WEBVTT - 011423 What is Code-Switching? (Part 2) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:00.920 And now. 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:05.040 Watch moving my mic back. 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:06.080 You're like that. 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:11.840 You can strike waters from headquarters behind him. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:15.160 And then if you're just tuning in the civic cipher, 0:00:15.320 --> 0:00:16.799 I am your host Rams's job. 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.239 He is, I am Q board you are listening to again. 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.400 But thank you for this civic cer. Yeah, we do 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:25.439 appreciate your tuning in every week. Man, we're trying to 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:26.960 do something for you, and it seems like you're trying 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:28.639 to do something for yourself and for your community and 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:30.319 for your brothers and sisters who may or may not 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.080 look like you. That goes a long way in my book. 0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:34.479 I will see you in Heaven. Stick around because we've 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.920 got a lot more show coming up for you, including 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:45.880 code switching. That is uh what I'm what I said 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:50.280 earlier basically kind of covered it. Black people are in 0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:53.239 this country are bilingual and you may not anew it 0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:57.000 and that and you might know it if you've been 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.760 around a black person long enough for in different circumstances, 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:01.639 but were going to spend some time talking about that. 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:06.160 We're also gonna discuss our Way Black History Fact today. 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.240 We're going to talk about a white man named Benjamin 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.560 Lay for our Way Black History Fact and if you 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.959 think that sounds interesting, wait until you hear the story. 0:01:14.720 --> 0:01:16.920 But first and foremost, we're going to show you, or 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:18.800 rather tell you, how to become a better ally. It's 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:23.360 time for ba ba ba ba, and today's Babba is 0:01:23.480 --> 0:01:27.880 brought to you by Major Threads Sportswear. Check out Major 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:33.639 threads dot com for the finest in men's sportswear. Today. 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:35.319 To become a better ally, we want you to read 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:39.280 a book. The book is called How White Folks Got 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:46.560 So Rich? The Untold Story of American White Supremacy, And 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:52.480 basically it kind of dispels the myth of kind of 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.960 the pioneer, you know, westward expansion or you know, the 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.280 colonists crossing the Atlanta Tick to the New World and 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.640 making a life for themselves and making a go at it. 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:07.080 It largely dispels a lot of myths associated with that 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:12.600 way of thinking, because that way of thinking kind of 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:14.919 suggests that everyone else is lazier, doesn't work hard, or 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.760 something like that, right, And the truth is, there were 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:24.880 lots of deliberate, intentional levels in society that you know, 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:30.040 encouraged people to do things, to pioneer, to take over lands, 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:31.760 and you were given things and you were able to 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.679 grow and you know, transfer wealth from one generation to 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:39.079 the next. I'll quickly read a review. How White Folks 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.519 Got So Rich is a critical and essential information that 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:44.000 non whites need to understand it be able to make 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:45.679 sense of how we ended up in the situation we 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:49.760 find ourselves in today. Specifically, information people classified as black 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:52.760 need to know and overstand. Black adults, and even more importantly, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.079 young black people need to understand how the system of 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.560 racism and white supremacy has played a major role in 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.560 how people who classify themselves as white maintain dominance in 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:04.079 control through a system of cleverly crafted laws and rules 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.480 designed to undermine black progress every step of the way 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:13.000 and privilege white people every step of the way. So yeah, 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.560 check that book out, How White Folks Got So Rich? 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:21.160 It is interesting. And again we're not knocking anybody, We're 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.880 just trying to tell the truth so that everybody understands 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:25.840 why we are where we are. Once we understand that, 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.000 then we know how to move forward as brothers and sisters. Now, 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:36.200 code switching, que you ever had the code switch? Probably 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:43.240 not even aware of the all just happened without second thought. 