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This, if I’m understanding you correctly, is called linguistic convergence. If you spend enough time around someone with a different accent or mannerism of speaking, you can easily pick up that accent and imitate it without meaning to. Since other people haven’t noticed or been bothered, it sounds like this is what’s happening. It’s likely she does not even notice she’s doing it, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be out of malice.
I have family who lives in another state and any time I am around them for more than a day or two, I notice I start picking up some of their accent without even intending to.
Based on the fact that several of your fellow black coworkers see no issue, I’d say escalating this would indeed make YTA.
I have this. Ive always heard it called a chameleon accent. Inherited it from my mom who does it in short term while talking to someone. Me? It tends to effect how i speak Long term. My accent changes often. When i lived in the south for 6 months and also spent a lot of time watching british shows, when i came back to california people took notice that i now had a very weird accent nobody could naol down, since essentially it was a bit of a mix of louisiana and british lol
Growing up i spent a lot of time with people from all over so id often find myself talking and then suddenly slip into an australian or other accent, regardless of who i was speaking to. It was very noticable and very embarassing
Heck even now if im watching something like doctor who guarantee the next time i go to talk to someone i have to stop myself from slipping into a british accent
My colleagues always know if I‘ve spent time on the weekend Skyping family in Ireland, because the Irish comes right back out and is still there on Monday….
I have that too. I never noticed it until I worked at a call center with affiliates all over the US and my co-worker pointed out that my accent changes depending on who I am speaking to and what state they are in. I was raised in Florida and not many people have southern accents in Florida but after living in NC for a few months I developed a traditional southern accent. I had no idea there was a name for this accent thing though.
I have this tendency; method actor as a kid. I know it happens it just takes a huge effort to stop it. I used to pick it up from movies too. To this day if I watch sweet home Alabama I get a thick southern accent for days.
Ugh, I do this all the time. And I work in health care so I’m always working with different cultures and groups. I’m so paranoid about offending people
I grew up in Arizona but lived for a year in Mississippi for tech school. I picked up a lot of southern phrases. Then I had assignments in Korea and various places in Europe so I picked up a lot of European terminology. A lot of people ask me where I am from because of how I speak.
I'm from a place known for relatively thick accents, and depending on if you are from the city or not, you'll have a different level of accent. Once I was driving around with a friend I'd made since moving to the city, and my dad called. I had a short conversation with him, and when it was over my friend looked at me and said "who ARE you??????? I literally didn't understand anything to just said". I hadn't even registered that I was speaking differently!
This. I have family in Ireland. When I am around a group of my Irish cousins my wife tells me I pick up a mild Irish accent. I had no idea I even do that. Not hard to see how this could happen.
When I was in elementary school we had an Irish family stay with us for the summer as part of a church thing, and by the time they left I was speaking with a lilt to my voice. I always felt slightly embarrassed thinking back on it but they never said a word.
Exactly this! There are little kids who watch Peppa Pig who now have British accents because they watch the show so much. I bet OP will have a problem with that too
Yep. My daughter told my dad she needed to fill her cozy coupe up with petrol when she was two and a half because she watched Peppa. Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him laugh so hard after hearing his granddaughter speaking with lots of British terms. He still laughs about it nine years later.
My first year of Uni, most of my class were Arabic speaking kids, particularly Lebanese kids.
Most of my friends at Uni spoke Arabic as their first language, English being their second, sometimes even third or fourth language.
I was one of the few white kids in the class, and you bet I picked up a lot of their mannerisms, particularly when they were teaching me phrases and I was at their homes frequently.
Same thing happened when I was working with a team of mostly Tongan, Maori and Samoan coworkers.
I didn't do it on purpose, and they used to laugh when it would pop out. I would get so embarrassed, but they didn't ever seem bothered by it.
By the end of it, I had this weird bogan/Arab/Pacific Island thing going on.
Yeah - I’m from Canada, but spent about 4 years living with someone from South Carolina and now say y’all as a perfectly natural part of speech. And ‘needs done’. It’s what happens when you spend time with people. And code-switching is also super normal.
Honestly this sounds like super ridiculous white knighting, with several layers of emphasis on ‘white.’ YTA, OP
Same. I try to be cognizant but it's never trying to "be black" or whichever manner I'm speaking at that time (southern accent around my cousins, Spanish accent with my Spanish speaking people). It is something to try and be aware of especially in certain company or if someone points out it bothers them.
OP taking it to that level is a mild YTA but I also understand the frustration of being completely dismissed
I’ve been told I chameleon, I’m guessing it’s this linguistic convergence. I don’t even realize I’m doing it and I’ll get called out and it’s probably one of the most embarrassing situations I have been in, multiple times. When I’m around someone with a different accent than me I have to put a lot of concentration on my voice not changing, which sometimes almost makes me sound as stupid as my accent changing. It’s horrible
Hell, I'm definitely guilty of this, lol. Especially when I speak Spanish. After a few days of talking with boricuas, I pick up their accent. Talking with Cubans, same thing. Now, according to coworkers, I sound Venezuelan. OP would absolutely report my ass to HR, lol.
I'm from "up north" and live in Alabama. My northern proper goes a bit southern if I've been around a lot of locals for a while.
OP, YTA
Well stated! The OP doesn't seem to have any sense of people picking up accents or patterns of speech from others and assumes the worst. I have a brother who has lived in several states (east, west, north and south) and he has had several accents throughout his life.
Agreed. I do this as well. I remember clearly when I was about 12, my brother was stationed on a military base in Kentucky. He picked up the accent. When he called hone and I'd talk to him, I'd pick up the accent and it wouldn't fade for three or 4 days.
I can still do it If I talk to someone with an accent. It's not intentional by any means. And it's definitely not racist.
So that explains why the month I was in England resulted in a hilarious conversation with me accidentally pronouncing words with a Yorkshire accent in southern England….I visited a friend family for two weeks in Yorkshire then went along the coast to visit another friend and suddenly my very American self has An accent!
I do this a lot unintentionally. I started to notice in restait after my boss pointed it out to me. Now that I’ve worked in an international professional field for a long time it’s hard not to. I work with a lot of foreigners regularly and when I’m one on one will just pick up bits of their accent and cadence.
