I am a white Female 22 years of age and I do not view blacks as not being articulate. I have not had much interaction with blacks I am sad to say. I recently met a young black man from the east coast and I thought he was very nice. He talked different, with an accent I would call it but I did not view him as inarticulate. He is just a person like I am and I am sure my speech was different to him.
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Name : Erin25266, Gender : F, Age : 22, City : San Rafael, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, I'm a white person and I find your former boss's comment deeply and utterly offensive. If I heard anyone saying that to a black person I would fight the urge to punch them. Things must really be different here in the UK. If someone said that here they would end up in court.
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Name : Jamie, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 26, City : Torbay, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : designer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, That would be okay if you had just made an eloquent speech or something. However, to just come out and say 'oh, you speak so well' is a phrase that many articulate black folks recognize for what it is...a back-handed compliment that really means 'I'm surprised you can speak standard English, because most of your people can't...therefore, I grant my approval.' It's the exact same manifestation of white naivete as telling an ethnic Asian who was born and raised in the United States and has no accent that he or she 'speaks English so well'. By the way, I think Ms. Rice is a good speaker too, as you would expect from someone in her position. I'd be willing to bet, however, that no one ever came up to her predecessor out of nowhere and told him he was 'well-spoken'.
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Name : ED25504, Gender : F, Age : 47, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, I think it's highly likely that your boss gets his views on black Americans from TV, and music videos in particular. For some reason, I've noticed that a lot of hip-hop artists are choosing to portray themselves as the stereotypical 'ignorant n*****', using the n-word continuously throughout their songs, which pisses me off royally. I am black from the Caribbean, and English is not my first language. The english that I was thought was British, and consequently, I've been told that I sound 'like a white girl,' just because I speak proper English. As if somehow proper English equals white person. I believe that as long as the media and rapstars keep perpetuating this whole 'ghetto,' 'raised-in-the-hood' kind of picture of blacks, black people in real life will have a hard time overcoming all the little (and big) prejudices that are just rampant everywhere in this country.
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Name : Natasha C., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Catholic, Age : 25, City : O-town, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Circulation Specialist, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, AND please identify this type of statement as an insult-not a compliment.
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Name : Julie27036, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 32, City : Woodbridge, State : VA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, When a white says'articulate black' it means simply that the black speaks his language. Whites don't understand ebonics very well, it is like a foreign language. Why is it assumed that the white man is being a racist? He would tell anyone who speaks a different language that they speak English well. But he hasn't recognized ebonics as a language. Why do people assume those with a southern accent are uneducated and inarticulate? maybe its because they speak with such an accent it is hard for the non-southerners to understand it.
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Name : Kathy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Fresno, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, Uneducated white people are not thought of as 'articulate' and neither are white people who speakEnglish as a second language. Ebonics is hard to understand for most. Why make everything into a racial issue to blame whites for?
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Name : Kathy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 37, City : Fresno, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 
JWParticipant
The Blacks I've had experience with tend to talk 'thug' English. 'Whazzup Foo' 'Mah Nigga' 'Fo Shizzle' 'Dawg' Maybe its just because I go to high school, and people have yet to mature. But even when I compare Blacks and other races converse in high school I notice a stark difference in their ability to articulate their ideas/feelings. Of course I am by no way saying all Blacks are inarticulate. I know several at my school are are smart and articulate. But generally speaking I feel that Blacks are not as articulate as Whites. Perhaps its a cultural thing, or even a class thing. I have noticed poorer Whites are not as able to articulate themselves and resort to 'thug' English.
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Name : JW, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Age : 16, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, Occupation : High School Student, Social class : Middle class, Some whites are blissfully unaware of their unconscious racism. What they have made such a comment to any other former Provost of Stanford University, with impeccable academic credentials, etc.? lol
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Name : Leslie22900, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, City : New York City, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, I work at a television station where I answer numerous phone calls. My problem is...I just can't understand a word! White or Black. Add a Southern accent to it and you just have to keep guessing what is being said until you get it. If you want to get a message across you have to speak clearly. I also hear lots of complaints about how the growing Hispanic needs to learn to speak English, when the caller themselves barely has a grasp of the language. I personally talk one way with my friends (slang, casual etc) and another at work or when I am out in public (grocery store etc)so I am always understood.
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Name : Kat, Gender : F, Age : 23, City : Memphis, State : TN Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class, I would say take the compliment and let it be. You don't know if this person is trying to be offensive so don't take it as offensive. Take the compliment for what it is.... a compliment.
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Name : Riker, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : American Indian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : Lawton, State : OK Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, I'll admit that I don't many Blacks personally. But I have noticed that their seem to be certain words that Blacks regularly pronounce in unusual ways. A previous post already mentioned ask/axe. I've also noticed: birthday/birfday and library/liberry. There are others that won't come to mind right now. Of course, there are numerous words that are mispronounced by people of all races, social rank, education level: nuclear/nucular, wash/worsh (leading to Washington/Worshington), and others. But there really does seem to be some words that are peculiar/specific to Blacks regardless of social or education level. On television, I've heard doctors and attorneys as well as people from lower classes use the same pronunciations. If I recall any more examples - they seem to be eluding me at the moment - I'll repost with more examples. The point is this 'unique' quirk often comes across as sounding uneducated or inarticulate, no matter who is speaking, IMO. Can anyone else provide similar examples that you've noticed?
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Name : Marie, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 36, City : Jeffersonville, State : IN Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class, ...it is known.
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Name : James, City : jacksonville, State : FL Country : United States, WHO EVER TOLD YOU THAT - YOUR FORMER BOSS WAS CLEARLY IGNORANT YOUR RACE IS YOUR RACE THATS YOUR BUSINESS. YOUR FORMER BOSS SHOULD NOT HAVE ADDED THAT PART WHEN PAYING YOU A COMPLIMENT. LET ME REPHRASE FOR YOUR IGNORANT FORMER BOSS. ' YOU ARE A VERY ARTICULATE PERSON' '*Salam Alaikum*' [Peace be upon you]
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Name : Josie Daughrity, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : ITALIAN/WHITE, Religion : Muslim, Age : 23, City : Sacramento, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : OFFICER, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class, I received the same comments a few times from black people. A few times a black man would chat me up and say something like ``well you must have gone to school 'cause you talk like a white person`` and when I was introduced to a friend's friend, she asked how come I talked so good, and did think I was better then her? I think this is sad, why is being intellectual frowned upon by black people? I speak good English, because my father, who if Congolese, never approved any of us speaking less than perfect English or French. I know that many African-American will speak slang, and I understand if it's the only thing you have grew up knowing, but it's annoying when someone talks to me in a real bad English, while capable of speaking proper, and then accuses me of not being black enough! I am Bl
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Name : ScarletteLastar, Gender : Female, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Half Black-Half White, Religion : Humanist, Age : 22, City : Montreal, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : student/receptioniste, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 
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