Now this is an interesting topic...
I can't stand this whole "talking white" thing! I hate the fact that, as blacks, we somehow believe that being articulate, well-spoken, and grammatically correct is NOT characteristic of being black! Since when?!?!?! Yes, I know that whites are guilty for perpetuating that belief, too, but some of us buy into it! I was always a very articulate child (won tons of awards for oratory as early as age 7). Although I was born and raised in Mississippi, I never had a southern accent; people would often accuse me of "talking white" because I didn't sound like everyone else around me. When I was 2 I lived in Chi-town for a year, so one would think that I kinda picked up the communicative traits of the BLACK midwesterners I lived with. Still, the assumption was that I was trying to talk "white"! What is THAT?!?!?! Why is it that a person is assimilating if he/she shows an understanding of basic communication and and public speaking skills, and a grasp of the English language? Am I only black when I am speaking Ebonics?!?!?!
In my field, effective communication and public relations are KEY. For me, it is simply about professionalism and representing myself in the best possible manner I can (after all, I am a Communication major)! It's not about trying to be anyone else.
Her husband should have the common sense to know how to differentiate between social settings that are personal and those that are business-related. Making the adjustment has nothing to do with ethnicity or culture. We know how to act in church versus in a dance club, don't we? No one accuses us of "acting white" in church just because we don't curse or talk about sex or anything else we'd not dare do in God's house. Why is it any different when we make the necessary adjustments in the work setting?
Let me stop before I start preachin!
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Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Pi Kappa, SP97
#3 of QUINTESSENCE
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