Comment by dionidium
4 years ago
> there is no such thing as "sounding white" as others have pointed out
And yet, despite not existing, we all know exactly what it means. Kind of odd that we can all easily identify something that isn't real.
4 years ago
> there is no such thing as "sounding white" as others have pointed out
And yet, despite not existing, we all know exactly what it means. Kind of odd that we can all easily identify something that isn't real.
Tha's 'cause we seen it a'fore an' unnerstan' contex' clooooz, not 'cause izuh ac'rate phraaaze. (<- approximately my hick-ass "white" accent & dialect if I let myself slip, or have been hanging out around family too much)
Meanwhile, most of us white folk have to work to "sound white", too, when we want/need to, because our usual accent doesn't "sound white" in the way that's meant. In plenty of cases this is quite far from our ordinary, or at least childhood (some of us all but obliterate it by adulthood, on purpose) accent. It's a poor term in this kind of context, and better ones exist.
"General American is thus sometimes associated with the speech of North American radio and television announcers, promoted as prestigious in their industry,[45][46] where it is sometimes called "Broadcast English"[47] "Network English",[4][48][49][50] or "Network Standard".[2][49][51] Instructional classes in the United States that promise "accent reduction", "accent modification", or "accent neutralization" usually attempt to teach General American patterns.[citation needed] Television journalist Linda Ellerbee states that "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're from anywhere",[52] and political comedian Stephen Colbert says he consciously avoided developing a Southern American accent in response to media portrayals of Southerners as stupid and uneducated.[45][46]"
(Wikipedia, "General American English")
That's what's intended. Not "white". They surely aren't trying to make them sound like most of the American white people I know who haven't deliberately trained away their natural accent & dialect—and I don't even live in the South!