Are Texas Born Blacks And Hispanics Least Likely To Have the Stereotypical Texan Accent ? (Houston: school, suburbs)

[Chalie Brown]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

I know this is probably getting off topic, but I'd like to hear more explanation and detail about this aspect, as the general topic of black/white fusion -- and regional translation -- as concerns "soul/southern" cooking has been discussed before on some threads.

Back in the 60's, was when that expression "soul food" first gained some popularity in the American vernacular. With most of the media and TV concerns being in the NE and California, it became associated with blacks in much of the national mindset outside of the South from the "sit-coms" of that era. And usually it was presented in a way which was intended to ridicule stereotypes.

That is to say there was the "Archie Bunker" type who just took for granted all blacks liked "soul food", and he would be scripted to make a fool of himself when most of the black characters on the episode said they hated fried chicken and watermelon...or some such.

The thing was, the way it was applied often confused many of us Texas/South whites because WE had eaten this great crusine described as "soul" all our lives! Why was it something to ridicule or use as a didactic theme? What was the big deal about liking BBQ, chicken-fried steak, cornbread, greens, and fried okra, and such? That was good eating and it was something shared extensively by both Southern blacks and whites and had a strong historical component in terms of origins.

My general observation is that many from outside the Southern United States tend to use the term "soul food" in a way which associates it almost exclusively with blacks. The thing is though, they define it so broadly as to, again, include items listed above that many white Southerners grew up on as well.

On the other hand, most native white Texans/Southerners just call it "southern or country cooking"; limiting the use of "soul food" to those few items which really ARE more associated with the Southern African American community ("chitlins" are the thing that most comes to mind). Whereas blacks use "soul food" to include all of the above but, unlike many northern whites, understand that -- at least in the South -- whites too are very fond of most of it as well! Hope all that makes sense! LOL

Anyway, again, I would be interested in hearing more about the "life of its own" characteristic you brought up!

Make no mistake about it, soul food will always have its roots in the south, and will always be tied to southern cooking. But in the big cities and urban neighborhoods across the nation, it's kind of turned into a more universal and mainstream thing almost. It no longer contains exclusively southern dishes but now you can even find international/multicultural foods cooked with a "black twist" and branded as soul food. Cajun, Caribbean, African, and even some Latin dishes can be found in higher end soul food restaurants today.

A lot of black folk will tell you that their understanding of the term soul food is pretty much any dish cooked by blacks with a "soulful" touch.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Chalie Brown

Make no mistake about it, soul food will always have its roots in the south, and will always be tied to southern cooking. But in the big cities and urban neighborhoods across the nation, it's kind of turned into a more universal and mainstream thing almost. It no longer contains exclusively southern dishes but now you can even find international/multicultural foods cooked with a "black twist" and branded as soul food. Cajun, Caribbean, African, and even some Latin dishes can be found in higher end soul food restaurants today.

A lot of black folk will tell you that their understanding of the term soul food is pretty much any dish cooked by blacks with a "soulful" touch.

Thanks! That clarified it very well!

[karnival96]

Originally Posted by Chalie Brown

Many Dallas blacks seem to speak with an upland south accent, similar to northern Mississippi and parts of Tennessee and Arkansas. They pronounce words like 'here' and 'there' with a sort of 'urr' sound

Many native Houston blacks have the general non rhotic southern accent, typical of the Deep South from eastern Texas all the way to South Carolina

In San antonio and Austin, some blacks don't seem to have much of a distinct accent at all, while others sound a bit southern

I don't think I have ever met a Hispanic person with a southern accent

You clearly haven't been in Texas long enough if you haven't heard Hispanics with a strong southern accent. I know a number of Hispanic people who definitely have a strong country/southern twang.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Chalie Brown

No, all natives from Houston do not speak with the same dialect. I've known natives that sounded like they weren't even from the same state let alone the same city.

I looked it up, and it turns out that the closest thing I found to the accent I was speaking of is called the Gulf Southern/Mississippi Delta. It does in fact stretch from eastern Texas to out east, but in Alabama and Georgia, some attributes of the "Virginia Piedmont or Coastal" dialect can be heard

It doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, but its close enough

Southern American English

I don't suppose you get around the south much

I personally do get around the south a lot and was in Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas in the last two weeks. I was in Atlanta and Columbus. To me, in my observation, Houston blacks sound nothing like them. The blacks in Georgia talk faster and they are more lazy with their tongues. Now Southern Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast, thats different. You could hear a lot of Houston in there.

In Northern Louisiana, I was listening to the radio station out of Monroe, I could have sworn the dj was from Dallas or east Texas. They sounded...just..alike. Every pronunciation on every word was similar. Very interesting to hear. But I already knew this about Dallas, Northern Louisiana, No. Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas. It affects St. Louis to an extent as well.

