How can someone act or sound black? Is that not the most confusing thing ever? Many people have told me that over the phone I do not sound black. Even worse, when I come face to face with a friend or associate the phrase “You don’t act black” seem to come out of their mouth accompanied with a little laugh.

That led me to wonder: Is their actually a possible way for someone to act or sound black? To my understanding, when used in this context, black is not an act or how someone’s voice may sound. Black is a person that is African- American or of the African decent, meaning that “black” is a race. Just because a person that is African- American may talk with more pronunciation than the African-American next to him or her does not mean that he is any less “black”.

The people from my past that has said that I do not sound or act black did not know how to answer the question when I asked, “Well, how should a black person act or sound?” Most of the time their answer would be, “Well? Certainly not you.” Corey Streater, a mechanical engineering major, has had someone on more than one account say that he does not act or sound black. Streater said, “There is a such thing as acting ignorant but not just acting black.” He has asked those in the past that made comments on the way that he acted. “What does white sound like?” The answer to his question would be “Like you.” Streater added to the topic “Most people that say that usually act ignorant or uneducated.

That is a view of their ignorance. Ignorance is to not be knowledgeable, people that have pride in their own ignorance and lift up their own ignorance, it is horrible.” Why should it matter how someone act or sound based on their color or ethnic background? For some reason people continue to see it as a problem if you do not act or sound like the color you are. Even though it is a problem to that particular person but how does an African- American, Caucasian, Native American, Mexican, Chinese, whomever, actually act? I seriously doubt it if anyone actually know how a certain “color” is supposed to act. If you think about it a color or race can not be an action or sound, so it should not be a problem.

To me, determining how a person may act or sound based on his or her color can bring about a racial separation. The separation is brought forth through the pre- mind set of how someone should act or sound based on stereotypes. A certain stereotype should not play a part in how another perceives someone else. Everyone should basically just cool down on how someone acts or sounds based on their color. How someone acts or sounds based on their color should not be that important to someone to even mention. It is someone’s personal character and voice if it sounds different than how it is normally seen throughout stereotypes. Basically, just be cool if someone is acting or sounding like themselves.

• Christin Hope