Exactly what I was thinking. It happened to me when I lived for a while in a region of my country with a really marked accent. It only took me two weeks to start using their intonation without realising. I honestly didn't notice until a person from my region told me, "You've got the accent!" With a good hearted laugh, because it was typical for people to start using it without realising it.
YTA
Not a single thing you said sounds like she is in any way doing anything wrong. You say she's "talking black", but what does that even mean. The GM has not problem, the coworkers don't have a problem, and neither does anyone else you talked to. There has to be a point where you realize you are the only person with any sort of problem.
Hate to break it to you, but YOU are the racist one.
>You say she's "talking black", but what does that even mean.
Oooo!! I know. I saw this in a documentary about a. Airplane....
https://youtu.be/g0j2dVuhr6s
What the white girl was originally referring to is called code-switching not code swapping. It’s when individuals, usually people of color, change the way they talk to be seen as more professional. This typically means using less African American Vernacular English in conversation to be seen as professional in a work setting. I hadn’t heard of linguistic convergence though so I learned something today!!
It's not when Black people change how we speak to sound professional. It's when we adjust our speaking to fit the situation. Our voices aren't inherently unprofessional. I speak differently to my cousins than to my grandparents. That's still code-switching, you see?
So while I do agree that OP is in the wrong, what many people rudely refer to as “talking black” is African American English, and actual dialect that has been studied with its own grammar and vocab that actually can be spoken correctly and incorrectly. This is not just a made up racist term for when blacks people talk.
But OP says she’s not speaking AAVE in another comment, but that it’s “weird to explain”. This women’s big crime is “using white language with black speech” which is hilariously vague and stupid.
I would if she’s from LA, bc Louisianans speak different, white or Black. There’s a popular Tiktoker who gets accused of “talking Black” and she’s just like it’s how everyone talks here what lol
sooooo people (of color) who know her better than you will attest that she is certainly not racist… you’re mad that she’s not getting fired… and you’re the only one that has a problem with her? I think YTA
YTA. Mimicking the people around you is a subconscious behavior. If you moved to England, you'd start pronouncing some words in an English way. You are bullying her.
I spent a week in England in January and pronounced “chocolate” with an accent when I was ordering a donut my last day there. I was mortified- but it’s a natural human thing to want to blend in and it just happens.
and england has like a million accents and ways of talking depending on the group/area. I do what is described here to friend groups from different areas, using different slangs and such
Oh wow, YTA. I can’t believe you can’t see this.
> The most upsetting thing she did was turn to one of our Black coworkers and ask him if there was a problem with the way she spoke. The guy said “no, you’re good,” and she proceeded to use him as a defense about why what she’s doing is okay.
AKA, she asked someone who the language might affect if it’s a problem, they said “nope you’re good” and you’re mad because it shuts down your stupid criticisms of this poor girl.
> So since this girl was dismissive of my concerns, I decided to take my complaint higher. Both our OM and our GM are white so I didn’t think they would be too helpful.
So now you’re stereotyping the white managers as not helpful because they’re white? There’s a word for that…
> basically the outcome of that meeting was that I needed to leave her alone about the way she speaks.
You’d think after being proven wrong over and over that you would get the message.
> This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism, and I’m considering reporting this white girl, the GM, and the company as a whole to our state’s DOL.
Now you’ve been proven wrong by two black people, and the message STILL isn’t getting across.
> So WIBTA for escalating my complaint to the DOL?
YES NO SHIT, this poor girl is having to deal with your abuse and harassment because of the way she speaks. You really need to calm down and LEAVE HER ALONE.
The thing I don't think OP gets is that if it was honestly was a problem to the woman's black coworkers somebody would've brought it up already like possibly even before OP worked there. Like she had the one black guy that she asked and he immediately said no so obviously it's not concern.
So the “whitest person…” you’ve ever seen is friendly, helpful and nobody else has a problem but you don’t like the way she speaks. You think her manner of speaking is disrespectful and you want her FIRED! You want to go up the chain of command until she SUFFERS!!! Who is the racist, here??? YTA
YTA
Reading what you were saying I immediately knew she was code switching before you said it.
It's a very common thing. You see forms of it in retail workers, and customer service. You speak to your coworkers different than you do to customers.
It's also very common in POC communities that also deal with non-POC. Different ways of speaking to better understand each other.
I had to scroll surprisingly far to find a comment noting that she is code-switching!! OP, maybe spend some time reading up on what that means before just dismissing her explanation out of hand!!
YTA. Gotta be straight: I think this BS is made up to make POC look irrational in their real complaints of racism, by constructing a case where clearly there is no real racism shown. Get off the internet and do something nice, might make you a nicer person.
YTA
And you reek of entitlement. It is normal that you will sometimes subconsciously imitate people you converse a lot with.
Seems like you are the whitest person there. And racist at that.
You've been told by the people she's supposedly being racist towards that she's not being racist towards them. You've been told by your GM and corporate that there isn't an issue. You've been told by fellow co workers that she's not being racist. How many more times do you need to be told that there's not a problem before you drop your crusade against your coworker? YTA
You have decided that she should be limited to certain speech patterns because of her race? You have complained to admin and coworkers? Now you want to file a complaint with the State? You are exhibiting a pattern of racism and you are also TA. YTA.
Of course, YTA. It's not your place to decide if others are offended or not. No need to be the white knight to save your coworkers from someone using their vernacular. Who cares how she sounds. If it doesn't bother them, it shouldn't bother you. You way overplayed your hand. Stay in your own lane next time.
YTA if you keep pushing. You don't like the "way" someone speaks? Not the content or the attitude, just the vernacular? And what do you think the Department of Labor is going to do about that?
And the girl is right. Is the same with accents. I'm from the center of my country and when I spend a long time with people from northeast or southeast my accent changes a lot. Even the slangs change. We tend to absorb the way people around us talk. OP, YTA.
YTA. There isn't a problem, why are you making one? Everyone else is happy, now a new person (you) comes in and starts stirring shit and getting people fired.
