Something in common w/the President

Unfortunately I think the new president & I will have something else in common. I mean we're both from Chicago (well, sort of), we're both black (well, sort of), both college educated adults & both affected by breast cancer in 1 way or another. Last night after I find this article online I met with a new acquantaince who after speaking for a few minutes had to ask me where I'm from. After I reply that I'm from Chicago, he gives me a sort of quizzical look. Then he says he doesn't want to insult me ... but I sound white!

Obama's Use of Complete Sentences Stirs Controversy

Stunning Break with Last Eight Years

In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS' "Sixty Minutes" on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tick, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.But Mr. Obama's decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it "alienating" to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language."Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement," says Mr. Logsdon. "If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist."The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, "Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off."The President-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska."Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.

I just don't get it. Just because I speak proper English as my1st and only language...because I don't sound like Lil Kim or some rap artist...because I'm not loud & somewhat over-the-top like Oprah or Mo'nique...why is it that people think I sound white? Weren't there any black Valley girls that overused the words "Oh My God", "Like" & "Totally"? Ok, not comparind myself to a Valley Girl because I sure never said "Totally" as a response to any question or description....but really. How did I end up sounding white in everyone's eyes? I know how sometimes accents will rub off depending on your environment... but I've been around black people all my life. Even through college the majority of my crowd was other blacks, so HOW did I end up sounding white??

I beleive my daughter is going to end up w/the same fate. It's bad enough that I've doomed her to never being able to walk into a souvenier shop to buy anything with her name readily printed on it (it's not an outlandish name like Keylolo or LaQuisha, but actually a biblical name), but I see at 5 years old she has a real southern girl accent. LOL