Despite growing up as young black male in the “hood,” facing all the same challenges—like violence and poverty—my voice, moreover the way I talked, somehow made me less black than others.
—
Next week when I walk in the barbershop to get my haircut, I’ll be greeted by my longtime friend and barber who will shout with a smile: “Cracker Chris, my favorite negro honkey!” Oddly enough, it’s become a term of endearment and a long-running inside joke that becomes an outside one once patrons in earshot hear me speak.
For as long as I can remember, black people—particularly my peers—have always asked me: “Why do you talk white?” After brushing off the offensive statement that I’ve come to expect, I always respond: “What does that mean?” They usually stare at me for a moment before saying something like: “Well, I’m saying, like, you talk so proper and shit.” I sigh, shake my head and then say: “soooooo… you do understand that your comment—in context—is saying that black people speak broken English?” They usually, sadly, respond and say: “well yeah, I mean, don’t they?”
Now sure, I know black people—we all do—who speak fluent Ebonics but to suggest that all black people talk like ignorant hoodrats and that all white people pronounce every word with conviction, clarity and authority, is severely misguided and ill-informed. Furthermore, when blacks, moreover society as a whole, insinuate that somehow other blacks with couth are trying to be like their white counterparts, is simply not true.
I’ll never forget being 23 years old, living in Austin, Texas, and selling shit tons of AppleCare. With 90% of the transactions being done over the phone, I relied on my voice and my ability to speak clearly—which came from years of performing in stage plays—to get me over and close the deals. One time I called a woman, we had a pleasant conversation and I sold more than $500 worth of coverage. At the end of the call, she says:
“I’m curious, you have a great speaking voice and you sound handsome, what race are you?”
Shocked, I stammered and said “umm… I’m black.”
She responded: “I thought so, because of the why you said ‘ask.’ However, you speak so well for a black man, though. You have an accent, where are you from?
“Philadelphia,” I answered.
“Suburban Philadelphia, I assume?”
“No, I grew up in the hood, around the corner from a Chinese store and across the street from a crackhouse; will that be all today ma’am?” I asked, obviously annoyed.
The reason for this, in my opinion, is because society has a way of classifying people into just race, leaving class, culture and values on the cutting room floor. Because I’m black, other black people—and to fair, most whites—think I’ve at least one tattoo, an opinion on Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta, memorized the latest Lil’ Wayne song and am currently waiting for the 1st of month.
Recently at an event, a young black male—who discovered I was a journalist—walked up to me and told me I should interview his artist, because: “he’s hot” and “he spits fire.” I guess I was supposed to relate to those terms and express my excitement for discovering the next Kayne West. I informed him that before he touts his client’s spicy saliva, he should ask me—and in the future, others—what they do and see if it’s aligned with your industry and goals.
He seemed receptive to the life lesson, yet moments later, he was asking again: “so, can we set up an interview?”
This time I entertained it. I asked the overzealous hype man what made his artist newsworthy? He responded: “cause he rappin’ about that real shit. He’s fire, man.” I told him I didn’t understand what that meant. So, I tried a different approach. I said: “Why would somebody want to read about your artist? What has he done in the last 3 months that no one else has done?”
He smiled, puffed up his chest and revealed that his artist recently opened up for “young (insert random name here).” I had never heard of the emcee he was referring too, and I let him know that. He looked at me as if he wanted to revoke my “blackcard” and said, chuckling: “damn homie, you don’t know who young (insert random name here) is?”
Not smiling, I said: “No. Do you know who Mahalia Jackson is?”
He didn’t. I wasn’t surprised. I told him that it’s not wise to assume that all black people do, talk and like the same things. I felt compelled to tell this young man that I prefer ballets over twerking contests, merlot over Mad-Dog 20/20, and sushi instead of deep fried fish sticks.
His artist never got the interview, but he got a lesson he’ll never forget: blackness comes in all shades, cultures, classes, experiences and values. There’s no guide to being black and there’s not one singular “black culture.” Life, much like my blackness, is boundless.
—
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
Source: TBO Inc®
—
©2013 All Rights Reserved.
—
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join like-minded individuals in The Good Men Project Premium Community.
Get the best stories from The Good Men Project delivered straight to your inbox, here.
Fantastic article
“Not smiling, I said: “No. Do you know who Mahalia Jackson is?”
He didn’t. I wasn’t surprised. I told him that it’s not wise to assume that all black people do, talk and like the same things. I felt compelled to tell this young man that I prefer ballets over twerking contests, merlot over Mad-Dog 20/20, and sushi instead of deep fried fish sticks.”
So he went from Living in a hood to sounding like a full on neckbeard, godbless.
Im sorry but I think Its hillarious.