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:46.200 And I don't think this is I think most people 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.360 hear that and they immediately connect it to corporate America 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.920 or the difference in cultures. But it's the difference between 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.000 the way you talk at school versus the way you 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.880 talk at church. It's not just about your black friends 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.400 and your white friends from corporate America versus home. It's 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.960 your friends versus your mom, your pastor versus your teacher, 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.040 your football coach versus your you know, the deacon at 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:10.240 your church. It's just all these different forms of not 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:15.040 just language but behavior growing up in this skin, in 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:23.680 this country. Absolutely, there's it's interesting because you know, you're right, 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:29.960 at church, you wouldn't talk the same way you would, 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:33.719 let's say, after school with your friends, you know, growing up, 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:40.360 or if you're I don't know, hanging out with your buddies. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:43.360 That's not a word I would normally use. But your 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.240 buddies at a night club, you know what I mean. Now, 0:04:47.520 --> 0:04:49.920 everybody can kind of say, well, yeah, I'm gonna like 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:51.960 push my tongue out a little further if I'm hanging 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.560 with my friends versus if I'm in church. That's not 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:58.480 what code switching is. Code switching is an entirely different 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:03.240 hash sharing different tone you know, you got to make 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:07.200 sure you don't sound too angry, too aggressive. It's it's 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:13.400 basically you're putting on your whitest display. I'll challenge that 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.000 in in in the right settings, you know, and the 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:20.120 other ones. It's kind of like, well, uh, I think 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:25.640 what you're calling well articulated speech is white. So that 0:05:26.440 --> 0:05:29.400 you're you're right, You're right putting on your whitest as 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:33.960 if to substitute white for professional welfare. I have to 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.040 push back on that. Please, please push back on it. 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:37.680 So let me before you push back, let me finish 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:39.520 what I'm saying, and then what you're about to say 0:05:39.560 --> 0:05:49.240 is very necessary. So we are often taught to be 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.760 like them, be better than them, to be good enough. Right, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.239 they hold the opportunities. They're the ones that hire fire, 0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:01.040 advance grade. Uh, you know, whatever it is that you're 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.680 doing in life. And by day I mean white people. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.440 This is the world that we live in, right, And 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:11.040 so this is a skill that I believe that black 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:15.360 people develop at a young age because we recognize that 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:20.560 we are or I guess I should speak for myself. 0:06:21.560 --> 0:06:26.680 I recognize that if I sound like them and I 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.040 move like them, then I might be able to fly 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.400 under the radar. I might get a passing mark. I 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:37.240 might you know, I might not be challenged. I might 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.839 have an easier go at things. You have no idea 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.080 the amount of code switching that happens. If the police 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:44.680 are behind me and they're like, sir, can you step 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:46.840 out of the car? Yes or no? Certain Absolutely, I 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:56.760 don't talk like that right, And to call it whitening 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.839 making yourself as white as you possibly can is absolutely 0:06:59.920 --> 0:07:06.599 the wrong way to describe it. But when you boil 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:08.760 it down to it, I think that it's very easy 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.920 for black folks to make a connection with that code 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.840 switch and whiteness in a vast majority of the instances, 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:22.120 like there is a white presence that is that is 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:28.880 telling me or that that makes this switch preferable if 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:33.320 I want certain outcomes here right. In other words, I 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:39.000 may not lean on as as my friend Cheryl would 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:43.880 call it jive talk, interacting with an employer, a person 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:49.720 that holds the keys to opportunity, any anybody that I 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:51.640 need to take me seriously. I could be talking to, 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.520 you know, someone who's given me bad service at a restaurant. 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:56.720 I could be talking to a manager. I could be 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.240 you know, whatever, the situation is you put on you're 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:06.080 provided that it's a person that looks white. I could 0:08:06.080 --> 0:08:10.920 be at the doctor's office, you put on that language, 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.680 that faced that posture, and try to have that conversation. 