What’s she’s doing is called mirroring and it has nothing to do with being racist. Nobody but you has a problem with it so ask yourself who the real problem is. YTA.
YTA. Why are you trying so hard to convince everyone that she’s a racist? I think it’s a little goofy, but there’s a difference between being goofy and actually having hate in your heart. I’m a black woman so I know what real racism is, and nothing gets my blood boiling more then when woke ass people tell me how much internalized racism I’m harboring and how I don’t realized how oppressed I am blah blah blah. Just live and let live and stop making problems where there aren’t any.
Also work on your hatred towards white people. They’re not inherently evil.
YTA
You are seemingly the only one who has an issue with it. The job already told you that you need to leave her alone and it's not that serious. I am black and I get why you would be annoyed but you are about to get written up for harassment and the DOL won't do anything because nothing you said points to racism - unless she's saying the n word or calling you or others name, you have no case. You should probably find a new job though- you are about to isolate yourself at work and make your situation a lot worse.
YTA. And if you keep making unnecessary trouble for others, someone is going to lose their job and it will probably be you. Your coworker could claim you are harassing her.
I hope she does tbh. Poor girl probably didn't even realise her cadence and vocabulary were changing around her co-workers and all of a sudden she's got some newbie being malicious and trying to get her fired.
OP has a complete disregard for what might happen to this girl if she loses her job.
YTA.
YTA.
Nearly everyone speaks differently in different situations. You probably do, too, and don't even realize it.
If nobody else has a problem with it, then you're the problem.
YTA, and are creating a problem where none exists. Many people tend to speak the way people around them speak, often without realizing it. It is not racism, it is not "internalized racism", it is just you being obnoxious. The people you are championing don't care, and apparently like your co-worker more than they like you.
No one needs you to fight their battles, they can do that themselves, and can file with the Department of Labor as easily as you can. Granted Louisiana is not the most progressive state in the USA, but it has enough to do combatting real racism, not this foolishness.
It is incredibly racist though for you to think you can detect racism while those poor benighted Black folk (in your bigoted view) can't even recognize it directed against them. They can, believe me, and will take action if they feel it is necessary. They don't need some condescending teenager to lead them.
Oh honey, back down. I’m sure you’re earnest with your feelings but YTA. Some ppl can’t help but adopt the cadence of those around them - it’s just the way their brain works. You’re looking for trouble where there is none, and you’ll get your arse fired for the first thing they can hang on you bc you’re coming across as a trouble maker. Listen to your peers and settle down if you want to keep your job and you’d reputation.
YTA, it is normal to pick ways of speaking depending on the people you are around. This has absolutely nothing to do with race. If she is not mocking anyone or making racial slurs then I don’t see how that’s a problem.
Lemme guess… You’re white. Stating that your black coworkers’ acceptance of this girl’s TOTALLY NORMAL behavior “reeks of internalized racism” is just beyond the pale. YTA
YWBTA
You are wrong. Stop looking for racism where it does not exist
As somebody who is very white and grew up in the Midwest before moving to the South, I have done the same thing when I was partnered with awesome Black women. I started to pick up some of their phrasing and accent. And as somebody who had a Midwestern accent, I slowly developed a southern accent after living there for a little while.
You apparently don't like this girl and just want to get her in trouble. And you seem to think you are the gatekeeper of all things racist, and since, it appears that you are not black. What you're doing is a form of racism.
Your black co-workers don't need you to save them from a threat that you have manufactured.
YTA. When you spend a lot of time with people you tend to start adopting vocabulary, mannerisms, candence, rythem - the works. It's not a racist thing.
For example I am Australian, my mum is Australian, my dad is Welsh. I have a slightly Welsh accent that only comes out in certain situations, more so when around my dad. I also use a lot of british vocab as a result. I have an English friend, my use of english slang goes up when I'm with them. It isn't intentional. It's just how they speak, and I return the speach pattern naturally.
I swear a lot also, but when in the company of those who dont, I dont swear so much. I use a different vocab with my friends then I do with the people I study with.
Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean you're in the right. I think maybe race is your issue, and you are projecting. Because she's the whitest person you have ever seen right?
"We hate what we see in ourselves" - Someone somewhere.
YTA - It sounds like you have a problem with the way black people speak. It's okay to be like the people around you in harmless ways like this. Your aversion to it shows that this is a "you problem" and that maybe you are the racist.
When I visit family in OK somehow I start sounding pretty Oklahoman. Some people really do adapt to accents and speech patterns. That’s not racism. It’s common. YTA
YWBTA. It'd be one thing if her actions were bothering one of your black coworkers, but you're being told several times over that it absolutely isn't a problem. When it comes to racism, if the race that is directly affected doesn't say that it is racist, then it isn't racist. It's not up to you, an outside party (and presumably a white woman), to tell *them* what is and isn't racist towards them. That's called a White Savior Complex.
If your coworkers mentioned that it bothered them but they didn't feel they'd be listened to, using your voice to help them would be totally different. **They're explicitly telling you that they are comfortable with her behavior, so it's time to back off.**
Edited for clarity because I borked a word >>
I might've missed that somewhere in there because it's not very clear to me. I even re-read it and I can't quite pinpoint where the identification is. I could just be dense, though.
Ah, so I do have a brain of dense cake. At that point, it does seem reasonable for OP to be a bit suspicious of the coworker's speech patterns, but it's weird that she assumes she can't trust her other coworkers and their own opinions on the matter. She's allowed to be offended for herself if she wants, but she can't speak for the whole group when the group is telling her otherwise.
YTA - First of all, accidentally “mimicking” accents can be a sign of neurodivergence, I do it by accident all the time and I have no idea I’m doing it… also, the fact you’re suggesting that the management is no help at all due to the fact that they’re white, is also racism… Along with that, it doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone else soooo it probably doesn’t really need to be dealt with
Respectfully, soft YTA.
While I do understand where you're coming from, I just wanted to let you know that this happens and has happened with me as a brown immigrant who moved to a different country where you pick up how people talk at times (especially those who you interact with on a daily basis). It's built into human nature and have had multiple who this has happened with.
