Talkin' white

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by jojapeach

WARNING: My opinion is a generalization, not an absolutely unwavering truth. I'm just sayin'....

This seems like a symptom of the "crabs in a barrel" mentality that has plagued Black people forever. It's as if someone says, "You're doing better than me in the language department because you are so "articulate". (Y'all know how "articulate" can go...) Well, I'm gonna find a way to level the playing field and take you down a peg or two." It's complete silliness for people to make people adhere to their insecurities, but that's what works for them.

The problem is that it only works because they never took the time to expose themselves to something besides what being Black is "supposed to be". Even if someone took time to introduce them to something outside of a stereotype, ie playing chess instead of PlayStation, they refused to be open to it. Therefore, if you're open to anything besides rap, fried chicken, or having an attitude 24/7, then you're obviously not black. That's some bullisht, and it drives me crazy.

I used to talk "proper" all the time as a kid, and grownups and kids had no problem pointing that out to me, a kid born and raised in Atlanta. There weren't a whole lot of other kids like me that paid attention in English class and could conjugate verbs correctly in conversation. So, at some point during HS, I started relaxing around my family members and being able to talk like them. I still retained my English skills. Then, I learned about the concept of being flexible: speak any way you desire on your personal time but be ready to switch back to your standard English when required/desired. (In my case, I make the call on that, not my boss.) It's an evil of our middle class-centered society values, but it's unfortunately a necessary evil. Thankfully, it won't really bother me in the end because I'm still true to who I am.

Soror, I couldn't agree more.

If I had a dollar for every time some person told me that I sound articulate, sound white, etc..I'd be living in Baldwin Hills (the "black" Beverly Hills)with a butler, 2 maids, and a EASY button.