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:15.480 Now in contrast, and I do want to hear from me, 0:08:15.520 --> 0:08:19.440 but let me just wrap this up. In contrast, if 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.320 I go to a doctor and the doctor is black, 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.520 it's not strictly speaking necessary. In fact, it might feel 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.440 a little awkward because you also know, doctor that I 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:32.280 don't talk like this, right, and so there's the potential 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.040 to have a much more comfortable conversation. This is the 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.360 experience I had recently. I took my little sister to 0:08:36.400 --> 0:08:41.880 get her blood drawn for a something that she had 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:45.199 to take care of medically. And the doctor came in 0:08:45.280 --> 0:08:48.920 and she was a black woman braids, you know, just 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:50.520 and she was like, oh, look at you. And my 0:08:50.600 --> 0:08:53.040 little sister's name is Princess, right, that's her given name. 0:08:53.640 --> 0:08:56.520 My dad is a g anyway, So the doctor comes 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:58.839 in and she's like, your name is princess. Oh wow, 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:00.719 we're about to have some fun today, girl, you know. 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:06.240 And that's you can't imagine a different It's hard to 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:10.120 explain the rhythm of we bout that has some fun 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.440 today girl from a black woman to another black woman. 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:17.920 And how important and comforting that is. How the doctor 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:20.319 didn't have to code switch. The doctor can just kind 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.760 of stay where she is and get on my sister's level. 0:09:23.840 --> 0:09:27.400 My sister received that information. She's terrified in needles. She's 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:31.400 got that blood drawn off, blood draw off, no problem, 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.400 no tears this time. My sister is an adult woman, 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.199 and it's it's a really traumatic thing for her. That's 0:09:35.200 --> 0:09:41.320 why I go with her wonderful experience, right, So pushback 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.280 against the whiteness. The thing I've said about why so I. 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:47.480 Think the reason why my variance of examples was so 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:52.880 different is I'm from Detroit, Okay, So yeah, everybody, I 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.559 mean everybody to hear that I'm from Detroit, born in 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.760 the eighties. Yeah, and not eighty nine, eighty one eighties, 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:01.000 born in the eighties. 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.760 I lived my whole eighties childhood in Detroit. 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.680 Teachers, friends, neighbors, pastor, doctor, police officers, dentists all black. 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:13.439 So even the word codes which means something different to me, 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.240 because my change in vernacular, attitude, behavior, and language had 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.080 nothing to do with your skin color. I spoke different 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:22.960 to Pastor William Revelee, doctor. 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:24.920 Right doctor. 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:30.600 First of all, that my pastor was doctor William Revelee. 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:37.920 My associate pastor was Reverend Estella Seacrest, who for people 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.040 who listened to the show a lot, no, that's my mother. 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.720 The way I spoke to them was much different than 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:47.600 the way I spoke to everybody else. So that change 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.480 was more about respective position and respective place than skin color. 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:54.600 I spoke different to my doctor, my pastor, my teachers 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.400 than I did, like I said, my football coach, my classmates, 0:10:57.440 --> 0:10:57.959 and my friends. 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:01.719 So it was never about being more white. It's a 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.280 respect thing. It was in a lot of where am 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:06.920 I and what type of impression do I need to 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:08.440 make care of. I'm trying to get a job. 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:11.320 I'm going to let these people know that I'm learned, 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.720 that I'm a scholar, that I'm educated, and that particulating thoughts. Yeah, 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.240 So that didn't mean I'm going to talk like my 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:20.319 white friend because I didn't have any. 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:22.600 There was no white example. 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.800 Mister Wardale who taught me math, and Miss Moy was 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:29.320 Asi and mister Wardale was black. They were just smart. 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:35.160 My brain didn't think that means they're more like white people, right, 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.920 And fortunately the white people in my life at that 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:43.120 age were also teachers, so they just were people that 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:45.000 cared about me. There was not even that I mean 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.200 these teachers they didn't just work in Detroit, they lived 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.120 in the city too. So the experience was very, very 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.360 much about the students in the classroom, not like the 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.920 idea of the white savior didn't even play a part, 0:11:57.320 --> 0:12:01.559 because the teaching staff was diverse but predominantly black as well. 