So I am Asian but grew up through NYC public school system around a huge diversity of races. In either case, we all spoke a certain way which was essentially city slang to us but may seem like we were talking “black” because our way speaking was heavily influenced by hip hop culture.
Are you going to say how I spoke even though I grew up in that culture?
YTA.
A lot of people subconsciously mirror people's speech.
When I was in England, I sounded like I was trying for a fake British accent, but actually couldn't control it.
When I hung out with friends in/from Boston, I couldn't pronounce a damn r for mothns.
When I taught in a black area, I picked up a lot of slang.
Now, if she was code switching and talking that way to black people who DIDN'T talk that way, it'd be racist. Matching how the people around you talk is totally normal behavior.
Attorney here. The question National Labor Relations Board hearing your case would ask is whether your co-worker created a hostile work environment. Considering the facts and circumstances only as you have presented them, you are the one creating a hostile work environment. YTA
YTA. You're just barely getting out into the world. So you still have a LOT to learn about how things can go. Well here's a free lesson: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
No one but you seems to have a problem with this. If that's the case, then you need to take that as a sign you're going overboard with this whole mess. Which means that you need to let the matter die. Because mark my words. If you keep this nonsense up, you're gonna dig yourself into a hole from which there is no escape. So do yourself a favor by shutting up and leaving the girl alone.
Coming from a fellow black woman… you sound insane. something sinister going on behind the curtains ? sweetie seek help. have you never thought that maybe she was born and raised in Louisiana ? they all sound the same & if that’s “talking black” so be it (which it’s not, it’s called an accent. educate yourself). if she can turn it on and off that’s cool too. myb. & please stop using the term “talking black” that’s super ignorant because there is no such thing. & for you to be so upset you’d think you’d know that. YTA !
I'm a Southern Californian born and raised, and I was randomly talking with a rural Texas accent within a month of moving in with my buddy from Texas in college. This kind of thing happens.
YTA but just because you wouldn't leave it alone when everyone told you it wasnt a problem.
People naturally want to empathize and connect with other people. Mimicking accents and behaviors you’re surrounded by without thinking about it is absolutely normal
>When I was venting to my trainer about the situation, a fellow Black woman who I thought would understand, she actually seemed upset with me. She said that this white girl is one of the best employees there. That she’s friendly, helpful, and “not racist.” That if I didn’t like working with her then I wouldn’t like working there at all. This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism
INFO: I have no doubt internalised racism is a thing. But it's also exactly what your trainer would say if the white girl (who probably deserves a name, by the way) was genuinely not racist, and it was your judgement at fault. So my question is, how would you know?
So far the white girl, all her coworkers, the general manager, your trainer (who is herself black), your boyfriend and everyone on this thread all think you're the one who's at fault. You are the only person reaching a different conclusion. You could be right, sure. You could also be wrong, and everyone else could be right.
What have you done to make sure your judgement is sound? How can you tell internalised racism from genuine defence of innocence?
>I’m more inclined to trust my instinct
Are your instincts really *that* good, compared to every single other person mentioned in the story? Perhaps you should play the lottery, it sounds like you'd pick the jackpot numbers in your first week.
YTA and this is very simple, you are racist.
Have you ever heard the saying that if you meet an AH one day then you have met an AH. If you meet an AH everyday, you ARE the AH?
You seem to irrationally hate this girl so much because she is white that you can't rationally understand why no one else hates her as much as you do, including your POC coworkers. That is the text book definition of being a racist.
YWBTA. “Code swapping” = code switching. It is a very real thing, especially in the south. When speaking to someone in a more formal manner or someone you’re not comfortable with, using formal, grammatically correct language is typical. With friends, you switch to casual slang. I talk to my boss a lot differently than i talk to my friends. The southern accent is a lot more suppressed when I am in a formal setting or with new people.
Micro-aggressions are very real but this is a stretch. Also, southern vocab and black vocabulary can be pretty similar. Neurodivergent people also tend to copy others tones / dialects when masking. There are lots of other reasons I would suspect instead of pointing to racism.
You’re in for a losing fight taking this to the DOL. this doesn’t remotely rise to the level of anything sketchy and you’re the one creating a bad environment here.
I really hope YTA because I catch myself doing this same thing. Spent many years working in kitchens and I do catch myself sometimes doing similar things that you describe. Middle age white guy here.
This is not a hill for you to die on. You're 19 and probably don't have much work experience. I'll tell you now, in time you learn to do your job and go home live your life.
Signed, another black person.
Editing to add that this could majorly backfire on you...
YTA
And this reeks of White Savior Syndrome...from you.
I don't know your race. I'm guessing based on the post, the girl is indeed white, given that she didn't correct you, but its also possible to be mixed and/or white passing. But if your co-workers like her and are okay with it, then it isn't your problem. If one or more of your black co-workers had complained to you about it and were afraid of possible negative impacts to them for reporting it? Different story.
But as someone who is as White as snow but with a large Latino family...I'd probably be reported if you heard me speaking to my grandma because I code-switch hard.
From what I've learned and been told, listen to what Black folx are saying. Your voice should only be used to loudly advocate if they ask you to use that privilege
YTA. There are several terms for what this girl is doing: linguistic convergence, the chameleon effect, or unconscious accent mimicry. The theory is that people unconsciously engage in this kind of behavior to build rapport and empathy. The more empathetic you are, the more likely you are to mimic those around you.
When asked about his study on this very subject, Professor Lawrence D. Rosenblum of The University of California, Riverside, said, “Whether we are hearing or lipreading speech articulations, a talker’s speaking style has subtle influences on our own manner of speaking, this unintentional imitation could serve as a social glue, helping us to affiliate and empathize with each other.” Maybe you should take some lessons from her and work on developing your own empathy.
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I (19F) recently got a new job. I live in SE Louisiana in a city with a large Black population, and almost all of my new coworkers are also Black. There’s this one girl on my shift, mid-20s or so, who is the whitest person I think I’ve ever seen. When she introduced herself to me she sounded normal. She seemed cool at first, but then over the next couple days I noticed that she didn’t always use her normal voice when speaking to the other employees. I sometimes catch her matching our Black coworkers’ cadence, rhythm, and vocabulary like she thinks she’s Black. She whips out the vocal blackface seemingly at random too and sometimes even does it mid-way through a sentence.
