Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures

In personal essay “Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures” 2013 written by Tiffany Hendrickson, she argues that people should not judge by there sound of their voice. Hendrickson supports her argument by comparing voice, race, and the environment as for the causes to having different voice.  She tells her own personal struggle in order to bring recognition to the power of having your own voice, no matter what race you are. The intended audience will be all of us because in somewhere or sometime, we all judge by the way we talk.

 I am highly intrigued after reading this essay because it gives insight onto being different within societies perspective of a race. It’s commonly believed that since you were born in one culture or domain, you have to act that certain way. Growing up in my community, I have noticed plenty of diversity and many cultures and ethnicities come together and be as one without having to choose where you need to belong. The essay empowers me to enjoy who I am and act as my own character. I do agree that everybody struggling with vocal issues must value the power in their voice because it can carry them a long way.

Hendrickson is troubled that people think that voice has a color behind it. She questions on why white people think that she sounds like a black girl. " Is it because my language isn’t white enough? Or is it because I’m a product of a household where my mother’s speech is formed neither by the white nor black world but by the deaf world? What does a black girl sound like? Illiterate?" She grew up in a primarily African American neighborhood and school. Her mother was deaf and her father had the reading and writing education of a 4th grader. At one point in her life she decided to try to use "code-switch" because she was frustrated when she attended an all white party in college and a man asked her if she is white or black and told her to stop talking like a nigger. "Code-switching is common within any community, white or black, where people change the tones of their voices in relation to their environments." She learned to love her voice again with the help of her Big Sister, Jessica. "My voice is unique because I am white, yet I do have that black sound."