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.880 Because again Detroit, Michigan. My first white classmate was at 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.000 cast Technical High School my freshman year, but that was 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.800 almost singular. I didn't have class rooms full of white 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.480 students until Bowling Green State University. And I think I've 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:19.679 told the story of my first actual intery encounter with 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:26.280 flagrant overt racism. Sure, and then of course that turned 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.320 into a snowball and you start to experience it more 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:31.080 as an adult. But there was a kind of sheltering 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:33.679 of growing up in Detroit with a best friend in 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.120 high school who moved to Detroit from Gary, Indiana. 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:41.720 Yes, Jackson five, Gary, Indiana, right, So the hood. Yeah, 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:43.880 so all of our. 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.760 Experiences, the lawyers, the doctors and every type of doctor, 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:53.120 your PhD, your MD, your sociologists, your psychologists, your dentist. 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:59.559 Everybody was all black, your pastors, your principles, your assistant principles, 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:03.079 the people who ran the Jesuit High School that you 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.760 had to test to get into, from Castech to Martin 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:11.480 Luther King to Renaissance black people. So that's my pushback 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.520 on the idea that this behavior was about being more 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:18.240 like white people, not for not. Yeah, it had nothing 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.000 to do so so absolutely nothing. It was about, Okay, 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:23.240 you're about to go talk to. 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:25.840 Doctor. 0:13:26.160 --> 0:13:31.319 Yeah, you got a reverend, mister whatever name came after that. 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.040 You need to straighten up your pants up, tuck your 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:38.120 shirt in. It's about the use proper language, be respectful. 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:40.760 If you want to receive respect, you have to give it, 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:44.440 and you have to present yourself as respectable, not as white. 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:46.200 You sound like an athlete, you know what I mean. 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:50.880 Much different experience for me than maybe some people who 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.840 grew up in the space were what articulate and educated, 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:55.760 looked and sounded like was white. 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:58.440 Sure, sure, but I think that I think that your 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.760 example what it does is it suggests what our initial 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.720 statement was, is that we're when you grow up black 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:15.880 in America, you grow up bilingual. Because I know you've 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:20.280 heard this. Man, you guys talk so cool. Man, can 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:22.480 you explain what the lyrics of that rap song means? 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:24.720 What is it? You know, like, what is a bando? 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.120 You know, like that sort of stuff. Right, you talk 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:32.720 so cool? Right, So again having to like, I know 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:36.440 for a fact that if you were to take the 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.960 type of conversation that you would have with your friends 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:43.480 in high school and try to have that conversation in 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:46.560 front of your mom, she might get lost it maybe 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.200 three or four points of the conversation, like, well, okay, 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.200 I missed that. You know, through context clues, you can 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:53.800 get still a majority of it, but there are certain 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.160 parts where they get lost. This happened with my father 0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:00.560 because we would often leave here, go to Last Angeles, 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:04.240 me and my friends from high school, we go to 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:08.760 Los Angeles, hang out with my father, and he would 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:10.920 get lost in our conversations. He'd be like, man, the 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.440 way you guys talk is so different. My father is 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:18.800 as black as me. Right. But again, that illustrates illuminates 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:21.400 the fact that, yes, there is sort of a bilingual 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:26.800 component to being black that is not readily found in 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:33.520 every other culture. Right with that said for places where 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:42.400 it's not as monocultural, like a place like Detroit, an 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.920 environment where it's kind of mixed up a bit. I 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:53.120 think California, you know, which is where I'm from, and 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:58.680 where you think of a lot of the people who 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:04.240 are in positions of authority. How do they move, how 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:07.400 do they