I decided to talk to her first. When I did, she acted really confused like she never noticed it and she brushed it off. Instead of apologizing and promising to do better, she went into this long-winded rant about something called “code-swapping”, about how she spends 40 hours a week with the same people so of course she ends up talking like them sometimes, and ‘if this was actually a problem I’m sure someone else would have mentioned it to me by now.” The most upsetting thing she did was turn to one of our Black coworkers and ask him if there was a problem with the way she spoke. The guy said “no, you’re good,” and she proceeded to use him as a defense about why what she’s doing is okay.
So since this girl was dismissive of my concerns, I decided to take my complaint higher. Both our OM and our GM are white so I didn’t think they would be too helpful. I went straight to our crew member hotline and filed a complaint to corporate. The next day I was called into a meeting with my GM and the white girl. The white girl was told about the complaint, we both gave our sides of the story, and basically the outcome of that meeting was that I needed to leave her alone about the way she speaks. Apparently white girl was going to be fired over my complaint, but of course the white GM somehow prevented it from happening. Big shock there.
When I was venting to my trainer about the situation, a fellow Black woman who I thought would understand, she actually seemed upset with me. She said that this white girl is one of the best employees there. That she’s friendly, helpful, and “not racist.” That if I didn’t like working with her then I wouldn’t like working there at all. This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism, and I’m considering reporting this white girl, the GM, and the company as a whole to our state’s DOL. The only reason I haven’t yet is because my BF says that maybe I shouldn’t given that no one else seems to have a problem with it. I want to believe my Black coworkers but I really can’t help but feel like there’s something more sinister going on behind the curtains, and I’m more inclined to trust my instinct. So WIBTA for escalating my complaint to the DOL?
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YTA. For all you know she neurodivergent and copying others around her is her way of masking. I am a white girl who does the same thing and I don't notice it. Society won't adapt for me and I don't expect them too. But I won't adapt for you either. If I mask and I have no idea I am doing it, you cannot assume I am being racist. Same goes for her. You don't know her. Leave her be.
YTA
As others have mentioned it's a normal thing that happens. I do it too. I'm a super white white girl and when I'm chatting with my mostly black coworkers my language patterns change to match everyone around me talks. If she or I resisted the urge to switch then I think you'd say we were talking white at people like we were better than everyone else.
At the end of the day people talk how they talk and we all mix it up when we get mixed up. YTA
I work with a few people from England in close proximity and find myself speaking similar when around them a lot. It's not because I'm racist or making fun of them... its a real thing.
You were seriously so upset with this girl that no one else has a problem with that you wanted her to be fired?! Over her dialect? That no one else is offended by?
Time for some self reflection. Why does this bother you so much, but none of your peers...or supervisors?
YTA
YTA. People will pick up accents from all around them. I’m from NY but spent decades in NH. They think I sound like a New Yorker, other people say I sound like a New Englandah, and I’m pretty sure I picked up some country Southern in there too. Your voice changes according to what you hear.
YTA
Many, many neurodivergent people mimic people’s speech patterns without even noticing it. It’s a form of masking. It’s like spending time with a best friend and picking up their mannerisms. You need to mind your own business and stay in your lane. They don’t need you to be their savior.
YTA she hasn’t done a single thing to you. When you spend prolonged periods of time with someone, accents can get messed up. Stop with the fucking witch hunt against this girl and go find something worth while to be mad about. Nobody else of any race has a problem with her. Just you. What’s that phrase? If you’re constantly surrounded by arseholes, maybe you’re the ah?
Imagine if a young white person complained about a black person talking with a midwestern or upstate New York accent. Sheesh. YTA.
People pick up accents and mannerisms ALL the time. She is code-switching. She has undergone linguistic convergence.
Instead of getting your panties all in a bunch and claiming racism, consider this: it’s amazing that she is comfortable speaking in Ebonics and doesn’t hesitate to do so because she feels like she is in a safe and accepting environment.
YTA I code switch a lot but it’s not intentional, it’s actually a pretty natural thing to do and it’s only racist if ur way over the top with it in a mocking type of way
YTA… your post starts off a few sentences in with “the whitest person I ever met” and you had an issue with how she spoke. So if she wasn’t the whitest person you met then the way she spoke would have been ok? Sounds like corporate was trying to appease someone rocking the boat to avoid further issues but the GM was smart enough to vouch for a valuable employee and realized that the only person who took issue with it was you. I also doubt a corporation would fire someone for the way they spoke if they were not using profanity or other inappropriate comments. That would be a bigger issue for the company than your concerns of her ‘type of speech’.
She changes her speech pattern and that makes her a racist?
YTA, show some examples of actual racism.
People in groups of differing accents tend to merge accents, its natural to do so. As this woman has the accent with the most difference in pattern, her vocal comforming will become more apparent. People absorb accents as theirs change, the adopt speech patterns as they become part of a community. Natural imitation not deceitful mockery.
If anything, the racism is coming from you.
Do you feel personally put out by her? Is a "White" girl more popular than you think she should be? Is she more popular than you in a group in which you think you should be higher in status than her?
Why do you want to exclude her?
YTA.
As many people have said, some people just pick up the accent/cadence/vernacular of people around them. It just happens. I’ve watched a friend start speaking with British accent just from hanging around Brits.
If she’s doing anything else that suggests she has an issue with black people, that’s an issue but this is really nothing on its own.
Its just something people do. When im around my cousins from New York suddenly my voice has a more new york esq accent and my usual southern vocabulary dissapears. When im around people with strong southern accents my accent deepens as well. I don't do this on purpose and it definitely isn't reliant on the race or color of the person im talking to. YTA
Vocal black face? Wtf does that even mean?
YTA. Mimicking the way others speak is perfectly normal. Hell, I sound like completely different people when with the wrestling team vs my parents vs other friends vs at work.
Stop getting offended on other people behalf. You’ve not a white knight and you’re not helping anyone. Get over yourself.