This was inspiring. Thank you so incredibly much!
Thank you, this is a beautiful article. In some way, I can relate to the topic. If people learn that I’m gay, their first comment is often: “Wow, you don’t SOUND gay…”
Keep educating and challenging minds!
Umm I completely agree with Channing (poster above me). What on earth? There is clearly an air of superiority in this article. As if talking “black” is inferior. I’ve met some insanely intelligent, respectful people that hail from the deep south that speak very different than I do. Does that make me want to write an article about how THEY should realize not all black people are like them? No. This article was oozing in self-hate, entitlement and superiority… and that’s coming from a black person who was raised in the suburbs, went to an ivy league university. His tone… Read more »
I’m a 67 year old Black man and I’ve had this my entire life. My mother had been a teacher and she instilled in us the need to speak correctly in order to A- Improve our education B- Make it in this world professionally. Our mother also had me reading at 4 years old and as a consequence my world and language expanded and developed into what we then called ” The king’s english”. My friends as a child often taunted me about my speach when they wanted to exclude me from a game or some such. That was just… Read more »
What I don’t understand is how you feel that talking in proper English is talking white. I’ve heard the same thing and never took it as a compliment. Just like acting black. Or you guys aren’t like regular black, you are the good ones. That isn’t a compliment. In which everyone on here seems to take it as. Self hate is something we have to really get over. So ashamed to be black that and compliment that compares us positively to whites we snatch. What do you call whites that don’t speak proper English, are the talking black. So black… Read more »
Posted this article and my reply to my FB: Sometimes those of us on #TeamUppity have a “I’m black too” chip on our shoulder. I can relate to the sentiment in Mr. Norris’ article. When I was in my early 20’s I realized the proper answer to this question was, and still is, “Effff Ewe”. I’ve said “I’m not BET, Black Entertainment Television” black. What has followed that statement has evolved through the years. Initially the profession of “not being BET black” was a condemnation of that type of blackness. While, I still claim to be part of a long… Read more »
The Apostle Pau had the ability to communicate with anyone, anywhere.. Being all things to all people.
Ah, the story of my life. You should try wearing dreadlocks and see what happens! I remember trying to buy a car in Miami Beach in the early 1990’s. Well before cel phones and internet, we used to look up ads in the newspapers, call each other up on pay phones and then have to actually go to people in person. I found a great deal on a vintage Dodge Dart that was in perfect condition…I called up the seller, told her I had cash to pay that day and she was thrilled so I hightailed it over right away.… Read more »
Interesting essay— my son and I are reading “To Kill a Mockingbird”…. There is a scene where Calpurnia brings Jem and Scout to her black church and the kids are surprised to hear her speak in the vernacular….she explains that she has to speak like her local people or else they will think she is too uppity and not one of them…. In my profession, I have to constantly switch gears and speak different dialects and sometimes a different language….I think to communicate properly with certain people you have to speak their particular dialect or language or else they do… Read more »
Le Sigh…. This is also so familiar it stung. Thank you so much for writing this and I think I’ll buck my typical Southern niceties regarding the same obnoxious inquiries with some of your methods. I’ll inquire on return. “What does that mean?” “Why do you ask?” “Why do you feel you need to know?” I had gotten quite a kick from inventing backstories, though, since the truth (just a black girl from Alabama) was never satisfying. I like political refugee from New Zealand the best. “The CIA told me to practice my American accent and I just can’t seem… Read more »
I don’t think its “black culture” per se. It’s more of a hip-hop, or even a “street culture”. When I was growing up, I learned to develop a “street” accent, which is a very informal way of speaking, as well as developing a more articulate form of speaking, both which have been equally as useful. This is probably misconstrued as “black” and “white”, to an ignorant individual. I do agree however, that they are both forms of discrimination, but using the wrong form of speech can be considered poor taste(thinking that the other person is stuck up, ignorant, or insensitive),… Read more »
Love the post Christopher. If I had a dollar for every time I was complimented as being “articulate”… Even though I’m sure no one qualifying me as such meant any offense, my internal reactions were always “well, how else am I supposed to speak??”. I just smiled and moved on. I was always either looked down upon or treated as an anomaly — a black man who spoke well, did his homework, paid taxes, and now works in a professional environment who pays a mortgage and has a wife and three legitimate children. I’ll literally try to buy groceries after… Read more »
E Pluribus Enum… Yes it is exhausting.
Christopher “Flood The Drummer” Norris, as a straight white male I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and your message in the last sentence. For me, your story unravels yet another “double standard” whammy that Blacks in our country likely have too maneuver through every single day…either you’re talking too Black” or “you’re not talking Black enough.” How exhausting this must be.