sit? How do they talk? You know, your 0:16:07.480 --> 0:16:12.800 examples come from classrooms often enough and the news. When 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:14.920 you see these people and they all look white and 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:18.840 they all talk like this, they say the whole word 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:27.640 like this, to quote Riley from The Boondocks, and you 0:16:27.760 --> 0:16:31.800 realize that you're playing a game in their world where 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:33.960 they make the rules and they are the deciders at 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:36.440 the end of the day. And so this code switching 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:41.120 becomes more important as you mature. But I think from 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:43.240 a young age a lot of us recognize that having 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:45.480 those two languages and knowing when to deploy them in 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:51.200 conversations can make a significant impact on outcomes in your life. Now, 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:56.680 I do want to read something here. So the question 0:16:57.000 --> 0:16:59.000 was why do black people switch the sound of their 0:16:59.080 --> 0:17:02.680 voice to say white when speaking to white people? Okay, 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:06.920 this is the question that was asked, and the answer was, 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:12.600 it's an example of outstanding soft skills as masters of 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:20.040 customer service within an assimilated integrationist token environment. The technique 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:24.000 of mimicking the customer's cadence, tone, and accent is used 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:28.520 to help alleviate the stereotype based terror white people feel 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.280 when they speak to black people. In other words, we 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.760 don't want you to feel intimidated, afraid, We don't want 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:35.080 you to feel like we're going to mess things up 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:36.680 for you, and that sort of stuff. Right, So this 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.720 response is speaking to those parts of it, right, which 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:42.600 may not be true one percent of the time for 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:46.359 one hundred percent of the people, but it kind of 0:17:46.440 --> 0:17:50.119 gives you some insight into the necessity of being bilingual 0:17:50.560 --> 0:17:53.600 while being black in this country. Right, I'm talking to 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.080 you on the radio right now, I realize that I 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.520 have to have an intellectual conversation on the radio every week. 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.719 I talk like this, Man, I am the coolest due 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:04.000 in the world. Man, if you just listen to me 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.760 on the show, you think I'm a square as that 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:13.440 CD cover in the corner. But I also recognize that 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.200 this is something that has come very natural for me. 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.760 You know, I might code switch six or eight times 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.440 in the day, depending on how many people I'm around. 0:18:22.520 --> 0:18:25.520 I actually gotta tell our audience I need to work 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:29.240 with Rams' on his code switch, though, mean, because sometimes 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:32.760 there's very very necessary code switch and I don't do it, 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:39.240 and then I don't do it forgive my language be tripping. Yeah, 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.800 I've been having to retext Rams. It's like, Bro, did 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:46.959 you really just mean to say that to that person again? 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:50.440 And He's like, yeah, man, you know they're cool, And 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.960 I'm like, I don't know if she's that cool. I 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:55.680 don't know if that's how we want to address. 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:59.720 Any important people. 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:05.639 Off track, but Rams be tripping, you know again. Rams 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:09.440 is from Compton, So let me let me remind Q 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.200 is from Detroit right seven mile Road. To be specific, 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:17.280 Ramsey's job is from Compton. I'll let you guys do 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:21.160 your own mental math on culturally what these conversations sound 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:23.400 like when the microphones are not here. 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:28.480 Yeah, but I think to piggyback off of the first 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:32.639 part of the show. You know, Q and I are 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:37.399 both people that we're in classes for smart kids, and 0:19:38.560 --> 0:19:42.520 you know, we took tests well and we can articulate 0:19:42.600 --> 0:19:47.560 our thoughts better than most people. I hope that doesn't 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:49.359 sound like we're bragging but this is something that we 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.560 found to be true, and we try to use this 0:19:53.480 --> 0:19:56.480 these what we what we consider gifts to kind of 0:19:56.840 --> 0:20:04.560 give people insight into what it's like to us, to 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:11.000 give you a little bit more firsthand knowledge of something 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:14.680 you may not otherwise be made aware of, and having 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.680 the ability to articulate these things we feel like in 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:24.000 my translate and so yeah, sometimes the that switching is 0:20:25.520 --> 0:20:28.600 is definitely necessary. And then sometimes you're right, I just 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:33.640 don't do it MS. But you know there's another part 0:20:33.680 --> 0:20:36.520 of it too, and I think that this is something 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:42.920 that now that we're here, is worth mentioning. Code switching. 