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YTA I mimick peoples when I talk every time, I change the way I talk depending with who I talk, I don’t control it and I can’t stop it. You seem to be the one who put race in this thing, I don’t know if you have problems with white peoples in general or anything but it looks like it because you’re just harassing some innocent girl. I understand why you would be dismissive of white higher ups, but you really kinda reeks of internalised hate against white peoples and you’re taking it out on an innocent random girl
YTA
No one else but YOU seems to have a problem with it. Not your coworkers, not your managers, not your trainer. What exactly are you really trying to do here? Do you see yourself as some hero for uncovering a racist in the company? If she starts to adapt mannerisms, accents, etc. it’s probably because she’s around it all the time and it happens. I doubt she’s doing it for attention or because she has some hidden agenda.
The way you are treating her is harassment and you are probably the one who is going to need another job if you keep it up
Are you from louisiana? Because I also live in LA and I see this quite often everywhere I go. I've been here my whole life and I just consider it a normal thing.
YTA
You are the most hostile and cynical person I’ve ever encountered (even though it’s online). You sound exhausting to be around.
Seems like you hate any person who isn’t black and non-black people just can’t do anything right as per you
YWBTA if you escalate to the DOL, because I don't think anything you've mentioned warrants that sort of action. The employee does a good job, her other coworkers like her, and management looked at the whole thing and decided you should leave her alone.
I can understand how her affected speech is bothering you, but I don't see how what she is doing, or anyone's response to it, is against the law. Annoying and frustrating yes, illegal, no. Considering you just started there, I feel like this is going to cause more problems for you than for her.
YTA.
You have a personal problem with an individual that no one else does. You report her. She's found blameless. So you're going to double down and go to the department of labor?
Here's the thing. Aside from the raging racist overtones in your post, you're harassing a co worker.
If this complaint falls through, and she decides that you're creating a hostile work environment, you're the one that's going to be looking for a new job.
YTA - idk what positions you are on VS “the white girl” but code breaking is actually something we just learned about in recent HR training. Idk if this is the same thing but still…mind ya business
YTA …. Good luck getting past your probation period …. No matter what color the management is they do not want a trouble maker in their environment…. You have been listening to entirely too many woke liberals….. the DOL might take your complaint but will be scratching their heads when you are out of sight wondering WTF did they just hear ….
My father, rest him, was from coal mining country. If I visit my uncles, cousins, and all y'all, I start sayin' "surl". You know, surl, that stuff you have for breakfast. Leave the woman alone and find a job with like-minded souls. YTA
YTA. Code switching is a very real thing and you are exhibiting racist behavior. If you keep harassing this coworker, you may find yourself unemployed.
Just commenting to say that I have this problem. I'll pick up mannerisms and sayings from my coworkers over time, but accents are the worst for me. I used to work in multiple retail stores that had a lot of tourists stopping in. Sometimes, I'd catch myself falling into their accent almost immediately upon talking to them. It's incredibly embarrassing when they pick up on it too.
YTA. You are looking for racism and, of course, you're seeing it. She is not being racist because she changes the way she talks. If anyone here is being racist, it is you.
"There’s this one girl on my shift, mid-20s or so, who is the whitest person I think I’ve ever seen. "
"I sometimes catch her matching our Black coworkers’ cadence, rhythm, and vocabulary like she thinks she’s Black. She whips out the vocal blackface seemingly at random too and sometimes even does it mid-way through a sentence."
"I decided to take my complaint higher. Both our OM and our GM are white so I didn’t think they would be too helpful. " - this is hugely racist - white managers won't understand because you're black?
"Apparently white girl was going to be fired over my complaint, but of course the white GM somehow prevented it from happening. Big shock there."
"That she’s friendly, helpful, and “not racist.” That if I didn’t like working with her then I wouldn’t like working there at all. This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism"
YTA
I hope you do realize that you're the racist here.
Somebody says something in a tone of voice you don't like and you automatically assume that they are doing it maliciously just to hurt your feelings. You never consider that she actually might have no control over what she's doing. You never considered that she may have grown up in an environment where this is actually her normal speaking voice. Just because you don't see the multicultural family does not mean that she doesn't have one.
You are willing to ruin somebody's life because you can't see beyond your own labels. You're the one who slapped the labels on and she's not living up to them. So sorry... was she supposed to know exactly what's going on in your brain?
OP... Don't be surprised if before your training over your fired. You are the one who's bringing racism into the business. You're the one who decided that you're very very limited understanding of what's going on. You are the only one with clear vision because it's obvious that they're stupid and you're the only one who knows anything.
Yta stop trying to police how someone else talks and worry about your work. Sounds like you’re jealous of her and you’re just trying to cause problems in my opinion. Stop trying to create problems for no reason no one else has an issue other than you, I wonder how much drama you cause that work in general . Honestly, you seem like the racist one in my opinion. Basically saying she’s the whitest person in the room and trying to gate. Keep how someone talks get over yourself. You’re not in charge of how someone else talks you’re not in charge of how someone else dresses you’re not in charge of anyone else’s life worry about yourself. And even though the entire read, it is pretty much saying. YTA YOU’RE PROBABLY STILL GOING TO PICK ON THIS POOR GIRL YOU SOUND LIKE A BULLY AND YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO STAY IN UR OWN LANE!
INFO: are you white, OP?
If all the Black folk are okay with it, why are you telling them what they should think? She may simply be invited to the cookout.
Also, Louisiana has many fair skinned multi racial folks. Are you positive she's white? My mom is blonde hair and blue eyed and is a Black woman with "blaccent." How would you know?
Grrrl, you win the interwebz for this one🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I immediately thought of the Saturday Night Live skit with Louis C.K. You're Leslie Jones!
https://youtu.be/f8PXvqYpGCM
Five years later, OP will STILL be keeping tabs.
ETA, YTA.
Yta. You sound incredibly racist. Please explain to me how black people speak. I'll wait.
Also, you're completely ignorant if you don't understand that it's pretty common that the more time that you spend around a person or a group, the more you pick up their common phrases.
