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I am not Southern but I grew up in Chicago which to my understanding has more Southern originated Blacks than a lot of Northern cities.
And it is true there are some Whites who can't understand other Whites. It happened to me when I moved to Louisville. I have to repeat myself time to time which is crazy to me.
Chicago was one of the places that received a large amount of black migrants during the Great Migration, however, Chicago always has had a black population (the founder of Chicago was black).
Most of the research I conduct is on the Great Lakes Region and so I focus a lot on Chicago and Detroit and the black communities there prior to the Civil War. Chicago's was smaller due to not being a hot bed of Underground Railroad activity like Detroit due to its closeness to Canada but there was a free black population in Chicago prior to 1860 and during the Great Migration the descendants of many of the free black people in Chicago were very vocal about not wanting all the southern "negros" moving to Chicago and upsetting the gains they made due to what they considered low class behavior. This is actually a huge subject of interest in my research.
Also, again, I'll note that a majority of black people have always lived in the south. A majority of "white" people though have always lived in "the north." IMO just like it is silly to call all white people having "northern" aspects it is equally silly to say that all blacks have southern aspects. And even within both northern and southern areas there are regional differences in regards to speech.
Chicago was one of the places that received a large amount of black migrants during the Great Migration, however, Chicago always has had a black population (the founder of Chicago was black).
Most of the research I conduct is on the Great Lakes Region and so I focus a lot on Chicago and Detroit and the black communities there prior to the Civil War. Chicago's was smaller due to not being a hot bed of Underground Railroad activity like Detroit due to its closeness to Canada but there was a free black population in Chicago prior to 1860 and during the Great Migration the descendants of many of the free black people in Chicago were very vocal about not wanting all the southern "negros" moving to Chicago and upsetting the gains they made due to what they considered low class behavior. This is actually a huge subject of interest in my research.
Also, again, I'll note that a majority of black people have always lived in the south. A majority of "white" people though have always lived in "the north." IMO just like it is silly to call all white people having "northern" aspects it is equally silly to say that all blacks have southern aspects. And even within both northern and southern areas there are regional differences in regards to speech.
Yes the founder was Black but wasn't he Haitian?
Also, Haitian Chicagoans are interesting. They don't develop the Southern mannerisms of their fellow Blacks who came from Mississippi. They even talk Northern like the Whites. What is interesting is sometimes Jamaicans do.
Also, Haitian Chicagoans are interesting. They don't develop the Southern mannerisms of their fellow Blacks who came from Mississippi. They even talk Northern like the Whites. What is interesting is sometimes Jamaicans do.
Sigh...there is no such thing as talking "northern."
And again, I don't talk "southern" either.
Sorry but it is always ridiculous to me the oddity that so many non-black people seem to have about all black Americans as if we always talk the same or act the same.
You should stop generalizing people. Most of the Haitian Americans I know have a Haitian accent. They don't "talk northern" or "talk white." I know quite a few children of Haitian and other Caribbean immigrants and children of African immigrants. None of them speak any differently than the average black American IMO either in the north or south.
ETA: The majority of all black Americans speak standard American English a majority of the time. We do not go around like caricatures and speaking in black lingo all the time.
Sigh...there is no such thing as talking "northern."
And again, I don't talk "southern" either.
Sorry but it is always ridiculous to me the oddity that so many non-black people seem to have about all black Americans as if we always talk the same or act the same.
You should stop generalizing people. Most of the Haitian Americans I know have a Haitian accent. They don't "talk northern" or "talk white." I know quite a few children of Haitian and other Caribbean immigrants and children of African immigrants. None of them speak any differently than the average black American IMO either in the north or south.
ETA: The majority of all black Americans speak standard American English a majority of the time. We do not go around like caricatures and speaking in black lingo all the time.
You seem sensitive as hell about this. Why?
Anyway, in linguistic categories of American accents, there is absolutely a separation and distinction between Northern and Southern dialects. I can break them down if you'd like because despite what people think, across the nation from Maine to North Dakota there are consistent similarities and features just like going across from Georgia to Texas.
And for being a person who doesn't like generalizations, why do you ASSUME a Haitian AMERICAN will speak with a HAITIAN accent considering they grew up in the US? You basically contradicted yourself just but saying that.
"how dare you think all Black people talk the same...Haitian Americans speak with Haitian accents"
Yes they sound different except for East TN, and WV where most blacks sound like stereotypical white southerners. Also whites from certain patches of NC, GA, and Alabama sound black but there accents still differ from the local black accents there. Whites from black neighborhoods in mostly black cities in the south sound black too usually. There's about a dozen different variations of black and white accents in the south though.
As pointed out in this topic, interestingly many black folks from the Midwest sound like stereotypical white southerners. The ghetto south LA/East Oakland accent often favors a redneck accent too interestingly. A good example would be the rapper Too Short. Listen to "getting it". He sounds like a stereotypical redneck IMO.
