I'm loving this topic, it really hits home!
I've got countless examples of "you sound like a white girl" "you talk like a white girl" or "WHY you talk like a white girl?" Funny how I never got accused of talking like that before middle school. My whole family talks like me, including my grandparents! They have different accents b/c they are from PA, but other than that it's the same. I never knew that my intonation was a problem. Funny how my father's friends ( my aunties and uncles who are all Nigerian) never noticed my "white" speech.
When I was younger being accused of "white speech" stung, but I tried to get over it by thinking that some people just dont know how to speak proper English or just don't choose to. When I got to college, I realized a lot of black people talk like me, and I learned more about myself in general. I don't let anyone simplify my blackness to my speech anymore.