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:49.960 Is it is? 0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:54.200 I know in my heart of hearts, it's not a 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.119 betrayal of who I am. It's not a betrayal of 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:59.960 my people, my culture, my ancestors. That's not it. Community 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:03.399 kating takes place in a lot of ways. Just because 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:07.159 someone else says, you know, the King James version of 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:09.600 English is the way to get an idea out of 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:13.119 your head into someone else's head. Doesn't make them right, 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:16.000 doesn't make you right, doesn't make anyone right. Communication is 0:21:16.080 --> 0:21:17.920 can I get a thought from my head into your head? 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:20.080 And if I can do that, then we are communicating. 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:21.879 I'm not the best Spanish speaker, although it was the 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:24.840 first language I spoke. I have a grandmother, my grandmother 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:26.520 from Cuba. She raised me the first few years of 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:30.000 my life. If you were to drop me off in 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:32.000 the middle of Mexico, I'd sound like a three year 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:34.920 old talking to anybody. But am I communicating? Yes, absolutely. 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:36.959 I could get myself to a phone booth, I can 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:38.760 get myself to a station where the people that can 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:40.239 help me. I can get myself a ticket and get 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:43.200 back to the US right, or get myself a translator. 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:49.320 That's communicating. If someone has an accent that you don't love, 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:53.840 it's an accent in no way is a reflection of 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:57.360 their cognitive abilities. Some people have brilliant minds and they're 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.520 not the best speakers. Or some people have minds and 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:02.240 they are the best speakers. They just don't speak in 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:04.720 a way that you're accustomed to listening. And these are 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:06.639 things that we all have to challenge because for a 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:09.439 long time I had stereotypes about people that came from 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.040 the South, and I thought that people from the South 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:15.720 were just slow, and that's not true. They're just Southern. 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.480 They have a different way of talking. They're not in 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:20.160 a rush to get the thoughts out of their brain. 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:23.159 They can sort of take their time a bit and 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.920 let the words lean on top of each other. Once 0:22:25.960 --> 0:22:31.000 I learned that, I felt like, oh, maybe I'm misjudging. 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.440 Maybe I'm being prejudiced, you know, And this is something 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:38.000 that we all may be guilty of at different points 0:22:38.000 --> 0:22:41.200 in our life. So if you happen to come across 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:44.000 a black person that hasn't code switched in your presence, 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:47.239 maybe they're trying to let you know who they really are. 0:22:47.760 --> 0:22:49.840 Maybe they're trying to bring you over to their side 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:52.359 of things. Maybe they're trying to make you feel comfortable 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:56.200 with their authentic self. And sometimes I be tripping, and 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:58.439 sometimes I'd be trying to make time trying to make 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:00.960 people feel a little bit more comfortable. Let me finish 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:09.240 reading this. Okay, the alleviate the stereotyped based terror white 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:12.040 people feel when they speak to black people. Okay, many times, however, 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:15.520 despite our best efforts, the customer will still attack and 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:22.080 kill the customer service tech during due to self inflicted 0:23:22.160 --> 0:23:26.320 anti black racism being stronger than civility. In other words, 0:23:26.400 --> 0:23:30.560 if you hear this example, forgive me for not providing 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:33.159 the proper context here. But this example came from obviously 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:35.680 a customer service example of a black person at work 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:36.880 having to communicate. 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:37.119 Right. 0:23:37.200 --> 0:23:38.359 This could be in a store, this could be over 0:23:38.400 --> 0:23:43.280 the phone, whatever. It's kind of like the same thing 0:23:43.320 --> 0:23:46.080 when you hit a call center and you can tell 0:23:46.160 --> 0:23:48.560 that the person based on their accent is from India, 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:51.680 you might think they don't know what they're talking about. 0:23:52.920 --> 0:23:55.840 It's a very natural thing to think if you were 0:23:56.760 --> 0:23:59.920 raised to think that people off of the news speak 0:24:00.520 --> 0:24:03.879 the right way. The question you should be asking yourself, however, 0:24:04.080 --> 0:24:07.040 now and in the future, is can I understand what 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:09.480 they are saying to me? And if the answer is yes, 0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:11.960