talk white" or "just because I don't sound ignorant doesn't mean I sound like I am white."
To me, I don't think there is a definition of what it means to sound black or white, but I definitely do think there is something that we can generally say is sounding white and black, not even dealing with speaking correct english or not. From how I see it, sounding white and speaking correct can be different...it is more in having a "white" accent than just speaking correct. Jackie Reid doesn't sound that white to me, neither does Kobe Bryant or Kevin Frazier or most people of that level. Talking white to me is more less the white accent, slang, laugh, and voice. Sayin "like" 5 times a sentence, stuff like "awesome!" "like, oh my God!" and phrases like that will classify as sounding white to me. So if someone is told they sound white just because they speak proper, that person is ignorant for saying it...but if they say it for the reasons I just listed, then I could agree with them. Also, there is nothing wrong with sounding white, especially if that is who you grew up around, I have a lot of friends who sound white and I joke about it sometimes but it is nothing serious at all.
I expect to get all types of replies, and I know some people may be offended or come with the whole speech about "there is no such thing as sounding black or white" and all that, so go ahead with it..this is just how I see things.
It's hard to define, you know it when you hear it, and I agree, It has nothing to do with grammar and syntax,etc. More like the tone and pitch of the voice.. Bryant Gumbel, white, Colin Powell..Black.
hmmm...
I'd say I do feel most of what you're saying....
but at the same time...some Black people really are quick to call the voice of a Black person who speaks correctly "White"...
some don't like to hear too many big words :roll:, y'know...
I think that's all of what it is....
it's especially apparent when you come to the South....NO OFFENSE 2 native southerners, but ya'll know very well as I that a lot of people born on this side tend to have more of a slack way of speaking...& so when a Black who articulates, enunciates, and correctly pronounces his/her words in the presence of certain Southerners...they start acting as if that person feels he/she better...or superior...when that usually isn't the case...
but yeah, some Blacks do just have that "valley girl/surfer dude"-soundin' voice, lol....and I guess that's what most Blacks mean when they say one is sounding White...
nothin' wrong with it as long as you're not jus' puttin' up a front...& be someone you're not....
People who don't like hear "big words" get confused, perplexed, nonplussed, discombobulated, etc. It just shows their ignornance.
Just tell them pick up a dictionary. Or if their too lazy for that, go to dictionary.com.
I dont really believe in the so called "acting and talking black" thing. Yes we has a people tend to have our own ways of doing things. When it comes to talking, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO CUT IT ON THEN CUT IT OFF.....My job is with working with the public so I do talk different then the way I talk to my bois...It's really commen sence to know how to flip between the two, when u think about it... :?
i just dont believe that there is a certain way that someone who is black and someone who is white should sound, but thats comin from someone who grew up around whites and gets the you sound white thing all the time.
I dont really believe in the so called "acting and talking black" thing. Yes we has a people tend to have our own ways of doing things. When it comes to talking, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO CUT IT ON THEN CUT IT OFF.....My job is with working with the public so I do talk different then the way I talk to my bois...It's really commen sence to know how to flip between the two, when u think about it... :?
Oh, most definitely...
I remember one big thing my skeptical friends and peers tried to tell to warn me about attending an HBCU when I was coming out of high school and decided to attend A&T...was "that isn't how the real world is (majority Black"...
my thing was...if you've grown up your whole life with a limitless ghetto attitude, persona, outlook on life, etc...your vocabulary consists strictly or mostly of slang...etc. etc...& you've always lived mostly around Black people and therefore only know how to interact and deal with them....then you might have a problem going into an institution like this...because once you come out into the "White" world...you're not gonna have any experience with it whatsoever...
but if you have been in much of a diverse setting throughout all or the majority of your life...then you know how to deal with different types of people and can adjust when necessary...all the while ALWAYS staying true to and never compromising yourself...so an HBCU should be nothing less than a tool to accent or add on to the person you already were prior to attending it...that's how I look at myself, and that's what I would tell them (my friends)...
and not everyone was brought up in that type of (diverse) atmosphere...particularly over here, many Black people are used to dealing with mostly other Black people...& there isn't anything wrong with that....IF you know how to differentiate between the "in tha hood" you...and the "corporate" you.....
but not everyone knows how to do that, unfortunately...
i just dont believe that there is a certain way that someone who is black and someone who is white should sound, but thats comin from someone who grew up around whites and gets the you sound white thing all the time.
I feel what you are saying. I definitely don't think there is a way you SHOULD sound based on your race at all. It's just how things are though, especially in L.A., you can damn near tell what section of the city people live in just from how they talk.
I dont really believe in the so called "acting and talking black" thing. Yes we has a people tend to have our own ways of doing things. When it comes to talking, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO CUT IT ON THEN CUT IT OFF.....My job is with working with the public so I do talk different then the way I talk to my bois...It's really commen sence to know how to flip between the two, when u think about it... :?
As far as the job and all, and flippin it, yeah I agree with you 100%.
As far as the acting and talking black, I don't think there should be anything that is considered as acting black, but we all know that people have stereotypes to what it is to act black. The same way they stereotype acting mexican, or acting like a blonde.