Read too much sci-fi. Encountered too many ideas that don’t circulate much among Black Americans while still in grade school. Only in retrospect did I notice that my thinking began deviating in 6th grade. The trouble is Black people too often analyze everything in terms of Black and White. Most of the universe does not have anything to do with either. Consider all of the information that White folks hide from each other. How can double-entry accounting be 200 years older than Shakespeare but their so called educational system does not make it mandatory for them? Are the White slaves… Read more »
Geesh, that’s got to be annoying. Has anyone bothered to mention that we have a black President who doesn’t talk like a hoodrat? Neither does the First Lady, and it’s not as if either of them is tryng to be white. One would hope that would set a good example for for both black and white people.
Good point!
Why are you classifying those who speak AAVE (African American Vernacular English) as “hood rats”?
I loved reading this article because it is something I have dealt with regularly in life as well. Although I don’t “sound” white; you can clearly tell I’m a black woman when I speak, I speak proper English, use correct grammar and sentence structure/syntax. Once when I was told I was “trying to talk/act white” because I was handling a particularly hairy situation in a restaurant with the manager and my hoodrat associates, I retorted “so what are you saying about blacks? We lack the proper skills to communicate intelligently and without hostility?” It’s very disappointing that blacks have accepted… Read more »
Great points in this post! I’ve dealt with this in my life. I no longer let it get to me. Why do we assume as black people that we all should speak and act the same way? Black people are not homogeneous
Story of my life.
Listening to something other than the latest rap artist.
Playing something other than the latest sports or fighting game.
Wearing something other than what the current popular rapper or athletes are wearing.
Sure fire ways to have people question your blackness.
And even though it’s only happened a few times in my life I’m going to have words for the next person that says I’m articulate.
Thanks for reading! I’m sort of surprised to see how often this happens to people. I’m interested in the way you will deal with it the next time it happens.
This same situation happened at work, and from both ethnic backgrounds. A white male came to me confused because he said “i spoke very well”. I asked, “as compared to what other option”. he began to say, “most people of a certain background” and stopped. I cut in to give my background of my college, experiences of inner city and suburban life. He was still rambling about me being ‘articulate’ in comparison to those of a ‘certain background’. I didn’t know whether to be offended or feel great about the situation.
Thank you. It’s extremely annoying for anyone (Black or White) to point this out to me. I don’t have to subscribe to popular black culture and no one is going to make me do it.
Christopher, I’m taking this in ….I’ll be interested to read some of the responses. Although I’m a “white” guy, I married a women of Mexican heritage who was unable to speak or understand English until she was in first grade. She is fluent, written and verbal, in English and Spanish. She never developed an accent of any sort. Before people meet her and have talked to her on the phone, they presume that because I’m a white guy that she would be some blond or brunette. I appreciate the well spoken. Not sure where the “talk white” came from because… Read more »
Tom, I can’t speak for Christopher, but in my experiences (one of which is mentioned in the comment above your’s), it comes more from my peers(I assume you mean black people) than from white people. I get it from white people too, my wife is the woman I interviewed in the comment above, but it’s been more common from other black people. I’ve never gotten it from someone who wasn’t black or white. As I’ve gotten older, it doesn’t happen nearly as much. Maybe people are realizing the ignorance. Or maybe they’ve come across enough black people that speak like… Read more »
Jae, thank you for your honesty and you’re right, black or white, there is a level of ignorance.
It’s funny, i don’t ever recall a white person asking me: “How come you talk like us?” lol. Only black people – at least in my experience – have said these types of things to me.
White people generally categorize it as “talking well versus talking poorly” (Or “speaking good versus bad” if they’re speaking colloquially), rather than thinking of how they speak as being particularly “white”. This is a major gap between black and white POVs: what to white people is just normal speech, to many black people is “white”, and what to many black people is just normal speech, to white people is, depending on their leanings, “dialect”, “nonstandard”, “wrong”, “stupid”, “uneducated”, etc.
The code word for this instance is “articulate”.
Not my professional peers, not really. My those in my age bracket and/or communities, yes, all the time. They’ll use the words like “uppity”
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. I’ve learned to respond much in the same way as you. My wife use to work for me. After we had been dating for a while, she told me that when she spoke to me on the phone before I interviewed her, she thought, “This is the whitest John I ever met.”. My Mom’s friends used to ask, “Why does your son talk white?” My father is from the South, Louisiana to be exact, and when he moved north, he learned to speak with proper diction and grammar.… Read more »
Thanks for reading! I hope it stimulates conversation in your community, i know it has in mine.
I hope you don’t mind the correction, but if you want to precise, it should be “My wife used to work for me”, rather than “My wife use to work for me.”