Last edited by NattyDaddy; 12-28-2016 at 08:13 AM..
Sigh...there is no such thing as talking "northern."
And again, I don't talk "southern" either.
Sorry but it is always ridiculous to me the oddity that so many non-black people seem to have about all black Americans as if we always talk the same or act the same.
You should stop generalizing people. Most of the Haitian Americans I know have a Haitian accent. They don't "talk northern" or "talk white." I know quite a few children of Haitian and other Caribbean immigrants and children of African immigrants. None of them speak any differently than the average black American IMO either in the north or south.
ETA: The majority of all black Americans speak standard American English a majority of the time. We do not go around like caricatures and speaking in black lingo all the time.
There is such a thing as talking northern/southern or black/white. These stereotypes exist because not all but many millions of southerners speak with an accent and many millions of blacks speak with one too. Not all southerners have southern accents and not all blacks have southern accents but about 50 million of both groups combined do. It's not a made up thing it's real. I can tell a black person from south LA apart from one from TN 9/10, and most whites from rural NC sound NOtHING like most whites from Boston. In fact your average white guy from High Point, NC sounds more like a black guy from Chicago than a white guy from New England.
Yes they sound different except for East TN, and WV where most blacks sound like stereotypical white southerners. Also whites from certain patches of NC, GA, and Alabama sound black but there accents still differ from the local black accents there. Whites from black neighborhoods in mostly black cities in the south sound black too usually. There's about a dozen different variations of black and white accents in the south though.
As pointed out in this topic, interestingly many black folks from the Midwest sound like stereotypical white southerners. The ghetto south LA/East Oakland accent often favors a redneck accent too interestingly. A good example would be the rapper Too Short. Listen to "getting it". He sounds like a stereotypical redneck IMO.
Yes! Many well to do Black Chicagoans (male and female) could pass for White Southerners on the phone just going by how they sound. They're strongly rhotic and have Southern phrases and mannerisms as well.
Also if you've ever seen Fear of a Black Hat, the main character sounds like a White hillbilly. And I don't think it's Bay Area limited. Mack 10 sounds like a White Southerner many times. Heck I think he sounds like a White Philadelphian sometimes depending on what he says. His sound is almost Mid-Atlantic when isn't Southern. I would maybe categorize his accent as an Upper South one if I had to place it.
I think Black people are more likely Southern White outside of the South than in it. Except in New York and further up.
Yes! Many well to do Black Chicagoans (male and female) could pass for White Southerners on the phone just going by how they sound. They're strongly rhotic and have Southern phrases and mannerisms as well.
Also if you've ever seen Fear of a Black Hat, the main character sounds like a White hillbilly. And I don't think it's Bay Area limited. Mack 10 sounds like a White Southerner many times. Heck I think he sounds like a White Philadelphian sometimes depending on what he says. His sound is almost Mid-Atlantic when isn't Southern. I would maybe categorize his accent as an Upper South one if I had to place it.
I think Black people are more likely Southern White outside of the South than in it. Except in New York and further up.
I'm a white southerner with the stereotypical accent and I've had people in LA and Chicago both tell me I talk "black" I agree with Mack 10. Especially on "Foe Life" his voice and accent is very similar to my uncle who is a white guy from a small town in GA near the FL border. I've always liked Mack 10 and especially Too Short cause they sound like me and my family. Much more so than most black folks in the part of the south I'm from. I have quite a few cousins who sound like Too Short when they talk. I remember watching this Compton crips documentary and I was absolutely blown away how most of the crips there sounded like rednecks. If you weren't for the slang and N Bombs you could here them talking and this there some white guys from the panhandle that go mudding on weekends.
Mack and short don't sound like regular southern whites or hillbillies. They sound alot more like rednecks when they rap to me. Hillbillies have MUCH stronger thicker accents than rednecks but speak very softly and almost melodic. Rednecks have a very aggressive style of speech for the south, both verbal and non verbal.
Last edited by NattyDaddy; 12-28-2016 at 04:28 PM..
Another example. Youtube tray deee interview. He's a black rapper from long beach and everything about his speech is almost identical to my grandfather who is a hillbilly from deep in the smokey mountains. Forget what you have seen on TV tray deee the way he talks naturally when he is not rapping is a close to perfect representation of a white hillbilly from a small isolated town in the Appalachians. I should know, I'm related to some. I don't know if hearing this would offend those black folks who talk like that, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Despite what has been forced fed to you by the media, real hillbillies have a very smooth, calming, almost hypnotic style of speech that's very relaxing, except for ones like my uncle Al, he's a jokester and is loud all the time cause he's always clowning on people or cracking jokes. Hillbillies have a tendency to get very loud and flamboyant in groups but are very soft spoken when not having a social gathering.
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