By most definitions of the utterly bullshit phrase, I do “talk white.” There are “gs” at the end of my gerunds. When I say “all right,” it contains two “ls” and one “r.” And, aside from censoring out the profanity, I don’t really have to change the way I speak when I go to an interview.

So through all my years growing up in New York, going to college in Jersey, etc, I was reminded time and time again that what people hear coming out of my mouth is quite different from what they were expecting. Even well-meaning folks just assume I’m going to sound like Buckwheat (“Okay, I’m’a music!”) or something. And while this falls more on the “annoying” side of the ledger than the infuriating side, when we realize that this is something that pervades every part of our society (and that of other countries as well), it’s time we take note of it.

There’s that group a bunch of us joined on here – I’m black and I speak proper English so stop saying I’m trying to talk white – and while most stuff on facebook is frivolous, I do think something like this is valuable, not just for those of us who have to live it but from every person who may not be very familiar with it.

Because everyone knows about “nigger.” Everyone knows about the Klan, and, to a lesser extent, Emmitt Till, Neshoba County, etc. (I refer mostly to my own race here, but you can plug in incidents for any demographic.) It is commendable that the most heinous acts of our past have become a part of the national and international consciousness, and lest we forget, it wasn’t so long ago that even these things weren’t considered too bad.
But these little things, this “talking white” stuff, this “can I feel your hair?” stuff, that recent Australian KFC commercial… it all, to me, falls under the label of what some might call “soft" racism. And I think, whether you believe the “Broken Windows” theory or not, working against little things like this, calling people out for these things (in a way that doesn’t demonize) may go a long way towards eliminating, or at least diminishing, the harshest racism.

It’s just my theory however. Feel free to agree or disagree.

Can you folks think of other things that might be considered “soft” racism? (By the way, I use the term not because I agree with it but because it seems like what an apologist might say.)

Ooh! I have another example! When I was mumbling one time at work, my co-teachers were confused, so I spoke more loudly and clearly, and my main co-teacher said, “Oh, I understand now. At first I thought you were speaking some African stuff.” On second thought, maybe that’s not “soft” at all....

Feel free to share about racism, black, white, soft, hard and everything in between.

Have a grand weekend, and come to my last trivia tomorrow if you’re in Daegu!

Peace and love,
The Whitest Black Kid U Know

INFORMED INSTIGATION!