“German just sounds ugly.” “People from the South must think as slow as they talk.” “Those people up North are so rude; they talk too fast!” All of these are phrases we’ve grown up hearing and some of them we’ve said ourselves. I know I have, but what does it really say about us? As someone who grew up in the South and has an admittedly thick Southern accent, I used to be so embarrassed by the way I spoke to the point of masking my accent around people whose accents weren’t as bad. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun to wonder why I should change something so fundamental about myself. My accent is just as much a part of me as my freckles or my unruly curls. I’m not ashamed of those so why would the way I form words be any different? In short, the answer is: it shouldn’t.
Accent and dialect stigmatization is a very real form of prejudice in today’s society. Aside from just the Southern example, take a look at the way certain languages are described; German is often accused of being too harsh, Russian is too throaty, French is too snooty and so on. We have to begin to ask ourselves just why we form these opinions of languages and accents that we may have never even heard before. There is no solid proof that any language, accent or dialect is more proper or more intelligent than any other. There may be a more aesthetically pleasing sound to one language over another, but there is no such thing as an incorrect way to speak. There are more accepted ways of speaking that we are taught during school, but, even then, everyone’s speech patterns are as unique and individual as their fingerprints; in short, no one will ever sound exactly the same as someone else. So why even try?
The idea of prejudice against someone for the way they speak may sound silly but historically there have been disastrous examples this kind of prejudice. In the United States, in fact, children from Native American tribes were, and in some schools still are, forbidden from using their own culture’s unique language. This takes away these children’s ability to identify themselves with their own heritage and makes them feel as if that part of them is somewhat inferior. While this is more of an extreme example, this same feeling of inferiority can be spread to any child who is mocked for the way he or she speaks, especially within a classroom setting. If a teacher holds a bias against a student because they speak slow or use African American English (AAE) or even pronounce their vowels differently, then it is likely that child will grow up internalizing the stereotypes that follow their accent. A Southern child will think she is less intelligent than her peers and a young man who uses AAE will think he has fewer opportunities, and that is a form of prejudice that steals the future from so many before they can even truly begin.
It is possible to embrace your accent and not internalize the stigmas or stereotypes that are tacked on to it. My own accent has been called “cute” or “sweet” over the years, and instead of letting it make me feel inferior, I’ve decided to use it to my advantage. My voice may be sweet and kind of slow like molasses, but my words are well thought out and heavily weighted. The only person who can ever truly make you feel inferior is yourself, and while I know it is easier said than done, once you begin to feel comfortable with the way you speak, you’ll find that your words begin to matter more. As one of my favorite poets, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said, “Language is a city to the building of which every human being brought a stone.” What Emerson and I both are getting at is this: the words you choose to use are infinitely more important than the way you say them. So if you’re reading this and you sound slow, or quick and clipped, or straight from Boston, just remember that your voice is your own and no one else can ever dictate the way you use it.
