Serious Inquiry This

[ILP]

"You talk like you're white."


What <span style="text-decoration: underline">exactly</span> does that mean Mi a have some serious frustrations, cah nobody weh mi is can articulate (wid words) what dem mean when dem say it. Mi soon stawt cuss.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Disclosure: I am requesting concrete, non-generalized answers devoid of causal speculations. </span>

[Q3210]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

&quot;You talk like you`re white&quot; is itself not a solid statement. So nothing concrete other than speculative reactive and perhaps cynical responses can be given.

[ILP]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Q3210</div><div class="ubbcode-body">&quot;You talk like you`re white&quot; is itself not a solid statement. So nothing concrete other than speculative reactive and perhaps cynical responses can be given. </div></div>

Respect Q#'s Respect.
I guess I am trying to get something other than &quot;You know what I mean&quot; as an answer. I am trying to get words, so that I <span style="text-decoration: underline">can</span> understand.

[Q3210]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

Let me have a shot at it. It means to speak unlike a Black. It means to speak unlike inner city jargon. It means to speak opposite ordinary.

[queenb]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

Q, here in the US it also means to speak Standard American English, which it is pre-supposed that most blacks do <span style="font-weight: bold">not </span> speak. A lot of African American blacks originated in the South, so their speach patterns, passed down by their parents, have the inflections of idiomatic English of the Southern US. Generations since the 50's/60's in the North added idiomatic Northern US speach, hence &quot;ghetto&quot; English or ebonics (a phrase I personally dispise, BTW) Add to the aforementioned patterns, the hip-hop generation which embraces the lowest, least educated component of society. My daughter once said that the most ghetto sounding person she had ever met was from Chicago.

So, if you have a speach that is an amalgam of idiomatic South, idiomatic North, hip-hop ignorance, and lamentable incompetant schooling/schools, your speach fits &quot;the normal&quot; AA speach. Obviously your speach lacks these patterns, hence &quot;you talk white&quot;. The funny thing is, most of the people in my generation (I'm older than dirt) and locale (multigenerationally from NJ) never did speak &quot;ghetto English&quot;.

[kia027]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

I think it means that you speak with an american accent that is non ethnic sounding therefore sounding similar to the news presenters on TV who happen to be white.

Depending on the discussion, and the group and you say something that is not condoning the fact that it is all the white man's fault (kinda like if you say you have to suck it up and pull up your bootstraps) then they may say you are talking like you are white

[Q3210]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

Like you`re putting it on.

QueenB, thats most informative, thank you.
Your broader interpretation is quite well understandable, especially the language associated with the south.

[Wahalla]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

Dem keep telling mi talk laka trini.. dat is so insulting...

[Shine_Eye_Girl]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

I get that all the time, but whatever!!!

Could it be that &quot;Yo&quot; and &quot;Son&quot; are not used as exclamation points?

Ignorance I tell you.....

[Emperah]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

I think it would/could depend pan de topix a de conversation.
Dat phrase get use by ppl when dem si ppl come from weh-eva an loss demself ya.

[ILP]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

the topic of the conversation was the new elementary school in the neighbourhood.
me: the school up the street looks great! it is huge (as in the size)!
person: oh yeah? i didn't know the school was so close.
me: yeah, if you are still here in a year, that'll be the school XXX will attend.
person: i dont want XXX going to that school.
me: oh?
person: i dont want him being the only black in his class, i want XXX to be in a mixed school.
me: k, let's pull up the school demographics.

[pulled it up]

me: 598 students. 306 whites, 237 asians, 42 mixed raced (mi not sure wah daht mean), 13 African Americans.
person: [laughing] see? i dont want my kid going to a school like that. XXX will be spending so much time in school and being in a place where there'd be only one like XXX isnt what i want.
me: you do know that kids value what there parents value, right? you do know that a kid does most of there learning in the time (about 75%) they spend OUTSIDE of school. you guys live in a neighbourhood with mainly white people, you worship at a church that is majority white, XXX's dad works for an organization that is mainly white, so shouldn't the adjustments to the ethnic/racial scale be made to where XXX spends the most time?
person: i dunno. i just dont want my kid coming home talking white.
me:
person: you know what i mean. like how XXX [one of my nieces] talks. she goes to a white school. she has to talking like she does.
me: XXX goes to a private all girls school. the only white person in the school is the librarian.
person: well she [my niece] talks white
me: i am not sure i understand what you mean
person: i want XXX to talk like how i talk, how you talk, how xxx [kid's dad] talks.
me: so i talk black? how does a white person speak?
person: <span style="font-style: italic"> then they begin to do some imitation of that chic from the show &quot;Valley Girls&quot;</span>
me: how many white people do you know that sound like some stereotyped teenaged female from southern california?
person: that's how white people talk and you know what i mean, ilp!

mi stawt feel mi temperature, so mi walk weh....

[Emperah]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

mi nuh kno weh dem come from bout roun here sounding yt (like mi was talking to a ras bredren lass nite) him seh we come here and respect our elders, ppl who bawn here call dem parents all kinds of names, call dem madda b!tch an whore etc.
We use fi si so many yt yutes getweh wid talkin back tuh dem parents and dat was easy tuh seh smaddy a act yt.

But inn a fi yuh context mi nuh seet.

[ILP]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dahJahPawtTwo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">mi nuh kno weh dem come from bout roun here sounding yt (like mi was talking to a ras bredren lass nite) him seh we come here and respect our elders, ppl who bawn here call dem parents all kinds of names, call dem madda b!tch an whore etc.
We use fi si so many yt yutes getweh wid talkin back tuh dem parents and dat was easy tuh seh <span style="font-weight: bold">smaddy a act yt</span>.

But inn a fi yuh context mi nuh seet. </div></div>

now this mi hear before ahn understand.
one time granny gi mi one rhatid lick inna mi mouth cah mi ask har why mi couldnt get piece ah cane when mi wanted it. aye sah

[Stormmey]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

I really do not know why or what it means when someone says you talk white and will not even hazard a guess. It is unfortunate that people tend to hold others to unreasonable standards, especially communication standards.

The speaking standards, as they relate to speaking 'black or white&quot;, are driven by ignorant misconcepts. The unfortunate part is that peple buy into those misconceptions.

[franksterr]

Re: Serious Inquiry This

Queenb has answered the question.

There is yet another perspective, in which the individual may mean that because of the child continual exposure to white culture, they may lose sight (appreciation) of their &quot;roots&quot; - core black (Afrikan or family) values, that the parent grew up accepting as the norm or proper way to speak about issue.