“Reverse” Stereotypes In My Life (Part 3)
[Continued…]
There’s a perception that African Americans have only one manner of speaking–reinforced on TV, music, and media. Ghetto-speak, “Black English”, other derogatory terms are often used to describe it. In meeting a brown person who does not speak that way, sometime a well-meaning white person might say that brown person is well-spoken or “articulate.” It may be intended as a compliment, but…if someone were to tell you that you were “articulate,” how would you interpret that? Would you understand that as saying that others of your background cannot speak well? Clearly, that is not what you intend, but that’s the way that it comes across.
So, this brings up the whole issue of what I consider “reverse” stereotypes. Why are there negative stereotypes about certain African-Americans and not about Caucasians of the same social classes? Why is it so surprising when an African-American is “elooquent” or “articulate” when there are a variety of different accents amongst Caucasians in the United States? Some Caucasians have northern accents; others have southern accents. Some speak with a New York accent; others appear to come from the West Coast. In all manners, no one bats an eye hearing different accents from Caucasians…yet brown folks are all expected to speak uniformly?
Again, I realize my upbringing in a rural, largely Caucasian society. Since my Caucasian upbringing has automatically marked me as belonging to the “white” society as soon as I open my mouth, I feel like I am more accepted by them than I am by the other half of my heritage. I did not choose for it to be this way; that is just how it is. When the nation starts to accept everyone for their differences is when I can comfortably accept both of my ethnicities. Until then, reverse stereotypes will forever be a presence.