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Use Your White Voice


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Yes, of course “use your ‘white voice’”!  Character/personality behavior adjustment for security and survival is especially useful for Black folk.  W.E.B. Dubois called it “double Consciousness Theory.”  Being aware of your environment and adjusting one’s behavior to fit-in and/or stay safe in the white world of stereotyping and profiling. 

 

I like to think of it as having a ‘duel personality’ because, unfortunately, we Black folk go too far adjusting our behavior to fit-in that go far beyond what is needed for advantage, personal safety, and self-esteem.   

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4 hours ago, Troy said:

I stopped bothering to code switch decades ago.  Once I left the 'hood it was no longer necessary.  I'm sure I sound like a "white boy" to folks who live where I grew up

 

You sound comfortable with that choice of communicating; of the more embedded character trait, behavioral personality called ‘code-switching’ sounding like a white boy, as you put it.’  Such duel personality is not easy to shake once one part completely ignored, it's not a dual personality anymore; it has become a part who you really are, now.  As if that other part is no longer necessary, as you say.

 

However, I was referring to that aspect describing the internal conflict experienced by marginalized groups in an oppressive society “double consciousness;”  awareness of being made different or choosing to voluntarily accept the added advantage of being able to function without totally committing to any particular form of communicating.  In which case it’s all blended in together, the difference is a conscious awareness of a need to change and, normal if it serves a need.  It's more advantageous living as who you really are in our white world.

 

I’ve been criticized by brothers for advocating against drug abuse and illicit selling of street drugs and by sisters who disagree with my thinking.  And by whites just disagree with how I think.  Never about how I communicate.  Rather than becoming a part of my academic exposure, it is simply an addition to who I really am.   A person who sees the dark side of things and disregard the so-called bright side as a mirage.  An individualist of sorts with no quims about using weaknesses of others to my advantage; survival of the fittest mentality, in lieu of better decription.

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Ha ha Troy 

People here tell me i sound like a New Yorker from the movies. I even break out the white guy voice  for irony or comedy. 

Jamaican cats i grew up  with would switch into the accent at home. 

When you listen to  Richard Pryor in concert does he sound white or black 

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14 minutes ago, Delano said:

Richard Pryor in concert does he sound white or black

 

Both, that's why white folks love his comedy; it's an advantage for appealing their sense of Blacks as well as mocking how they really are.   Pryor is a comedy genius but that brother is very serious in making light of real life.

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There's a difference between speaking properly and articulately and speaking "White".

To me Malcolm X embodied the proper sound of an eduated and articulate AfroAmerican man.
Using proper English, speaking boldly and accurately, and having enough bass in his voice to command respect.

Larry Elder is the OPPOSITE....with his high pitched whining.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Troy

I've heard you in a few interviews.
You don't sound White to me, you sound like a typical professional Black man.

Actually you seem a little shy....lol.




Del

 

Richard Pryor in concert does he sound white or black


Although he WASN'T born and raised there, Richard Pryor sounds like most Black people I've met from California who were raised outside of south-central.....lol.

He didn't sound exactly White, but he didn't use a lot of "ebonic" when he spoke although he most of his material revolved around the Black experience.

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Yeah there is a difference between speaking white an articulating properly, but is has to do with accent and word choice. 

 

There are some ways of speaking that just turns me off, l have you heard of "upspeak?" Young social media techies use it a lot and I have to work at not shutting down when they start to talk.  They also like to start a sentence with "So..."

 

Yeah, I did not think I sounded like a white person. The person who told me that probably did not like me very much.  

 

Pioneer, I doubt anyone who knows me would describe me as shy.  Now I'm not the "life-of-the-party" extrovert, but I'm not shy.

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Obama managed to preserve his black vibe when using correct grammar while eloquently verbalizing.  A black accent does have a lot to do with phrasing and cadence. When i'm talking on the phone to customer service representatives, i can always tell whether they're black or not.  i hate listening to black(usually college) girls who adopt a sing-song "valley girl" way of speaking, ending all of their sentences on a up note. Ebonics really do hurt my ears, but they are what they are. Nothing worse than a black person trying to talk proper when using the wrong grammar.  Easterners and southerners tell me i have a midwestern accent.  When i was young, i had a great speaking voice.  Now that i'm old, not so much...   

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I onky heard one instance of you speaking publicly Troy. You posted it on Aalbc.com you sounded more tentative. 

 

Richard Pryor puts on white and black sounding characters. In interviews he using perfect diction but doesn't sound white to me. There are two different voices for both colours. The white guy voice that bkack comedians use is typically sounds uptight and a bit dry. Whereas the difference in the black Street voice is more emotional or puts more emphasis or stress on words. 

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56 minutes ago, Troy said:

I can't recall ever feeling tentative

 

Brother Delano suggested you “sound tentative,” not sure if that's what he meant. Though I’ve never heard you do a public delivery, you don’t sound to be someone who ‘freezes-up,’ hesitant or unsure about your subject matter. I can, however, imagine you delivering a ‘tentative speech’ because you’d want to open-up your audience for feedback and conversation.  There's a difference between tentative feeling and tentative speech. 

 

It’s not a Back nor White thing; It’s manipulating yourself best you can, and that almost always comes best with natural speech.

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Humm I think I know the video.  It was probably because it was a one shot take (basically live) and in those circumstances it is best to have a script.  Otherwise one has to be extremely knowledgeable about the books you are discussing and have talent for speaking off the cuff.  I was probably a bit more self conscious about what I was saying about those books.  I could see how that would come across as tentative.

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Troy

Something weird is going on.

I'm having a hard time posting on half of the threads, and on the other half Cynique's profile and features come up instead of mine.

THIS thread is the only thread I managed to get through on.

I can't even send you a private message because THAT feature is also acting up.


 

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