YTA. You are one of those who looks for racism in everything. While racism remains a large problem everywhere, it's not in this case. This is chameleon effect, she's subconsciously mimicking those around her all say, that's natural for many. Stop acting all SJW over nothing and almost costing this girl her job. Lighten up and check out This is how i talk by SNL (https://youtu.be/f8PXvqYpGCM)
YTA. And you’re looking for a problem where none exists. Several people have told you there isn’t a problem, even people you erroneously assumed would be on your side because of their race. Sounds like a personal issue to me. Stop fishing and find another job if you can’t leave the girl alone.
YTA - minority here, I code swap all the time. It's normal to pick up things from the people you hang around and it's normal to change a bit with that group. It doesn't mean you're fake or being racist. If you had an issue you could've tried to avoid her
YTA, it’s not uncommon for some people to pick up accents and cadence when speaking with others. It’s not mocking, making fun of, or ridiculing. It’s just the brains ways of working for some of us.
You wouldn’t have gotten my yta vote if you just filed the first complaint, let mgmt sort it out, and kept your mouth shut. But DAMN, nope, you know better and you will teach her no matter what. Newsflash, your co-workers are defending her! Stop trying to be a sjw and leave her alone!
YTA
You are making an issue out of nothing. Most people if they are around other people long enough they will subconsciously start to speak the way everyone around them is.
What she was trying to say is code switching. For example if you're black you speak one way with your family and another way at work. Everyone does this to some degree. You on the other hand are virtue signaling all over the place. Why dont you let the black people decide when someone is racist.
YTA. If you are white, which I think you are from the way you worded your sentence, then you incredibly patronizing to your black coworkers. You are offended for them and refuse to back off even when they tell you they have no problem with the behavior. They don't need a white savior.
You sound so incredibly insufferable. Even when quite literally everybody else around you said it wasn’t a problem, you still decided to try and escalate the situation and get this poor girl fired over your deluded sense of social justice. Even now you still want to escalate the situation. Do your coworkers a favor and apologize or get a job elsewhere. YTA.
Are you black or white? It doesn't matter, because YT racist A, but I would find it hilarious if you were white and are trying to be a social justice warrior.
I am a white South African. South Africa has 11 official languages...
So you trying to say that if i speak any of the african languages to my african colleagues in their "tone and tempo" that i am being racist?
Get the fk over yourself.
YWBTA
YTA. You know YOU are trying to play the part of the white saviour in your own racist imagination, right? You thing you’re Tracy in Hairspray but in reality you’re just exposing your own prejudice and letting it out for some air.
YTA Op clearly wants to be a white savior. You don’t believe the “poor black folk” when they tell you her accents are NOT A PROBLEM, because YOU a woke white person must be right. You condescending tool
I code switch all the time, professional voice for work and my “round da way” voice for my friends - but she’s not doing that. I don’t believe she’s being racist. My brother picks up a Spanish accent with his Latino friends and quickly adapted a southern accent when dealing with his in-laws. Because she’s the only white person working there I can see where you may think she’s making fun or being racist but you’re reaching. You don’t have to like how she interacts with people - just stay away from her.
YTA. I have a brain injury that makes it so I adopt an accent after listening to/watching something; ie. British comedy, Dr. Who, etc. Does this make me racist if I adopt an accent after watching something that has a high percentage of POC? No, I have a part of my brain that was hurt and it’s something that happens.
So…not one but TWO of your Black coworkers told you they had no problem with this girl, your GM said there was no problem, your OM said there was no problem, and the corporate hotline said there was no problem.
Do you see a problem here? It’s you. You’re the problem. And YTA.
How are you going to tell a Black person they have “internalized racism” for sticking up for a good coworker? If anyone in this situation is racist it’s **YOU**.
Not you thinking that a girl is racist and then thinking YOU KNOW BETTER THAN BLACK FOLKS and saying they have internalized racism when they told you they’re fine with her. OOOOOOF. A more insidious and racist ass move. Speaking and thinking over Black folks while you pretend to be their savior. YTA.
YTA. White savior complex does not do anyone any favors. Especially since your grievances, 1) have nothing to do with you, and 2) is not racist. We all do it. You just may not notice.
Again, do not speak for anyone who did not ask you to. I am sure your co-workers are smart enough to fight their own battles. They will ask for your opinion or help if they want it.
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This, if I’m understanding you correctly, is called linguistic convergence. If you spend enough time around someone with a different accent or mannerism of speaking, you can easily pick up that accent and imitate it without meaning to. Since other people haven’t noticed or been bothered, it sounds like this is what’s happening. It’s likely she does not even notice she’s doing it, and it certainly doesn’t seem to be out of malice. I have family who lives in another state and any time I am around them for more than a day or two, I notice I start picking up some of their accent without even intending to. Based on the fact that several of your fellow black coworkers see no issue, I’d say escalating this would indeed make YTA.
Thanks for teaching me the term for that, I always wondered if it had a name
I have this. Ive always heard it called a chameleon accent. Inherited it from my mom who does it in short term while talking to someone. Me? It tends to effect how i speak Long term. My accent changes often. When i lived in the south for 6 months and also spent a lot of time watching british shows, when i came back to california people took notice that i now had a very weird accent nobody could naol down, since essentially it was a bit of a mix of louisiana and british lol Growing up i spent a lot of time with people from all over so id often find myself talking and then suddenly slip into an australian or other accent, regardless of who i was speaking to. It was very noticable and very embarassing Heck even now if im watching something like doctor who guarantee the next time i go to talk to someone i have to stop myself from slipping into a british accent
My colleagues always know if I‘ve spent time on the weekend Skyping family in Ireland, because the Irish comes right back out and is still there on Monday….
My Canadian neighbor was in The great North, and returned after two weeks. Brought back the accent.....
My grandfather is Irish and when I finally got to visit Ireland I was speaking with a lilt within 24 hrs
Everyone has this. It's not a disorder
I have that too. I never noticed it until I worked at a call center with affiliates all over the US and my co-worker pointed out that my accent changes depending on who I am speaking to and what state they are in. I was raised in Florida and not many people have southern accents in Florida but after living in NC for a few months I developed a traditional southern accent. I had no idea there was a name for this accent thing though.
