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Is it racist...
when you make an assumption on the race/ethnicity of the person on the other side of the phone?
I visualize the people I talk to on the phone. Is it "bad" when I use a person's speech (typically accent and word choice) to determine race/ethnicity when picturing the person in my mind?
There was usually a slightly awkward moment while screening phone calls for the show when we were discussing race on the air. I am a firm believer in not repeating callers with the same point. I liked to always have one line still open if I could so that there was an opening for someone with a unique take on a subject. Invariably, there would come a call from someone who wanted to address the race issue and I KNEW from the voice it was a black person. If I had a black person on the phone, I wanted to let Darrell know. We hear enough from white folks, let's get a different take. Unfortunately, there were times where the person never identified themselves as black, but I knew that letting Darrell know he had a black person on the phone would get that call on the air faster. That moment of going, "So, um, are you black?" always made my skin crawl.
I visualize the people I talk to on the phone. Is it "bad" when I use a person's speech (typically accent and word choice) to determine race/ethnicity when picturing the person in my mind?
There was usually a slightly awkward moment while screening phone calls for the show when we were discussing race on the air. I am a firm believer in not repeating callers with the same point. I liked to always have one line still open if I could so that there was an opening for someone with a unique take on a subject. Invariably, there would come a call from someone who wanted to address the race issue and I KNEW from the voice it was a black person. If I had a black person on the phone, I wanted to let Darrell know. We hear enough from white folks, let's get a different take. Unfortunately, there were times where the person never identified themselves as black, but I knew that letting Darrell know he had a black person on the phone would get that call on the air faster. That moment of going, "So, um, are you black?" always made my skin crawl.
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/ˈreɪsɪzəm/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [rey-siz-uhm] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.
So, no. It's not racism. Stereotypical, maybe. *shrug* :)>
no subject
I'm guessing that the caller was using African-American vernacular English, also known for five seconds during the 1990's as "ebonics". I think it's fair to say that most AAVE speakers are black. If you've spent enough time listening to black people - as you almost certainly have - you recognize it when you hear it.
And a great number of AAVE speakers spoke it before learning to speak (and hear! that part's important) standard English. And like someone who grows up speaking French and then later learns English, that person is likely to still have an accent, even when they code-switch over the standard English.
If you hear a French accent, you can probably assume that the person is French or Quecequois. Same principle applies to AAVE.