I don't understand what you mean when you say adopt their intonation. I, for one, spent the first ten years of my life in a predominantly white neighborhood. When I moved to a predominantly black neighborhood, people begin to tell me that I talked like a white person. I was never sure what they meant. Then someone broke it down for me, they said that the tone of my voice what a white tone of voice (whatever that means). My speech merely reflected what had been my surroundings for the past 10 years. It was not something that I consciously chose, but just a byproduct of my childhood.
Twelve years later, after living in a predominantly black neighborhood and associating mostly with black people ( I hardly know any white people that I would consider friends), some black folks still tell me that I sound like a white person and it offends me every time. I am not an Uncle Tom in any sense of the word, yet every someone says that to me, I feel as though they are calling me a sell-out.
[This message has been edited by Little32 (edited April 07, 2001).]
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