Why do most black people have a southern accent? (lower-class, 2013)

[HoustonTexas1]

Black people that live in the West and Midwest came to the North/West more recently than black people in the Northeast. The difference is black people in the West are are less segregated than blacks in the Midwest, so the southern accent is much less in the West than it is in the Midwest.

[SouthernBoy205]

Originally Posted by polo89

Kanye yes, Lupe kinda, Twista kinda, Da Brat kinda, Common not really. They may not sound as country as TI, but the way certain words are pronounced sound similar to Southern dialect. Same with Dwade, Jennifer Hudson, Lisa Reye.

Their immediate family must be from the South because they are country. Kanye is really from Atlanta.

[SwampFox35]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Maybe MLK and Malcolm X should of just told black people to stop saying "axe"
sigh..Things would be so different today.

i don't think one person on here has implied that saying ask incorrectly justifies racism. i think you are looking for racism but ppl here are just talking about speech patterns. ppl aren't riding with the KKK here, chill out bro.

[SwampFox35]

i wanted to point out that the southern black accent isn't the same as the white southern accent that is mocked in movies and whatnont, although there are a few black ppl who do sound just like country good ole white boys in the south. i think when you say southern accent, ppl think of how rednecks in the south talk.

[stlouisan]

Originally Posted by annie_himself

I know 2 black guys from Milwaukee, they sound like they are from Milwaukee. Period. Can't believe he sounds like he's from Memphis. Can't believe a New Yorker sounds like he's from Atlanta, I know people from both cities. Richard Pryor did not have a southern accent. Nor does Bill Cosby.

What? Have you ever been to the south? Plenty of blacks are from rural areas in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida.

They all spoke african amerocan vernacular. And i doubt the 2 blacks from milwaukee speak slightly canadian. The one i know speaks african american vernacular. So it seems we are at a standoff. have u ever heard pryor give a standup? If that isnt african american vernacular what the hell is?

[Carlito Brigante]

Originally Posted by ColdAilment

Even famous black actors, Will Smith, Samuel Jackson, Morgan Freeman, etc have a slight drawl or tinge of accent to their speech. They do not sound like your generic white, hispanic or asian American. Even the President! Barack Obama, at the NAACP fundraiser he attended in 2008 put on a "southern black" accent! He was criticized by the right wing media for doing this. A lot of people say he was playing to the blacks to get their votes, so he began to "talk" like them. Am I the only one who remembers this about Obama or who knows that the majority of black actors have a tinge of southerness in their accents?

Ummm...those two ARE Southerners. As for Will Smith, President Obama, etc. I don't know what on Earth you're talking about.

[Carlito Brigante]

Originally Posted by polo89

It seems most Blacks in the Midwest have Southern-tinged accents. Especially Blacks from Chicago.

A lot of Chicago blacks do, but not all. But that's only because Chicago was the main destination for blacks during the Jim Crow era who fled the dangers of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee and followed the Mississippi river all the way up to Chicago. And that was only two or three generations ago (think 1950s and 1960s) so they're not that long removed from the South. So I'll give you Chicago as a place where half the blacks still have very Southern accents.

But that's only half. Most of the ones I know from Chicago sound very proper and non-regional, and blacks from others parts of the Upper Midwest, like Indiana and Ohio, DEFNITELY don't sound "Southern".

We're not even going to talk about places like New York or Cali. I don't know how the hell you think they sound "Southern". I'm Black and grew up in the South and one thing we always did as kids growing up listening to Hip Hop from the East and West coasts was make fun of how Non-Southern blacks from outside of the South sounded, especially Black New Yorkers and Californians.

[thriftylefty]

Originally Posted by SwampFox35

i don't think one person on here has implied that saying ask incorrectly justifies racism. i think you are looking for racism but ppl here are just talking about speech patterns. ppl aren't riding with the KKK here, chill out bro.

Then why don't we make this thread about linguistic diversity in America? Some Mexicans ,Native Americans, Cubans, Irish Americans, and most other ethnic people all have a way of speaking that is identifiable, but proceed to the "why do black people" thread it can make even the feeblest minds feel like they are engaged in a deep sociological discussion.
The why do black people threads are proof that more people can write than can read.

[Carlito Brigante]

Originally Posted by MrSykes

The problem with the OP's premise is that it appears to be indicative of a failure to appreciate the diversity and variation of accents among black Americans. Sure, technically, since most blacks reside or hail from the South, it could be expected that most of them would have a Southern accent (for that matter, to the astute listener, there is even some variation among accents in blacks within the South). But it is not the case that the accent of a black person native to Louisiana is in any way the same as that of a black person from Boston or Philadelphia.

"Black" accents have just as much regional variation as "mainstream" accents do, it's just that most people who aren't black and/or have not spent a lot of time around black people from different parts of the country are less likely to pick up on the nuances specific to different regions. The OP may be confusing "accent" with "timbre". Most blacks tend to have a different voice quality relative to whites, as, say, a violin compared to a clarinet, but their accent and dialectical variations across regions no doubt parallel those of their white counterparts. Two sides of the same coin.

This pretty much sums it up correctly. The OP sounds like he's just trying to slyly make fun of black dialect and the fact that it differs from that of whites. I know Blacks from Boston have more of an inner city accent more akin to that of black New Yorkers than the typical white Boston accent that Boston is famous for. I have never heard anybody black who sounded like a Kennedy; a lot of times, the black and white accent and tone of voice is just different from whites, even if they come from the same city or area. That doesn't mean that all blacks sound "Southern," though.

[SwampFox35]

Originally Posted by thriftylefty

Then why don't we make this thread about linguistic diversity in America? Some Mexicans ,Native Americans, Cubans, Irish Americans, and most other ethnic people all have a way of speaking that is identifiable, but proceed to the "why do black people" thread it can make even the feeblest minds feel like they are engaged in a deep sociological discussion.
The why do black people threads are proof that more people can write than can read.

all i know is the two or three people offended on here said they were white. black ppl on here don't seem to be offended.

the thread was approved by the moderator so i'm assuming they think it is ok or they haven't seen it. if you don't like it , report the thread to the moderator. makes no sense to dump on ppl on here just giving their opinions about the topic and i haven't seen anything that could be construed as racist. i think it's dangerous to start assuming something is subtle racism though because then ppl won't talk about anything that involves race.