O.K. I’ve been accused of “Talking White”; usually by a Black person; but since I speak proper English most of the time, I equate nothing to the whiteness of my language.
I know many of you have probably had the same experience. I just shrug it off and go on about my business. However, since Obama has been constantly in the spotlight lately for not being “Black Enough” (you can check out my post about that subject), I decided to do a little research on “Talking White” also. Here goes nothing:
1. To "Talk White" usually means to speak in standardized English. Or, to take on the "proper" usage of the great and almighty King's language.
I strongly reject that definition of "Talking White" because standardized English is just that: standard. It's the commonly and widely recognized norm, our society has chosen as a means of communication.
2. Another way a person may be accused of “Talking White” is solely based on their vocal intonation.
Here again, reject, because even being raised in the same surroundings, two people of different ethnic backgrounds are not guaranteed to sound the same.
3. Lastly, you may be accused of “Talking White" based on rhetoric.
Okay I can accept the idea that certain language or words may warrant the title of "white speech" or "black speech", or whatever other culture from which a word or expression may find its root. However, there is still no solid proof, because our languages are so interchangeable these days.
Now, what I know for sure is that everyone should have the foundation of Standard English and an understanding of its grammatical elements. From there on, people should be free to choose the manner in which they choose to express themselves at any given time, but knowing that there are consequences for their choice of speech in any given situation.
I have had enough of the “Talking White”, “Acting White” and not “Black Enough” accusations, but I am still interested in what you have to say on the subject. Let me here from you about your experiences.
I know many of you have probably had the same experience. I just shrug it off and go on about my business. However, since Obama has been constantly in the spotlight lately for not being “Black Enough” (you can check out my post about that subject), I decided to do a little research on “Talking White” also. Here goes nothing:
1. To "Talk White" usually means to speak in standardized English. Or, to take on the "proper" usage of the great and almighty King's language.
I strongly reject that definition of "Talking White" because standardized English is just that: standard. It's the commonly and widely recognized norm, our society has chosen as a means of communication.
2. Another way a person may be accused of “Talking White” is solely based on their vocal intonation.
Here again, reject, because even being raised in the same surroundings, two people of different ethnic backgrounds are not guaranteed to sound the same.
3. Lastly, you may be accused of “Talking White" based on rhetoric.
Okay I can accept the idea that certain language or words may warrant the title of "white speech" or "black speech", or whatever other culture from which a word or expression may find its root. However, there is still no solid proof, because our languages are so interchangeable these days.
Now, what I know for sure is that everyone should have the foundation of Standard English and an understanding of its grammatical elements. From there on, people should be free to choose the manner in which they choose to express themselves at any given time, but knowing that there are consequences for their choice of speech in any given situation.
I have had enough of the “Talking White”, “Acting White” and not “Black Enough” accusations, but I am still interested in what you have to say on the subject. Let me here from you about your experiences.
3 comments:
The notion of Talking White or being "Black Enough" is just another notion the "man" tries to use to separate and limit us. The sad thing about it is the fact that we as a people fell into the trap of limiting ourselves. Now we are stuck with this whole notion of Keeping it Real. What is real? I am a black woman who never lived in the projects, and grew up in the suburbs. Are my experiences in life any less real than someone that grew up in the "hood"? We as a people need to stop killing ourselves. We don't have to worry about the white man killing us because we are doing a good enough job of that on our own.
I too find it odd to call it "Talking White". I worked with a woman who had very poor speech and she had three children, one of them who told me people constantly picked on him for "talking white". It wouldn't bother me so much except for the fact that this child is probably going to be bullied for years just because he is trying to be proper. What a sad world we live in.
Long ago I read something interesting — that all of this goes back to the dark, isolating 1970s, when many black (and other) intellectuals were flirting with ideas of violent revolution and marxist and maoist ideology.
The thinking was: colorism and classism within the black community are dangerously divisive (no surprise there), and that the best remedy for this was to uplift as "the purest, most universal black standard" those on the very bottom of the social scale: namely, the poorest, blackest, least assimilated, least corrupted (i.e. educated), most embattled individuals. In other words, the 'proletariat' of the black community. Sounds eerily similar to what Pol Pot, doesn't it?
That's stuck with us, and was greatly reinforced with the popularity and profit potential of hiphop, which not only made low-down 'realness' attractive, but lucrative.
It's pretty obvious, you idolize the bottom, you won't be as interested in aiming for the top.
I think this way of thinking is responsible for a great deal of the problems in the black community — black employment, black academic achievement, and many more.
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