you don't sound black Archives - The Race Card Project

I didn’t know you were black

November 18, 2022November 18, 2022 Baltimore, didn't sound black on the phone, I didn't know you were black, Jerrell Bratcher, MD, superman, you don't sound black

Jerrell Bratcher,
Baltimore, MD

Why does the color of my skin offend you? I’m tired of “you are smart.” I’m tired of “you don’t sound black.” What makes it so difficult for you to see my ideas as my own? Oh, it’s because I’m black. Why must everything that I say, think, or do as a black man, offend you? When something goes wrong, why is it my fault? When something goes right, why is it to someone else’s credit? I’m tired of “you didn’t think of that on your own, someone must’ve helped you with it.” Why must I be an endangered human being, absent from roles, tables, schools, meetings, and boards? Whether I have a degree or not there is always an excuse, it’s either too little, too much, or not just quite enough. I’m tired of being perceived as a threat just because I’m a black man. Why must I overperform stunts like “superman” in order to prove my worth and value? Why am I the last one in but the first one to be ushered out?

“You talk like a white person.”

March 21, 2017 Aspen X, biracial, call myself, culture, DC, diversity, growing up, identify, speech, USA, Washington, you don't sound black, you talk like a white

Growing up in a biracial family, the concept of race has always been confusing to me. As I grew older and began to learn more about my own identity I decided to stop identifying as biracial and began to only call myself black. When people ask me what I am and I tell them that I’m black, they sometimes respond with, “Really? You don’t sound black. You talk like a white person.” It infuriates me that people often forget that there can be diversity of speech, language, and culture within one specific race.

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