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speak with is why many characterize us as being Now before I go on, let me make this
“the South of the North.” My mother’s side of the perfectly clear: Blackness is not a monolithic
family is from Louisiana, my father’s side from structure, and these aren’t the sole reasons why conversation
Florida, and my step-mother’s from Mississippi. any one Black person would loathe being
With every “You said what? Cain’t heah you. accused of “talking white.” I’m only giving an
Prolly need to come closuh,” our ancestors account of my logic, how I made sense of my /
brought this dialect from the South during the experiences, and the way I perceive cultural
Great Migration. On a personal level, that drawl signifiers of Blackness in my life.
is chiseled into my self-identity of “Blackness.” I automatically alter my speech according Language and Power
But whenever I’m in a classroom, a board- to the racial makeup of my audience. This is
room, game room, or any room where the mostly an involuntary response. But I also
majority of the people are white . . . (let me understand the subtle ways my diction ties
rephrase that) . . . are “talking white,” I talk like into a larger narrative of both racial and class
them. The frustrating part is that I am rarely, if politics of assimilation. I’m aware of the histor-
ever, able to control when this code switch flicks ical forces that normalize whiteness, and
on or off. In fact, I honestly cannot remember a convince the majority of America to police the
time I did it intentionally. speaking of “proper English” (a concept that is
From grade school to grad school, I’ve been ironically comical, since no one in America
both the accuser and the accused in the “talking speaks proper English) and to equate “blaccent”
white” witch trials. When I’ve said another Black to lack of intelligence. I’m aware that if I talk
person talks white, I never once meant to imply the way I really talk at my next job interview,
that I was equating being articulate to “white- the employment odds won’t be stacked in my
ness” (or isolating it from blackness), though that favor, regardless of my qualifications. The
is the conclusion most people reach. For me, it reasoning behind it is not because I think
was an observation that they spoke in patterns saying “prolly” instead of “probably” is inartic-
more aligned with the ways I hear white people ulate, it’s because I think my potential
communicate (intonation, inflection, dialectics, employer might. . . .
phrases, hard consonants, types of slang, full Code switching is my experience, and
pronunciations, etc.). I was policing them with I’m fighting to reconcile the profound ways it
the admittedly problematic assumption that, has both protected and misinformed me. It has
unlike me, they weren’t code-switching. It was a always been the latent means to a very real and
subconscious “Wait . . . why are you talking like tangible end, whether I choose to do it or not.
that? There’s no white people around.” . . . What is “talking white” anyway? Is that even
When I was accused of talking white, the 5 possible?
anguish came from a similarly ironic place. My These questions deserve a more definitive 10
frustration never came from assuming people answer than I can give here, but honestly, I’m
thought I wanted to be white. I’m not one to fully not sure how effective the answer will be in
equate talking “proper” with being articulate. changing the social reality of black kids who
My anguish was a convoluted response of “No, come from similar backgrounds, raised in simi-
see I don’t talk this way naturally, I’m trying to fit lar environments as I was. Because no matter
in. Why don’t you understand that?” The frustra- how comfortable I am around family or friends,
tion stemmed from assuming that the accuser life has primed me to the benefits of code
was oblivious to my code-switching. switching and the dangers of not.

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