[Annette]

What do black people think of the trend of white kids speaking like they're black?

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Name : Annette, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Humanist, Age : 40, City : Washington, State : DC Country : United States, Occupation : Media, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Paulette19821]

The biggest problem with this question is that it tends toward a belief that all blacks speak the same. I assume that when you say 'speaking like a black person' you mean that the person uses a lot of slang and incorrect American English. However, not all, or even most, black people speak like this. There are many variations of American English all over the United States; that is why somebody from Georgia won't sound like somebody from New York. In each region of the country, there are dialects of American English, and within these regions (broken down into states, then cities, then neighborhoods) the people all speak differently - which means that a black person from a neighborhood in Compton doesn't speak like a black person from a neighborhood in San Diego. The slang, speech intonation, etc. are very different. Just because movies and television always portray a black person using the same generic 'black American English' and 'hip' slang (yeah girl, you go girl, boyz, whassup, yo, etc.) doesn't mean that such a 'black American English' exists. With that in mind, I say that it does irritate me when a white child believes that a 'black American English' exists and is defined by poor usage of American English and slang. It bothers me simply because they are buying into the racist belief that all black people sound alike.

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Name : Paulette19821, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 20, City : Memphis, State : TN Country : United States, Occupation : Student/Chemical Engineering, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jennifer R.]

White people have been adopting the accoutrements of perceived black cool since time immemorial. Usually, this adoption centers on music, because it's one of the few places that white people seem to feel free to be in contact with black culture. For example, the white youth of the early part of this century accepted the spirit and content of Ragtime. The white youth of the '20s and the Beats of the '50s took on the lingo, dress and demeanor of black Jazz musicians. In the '60s and '70s, much of the lingo, dress and dance styles came directly from the innovations of black music and communities. Why should this generation be any different? I would only hope that these kids don't assume that they can gain any enduring understanding of blackness simply by mimicking the way that some blacks speak. Sometimes I think that white kids, and white people in general, embrace our music and dress in lieu of meeting or dealing with any actual black people. But perhaps a white child speaks this way because he was raised in a community where everyone did, and it comes to him/her naturally, like the rap star Emminem, who grew up in the ghetto in Detroit.

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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Mandi]

It's a well-kept secret that white and black kids talk pretty much the same way. Some of the slang words each use are different, but they pretty much run the same themes and are used in the same ways. The perceived extreme variance occurs because what white kids say becomes 'mainstream' and what black kids say becomes 'ebonics.' Once people get older, the novelty of making up your own words is lost, so all adults pretty much sound the same, with some differences accounted for by region and educational level. How many black adults ('adult' defined as over 30) do you know who use the words used in rap and R&B music? Probably about the same number of white adults I know who use the words used in pop and rock music.

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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Manani K.]

Since whites have stolen everything else (i.e. 'labor', music, fashion, etc.) from the blacks, why wouldn't they 'steal' their manner of speech as well?

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Name : Manani K., Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 34, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, 

[Catharine]

I don't have any brilliant ideas, but in Hawaii, great stress is laid on speaking Pidgin and sounding 'local.' Grow up with a brown skin, get educated, and talk like a haole, and you're labeled as a 'coconut' -- brown on the outside, white on the inside. White kids, too, emphasize their 'local' status by speaking Pidgin or with a Pidgin or with a Pidgin accent. Could white kids want to talk like they're black to fit in? I also notice that a lot of 'black' talk is stylish, witty and cool-sounding.

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Name : Catharine, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Stage IV breast cancer, Race : Pacific Islander, Religion : Atheist, Age : 37, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, Occupation : Writer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[west-indian-american-female-2124433]

I'm not offended at whites talking like that. To me it's not 'black', but 'ghetto'. I speak proper English, I was raised to speak proper English, and I don't live in the ghetto. Actually I think it's quite amusing when people of any race do that. If I felt someone was trying to imitate me, they'd speak the same way I do which isn't 'black' or 'white'.

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Name : west-indian-american-female-2124433, City : metro new york, State : NY Country : United States, 

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