A Different Voice

 Tiffany Hendrickson’s “Talking in Color: A collision of cultures” (2013) explores the sound of voice as a cultural expression in the black and white communities based on her own experiences as a white girl with a “black voice”. She explains through a personal narrative how her voice was racially profiled as black. Her story identifies the cultural divide in linguistic vocals as she describes her family dynamics, her neighborhood and her interactions with black and white people. Hendrickson expresses concern about the cultural stigma of sounding black. She engages white and black communities in provoking thoughtful recognition of cultural and racial divides in communication styles and the impact on social experiences of people with different vocal sounds within their race.  

Hendrickson’s personal experience in the essay evokes feelings of sadness and anger. Her challenges of fitting into both the white and black communities embodied current cultural and social issues for a lot of young people. Working with a group of individuals with diverse backgrounds, we have all experienced similar situations in different ways, whether it was the sound of an accent from a different region or a higher pitched vocal which was deemed too white. Our experiences of cultural divides and judgment for sounding different are characterized well in the article. The hope is that both communities recognize this divide and take measures to bridge the communication gap. 

The narrative provides detailed accounts of the author’s encounters with black and white people. In the black neighborhood where she lives, her color makes her stand out and she sees the stares. “The white faces rushing into school look at me quizzically because I am not walking into their school” (Hendrickson par 1). In her college experience of interacting with white people, she is alienated due to her voice sounding too black. These moments of judgement radiate the notion of not belonging due to her voice. The challenges of fitting into either group is socially awkward and disturbing. Hendrickson struggles to understand the misinterpretation of her accent and cultural judgment of her voice even as she educates herself with a communication major in college.  

Hendrickson, Tiffany. "Talking in Color: Collisions in Culture". Queen City Writers, 2013. https://qc-writers.com/2013/03/21/storming-the-gate-talking-in-color/.