Sounding black doesn’t necessarily mean “heavy use of slang.” And “heavy use of slang” doesn’t necessarily mean sounding black. You can use a lot of slang and still sound white. And you can use no slang and still sound black.

You really can’t think of slang that sounds white?

No one is apologizing for poor speech. We’re all just explaining that when the teen said “sounding Caucasian” she didn’t mean speaking proper English. She literally meant sounding white instead of black. You can sound white while not speaking proper English. And you can sound black while speaking proper English.

You’re…

The conversation began with the teen talking about sounding white on the phone. The commenter responded by saying he agrees because speaking properly is a human value. He conflated “sounding Caucasian” with “speaking properly.” There’s a big difference between the two.

What does a thug gangster sound like? Martha Stewart went to prison for years. Does a thug gangster sound like Martha Stewart?

You’re right, it does mean “a lot.” It’s just funny that the commenter used that phrase in a racist comment because “spade” is also a racist slur for a black person. I don’t think anyone here is trying to say that “in spades” is racist. They’re just pointing out that the commenter’s word choice could’ve been…

No, she didn’t equate sounding white with speaking proper English. She only said that if you sound white you won’t be discriminated against for being black. There’s an enormous difference.

You’re almost right. In my haste, I used a bad example. I meant to say something like, “You brought a gift for I and Velma.” Which of course should be “Velma and me.” But the example I used would properly be written as “Velma and I,” not “I and Velma.” Sorry to cause all this confusion! I was typing angry!

Yes, you’re right, I used a bad example. I meant to say something like, “You brought a gift for I and Velma.” Which of course should be “Velma and me.”

But the teen didn’t say anything about speaking standard English. She only talked about sounding white. There’s a difference, but your comment assumed that “Caucasian” meant proper English.

He was responding to the teen’s quote about sounding “Caucasian” on the phone. He said, in response, that it’s good advice because everyone should speak proper English. That’s where he makes the connection that sounding “Caucasian” means speaking proper English.

The implication of the quote in the year book is that sounding Caucasian is professional/proper speech.

The orignal quote didn’t equate Caucasian with speaking properly. It correlated sounding Caucasian instead of black with not being discriminated against for being black. There’s a huge difference.

Look, we all understand that you said excellence is not a white value, it’s a human value. We know you said that people both black and white say things like “man, she woke.”

Oh yeah! They do that when you have a dog, too. A friend of mine came back from a silent Buddhist retreat and then walked my dog and everyone was smiling at her. At first she thought it was because of the inner peace she was emanating until she finally realized it was the dog.

The thing is, I work with people from all over the world. Every kind of accent you can imagine. We all make six figures working together on complex projects. Accent is NOT a criterion everyone uses. And when I’m working with someone, I feel a greater kinship to those who love what they’re doing and who are good…

I’m making the point that you use slang without racists holding it against you. But when blacks use slang, racists call it “thug” language. And then pile on about how every single problem blacks face in a society that wouldn’t let them vote as recently as IN MY LIFETIME is somehow their own fault.

You’re right that your grammar is fine for a blog. The reason people are picking it apart is that you’ve set yourself above others based on your claim that sounding Caucasian approximately equals excellence.

But just to be clear, brown people are not leapfrogging over me, personally, economically. I make the same…

See, I don’t care what he wears nor what he looks like. If I cared about that, I’d think Ivanka was the bee’s knees. I care what’s in people’s hearts and minds.

You just made me delirously happy.

True story: On a visit to this touristy Danish town in California, I took a dare from a friend to buy a Danish dress from a shop and dress up. Put my hair in braids and everything. As we ran around taking photos, other tourists began to believe that I worked there and my job was to get my picture taken with them.…