"Talking in Color"

       

       In Tiffany Hendrickson’s personal essay, “Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures,” (2013), she explores the idea that different people speak differently depending on their race or background. The author develops by explaining her experience with the different ways people spoke around her. Hendrickson wrote this essay to explain how developing your voice is important in determining where you stand in society. The intended audience was her English composition professor at University of Cincinnati.
       It is sad that as a nation we are divided in so many ways such the colors of our skin, our cultural background, and even the differences in our dialect. Obviously, the sound of our voice has colors attached to it. This is the problem Tiffany Hendrickson faced throughout her life; she is a white person with a “black voice”. I can relate to Tiffany when she stated she was afraid to talk due to her accent. I don’t speak perfect English because I am not from this country. Time and time again I tend to have an Asian accent which I think is really embarrassing. I believe if I do not speak English the white/proper way or with the right accent, then I am being judged and looked down upon. Tiffany’s story is very inspiring because she learned to love her dialect and accent. She also brought up a social issue in our society. People tend to shame those who speak broken and improper English and classified it as talking “black”. This stereotype has been going on for so long and it is degrading the African American people. 

        This text was written to ask the question, “is there a voice associated with color?” Hendrickson went throughout life with a “black voice” simply because she grew up around black people. Her mother was deaf and her father had a limited education, so she learned speech from her environment. However, she wasn’t aware of how black she sounded until it was pointed out. “ this... walked right up to me and said, ‘Are you white?’ I replied, ‘Ahhhh, yes.’ He had this look of disappointment on his face and said, ‘Well, then talk white. Stop talking like a nigger!’” (Hendrickson) Hendrickson did a good job of her confusion of the linguistic gap by using her own life experiences. “ I’ve always been told, ‘You sound like a black girl.’ Is it because my language isn’t white enough? ... What does a black girl sound like? Illiterate? I ask myself this regularly.”