I still do believe those maps are a little too broad. I think if they broke down the region a little more, it would put the Gulf Coast outside New Orleans as its own Southern dialect.

[Spade]

And why do they believe Florida is AP much different than the rest of the South when it isn't.

The Southern accent does exist in a major way in south Florida amongst the born and bred Black Americans down there.

[Chalie Brown]

Originally Posted by karnival96

You clearly haven't been in Texas long enough if you haven't heard Hispanics with a strong southern accent. I know a number of Hispanic people who definitely have a strong country/southern twang.

I'd say 18 years is quite a while. Maybe I've just never met Hispanics with southern accents....ever think of that?

In the places of Texas that I have been/lived, there either aren't that many Hispanics, they're brand new to this country so they still have "foreign" accents, or they're from a part of the state where most people don't speak with a southern accent, like San Antonio.

I've heard that Mexicans in Houston have southern accents, but when I was there, I did not know many Hispanics. Just blacks and whites mostly.

[Chalie Brown]

Originally Posted by Spade

I personally do get around the south a lot and was in Georgia, Louisiana, and Arkansas in the last two weeks. I was in Atlanta and Columbus. To me, in my observation, Houston blacks sound nothing like them. The blacks in Georgia talk faster and they are more lazy with their tongues. Now Southern Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast, thats different. You could hear a lot of Houston in there.

Well everyone has their own observations. I never said they sound exactly the same.

I know people in Atlanta have their own unique way of talking. A lot of them purposefully stress it though, similar to how people here do. But if you hear Georgia folk with their natural accent, you would see what I'm talking about.

[karnival96]

Originally Posted by ZeroTX

Blacks from Texas definitely have their own "accent." I can/do often speak with a "Texas" accent in certain company, but not in a work environment and I do it fairly consciously. I have noticed that blacks from other states sound more intelligent and educated and that especially Houston-native blacks have their own form of a "southern black" accent. I don't find it quaint like a typical southern accent, though.

Hispanics have an accent that often comes from having English as a second language, so of course it's different. If they are native English speakers, I think it just depends on what part of Texas they're from. City Texas is different than rural Texas. City Texas is nothing more than a mix of the entire USA, including ghetto language in some areas.

I prefer the typical southern accent in rural areas. The city has a cold spirit, the country is warm and welcoming.

"I have noticed that blacks from other states sound more intelligent and educated ..."

That statement is pretty ignorant on several levels. Many people from other people from other parts of the country would judge Tom Landry and T. Boone Pickens as ignorant rubes on the basis of their accents alone. By most accounts these two were/are highly intelligent men, so you might want to reconsider this idea of judging a person's intelligence on the basis of their accents.

Second, there is no distinctive black Texas accent. I've known literally thousands of black people from across the state and in my experience, I've encountered just about as many different accents. Try to pick out a distinctive accent from this list of people who were born and raised in Texas. By the way, they all sound pretty intelligent to me, but what do I know.

Wallace Jefferson (San Antonio)


Jamie Foxx (Terrell)


Mechad Brooks (Austin)


Sydney Colson (Houston)


Beyonce (Houston)


Lovie Smith (Big Sandy)


Yolanda Adams (Houston)


Ron Kirk (Austin)


Bun B (Port Arthur)


Sam Acho (Dallas)


Chamillionaire (Houston)


Debbie Allen (Houston)

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by Jeff Jarrett

I noticed that whites in Texas on average are more likely to have the heavy Texan accent than blacks and hispanics. Does anybody else here notice this as well ?

The "heavy Texan accent" is defined as the way White Texans speak. Obviously, the way white people speak is more like he way white people speak.

Do you think blacks and Hispanics in Manistique or Ishpeming have a heavy Yooper accent? Do you think blacks and Hispanics in Lewiston or Bangor have a heavy Maine accent? No, because what you define as the heavy accent in those places is simply what you associate with the white speakers who have been there for generations.

[Spade]

Originally Posted by Chalie Brown

Well everyone has their own observations. I never said they sound exactly the same.

I know people in Atlanta have their own unique way of talking. A lot of them purposefully stress it though, similar to how people here do. But if you hear Georgia folk with their natural accent, you would see what I'm talking about.

I do hear their natural accent. I have family all over Georgia as that is where my mothers side started. I also went to school with many blacks from GA when living in Killeen. To me, the only similarity is that they cut the words short. But they do that in the midwest and out west. Other than that, they've always sound different to me than Texans. I still say Houston blacks sound more like Mississippi gulf Coast and Southern Louisiana than Alabama or Georgia.