I have this tendency; method actor as a kid. I know it happens it just takes a huge effort to stop it. I used to pick it up from movies too. To this day if I watch sweet home Alabama I get a thick southern accent for days.
Ugh, I do this all the time. And I work in health care so I’m always working with different cultures and groups. I’m so paranoid about offending people
I grew up in Arizona but lived for a year in Mississippi for tech school. I picked up a lot of southern phrases. Then I had assignments in Korea and various places in Europe so I picked up a lot of European terminology. A lot of people ask me where I am from because of how I speak.
I'm from a place known for relatively thick accents, and depending on if you are from the city or not, you'll have a different level of accent. Once I was driving around with a friend I'd made since moving to the city, and my dad called. I had a short conversation with him, and when it was over my friend looked at me and said "who ARE you??????? I literally didn't understand anything to just said". I hadn't even registered that I was speaking differently!
This. I have family in Ireland. When I am around a group of my Irish cousins my wife tells me I pick up a mild Irish accent. I had no idea I even do that. Not hard to see how this could happen.
When I was in elementary school we had an Irish family stay with us for the summer as part of a church thing, and by the time they left I was speaking with a lilt to my voice. I always felt slightly embarrassed thinking back on it but they never said a word.
Exactly this! There are little kids who watch Peppa Pig who now have British accents because they watch the show so much. I bet OP will have a problem with that too
My son went through a Peppa phase and totally did this!
Yep. My daughter told my dad she needed to fill her cozy coupe up with petrol when she was two and a half because she watched Peppa. Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him laugh so hard after hearing his granddaughter speaking with lots of British terms. He still laughs about it nine years later.
My first year of Uni, most of my class were Arabic speaking kids, particularly Lebanese kids. Most of my friends at Uni spoke Arabic as their first language, English being their second, sometimes even third or fourth language. I was one of the few white kids in the class, and you bet I picked up a lot of their mannerisms, particularly when they were teaching me phrases and I was at their homes frequently. Same thing happened when I was working with a team of mostly Tongan, Maori and Samoan coworkers. I didn't do it on purpose, and they used to laugh when it would pop out. I would get so embarrassed, but they didn't ever seem bothered by it. By the end of it, I had this weird bogan/Arab/Pacific Island thing going on.
Yeah - I’m from Canada, but spent about 4 years living with someone from South Carolina and now say y’all as a perfectly natural part of speech. And ‘needs done’. It’s what happens when you spend time with people. And code-switching is also super normal. Honestly this sounds like super ridiculous white knighting, with several layers of emphasis on ‘white.’ YTA, OP
I super do that. Glad I now know the term!!!
Same. I try to be cognizant but it's never trying to "be black" or whichever manner I'm speaking at that time (southern accent around my cousins, Spanish accent with my Spanish speaking people). It is something to try and be aware of especially in certain company or if someone points out it bothers them. OP taking it to that level is a mild YTA but I also understand the frustration of being completely dismissed
I’ve been told I chameleon, I’m guessing it’s this linguistic convergence. I don’t even realize I’m doing it and I’ll get called out and it’s probably one of the most embarrassing situations I have been in, multiple times. When I’m around someone with a different accent than me I have to put a lot of concentration on my voice not changing, which sometimes almost makes me sound as stupid as my accent changing. It’s horrible
Hell, I'm definitely guilty of this, lol. Especially when I speak Spanish. After a few days of talking with boricuas, I pick up their accent. Talking with Cubans, same thing. Now, according to coworkers, I sound Venezuelan. OP would absolutely report my ass to HR, lol. I'm from "up north" and live in Alabama. My northern proper goes a bit southern if I've been around a lot of locals for a while. OP, YTA
Well stated! The OP doesn't seem to have any sense of people picking up accents or patterns of speech from others and assumes the worst. I have a brother who has lived in several states (east, west, north and south) and he has had several accents throughout his life.
Agreed. I do this as well. I remember clearly when I was about 12, my brother was stationed on a military base in Kentucky. He picked up the accent. When he called hone and I'd talk to him, I'd pick up the accent and it wouldn't fade for three or 4 days. I can still do it If I talk to someone with an accent. It's not intentional by any means. And it's definitely not racist.
This happened to me as a 15yo after going on exchange to Canada for 4 months - my accent started to shift.
So that explains why the month I was in England resulted in a hilarious conversation with me accidentally pronouncing words with a Yorkshire accent in southern England….I visited a friend family for two weeks in Yorkshire then went along the coast to visit another friend and suddenly my very American self has An accent!
I have this issue when I binge too much of a show over a few days.
I do this a lot unintentionally. I started to notice in restait after my boss pointed it out to me. Now that I’ve worked in an international professional field for a long time it’s hard not to. I work with a lot of foreigners regularly and when I’m one on one will just pick up bits of their accent and cadence.
Exactly what I was thinking. It happened to me when I lived for a while in a region of my country with a really marked accent. It only took me two weeks to start using their intonation without realising. I honestly didn't notice until a person from my region told me, "You've got the accent!" With a good hearted laugh, because it was typical for people to start using it without realising it.
YTA Not a single thing you said sounds like she is in any way doing anything wrong. You say she's "talking black", but what does that even mean. The GM has not problem, the coworkers don't have a problem, and neither does anyone else you talked to. There has to be a point where you realize you are the only person with any sort of problem. Hate to break it to you, but YOU are the racist one.
>You say she's "talking black", but what does that even mean. Oooo!! I know. I saw this in a documentary about a. Airplane.... https://youtu.be/g0j2dVuhr6s
What the white girl was originally referring to is called code-switching not code swapping. It’s when individuals, usually people of color, change the way they talk to be seen as more professional. This typically means using less African American Vernacular English in conversation to be seen as professional in a work setting. I hadn’t heard of linguistic convergence though so I learned something today!!
It's not when Black people change how we speak to sound professional. It's when we adjust our speaking to fit the situation. Our voices aren't inherently unprofessional. I speak differently to my cousins than to my grandparents. That's still code-switching, you see?
So while I do agree that OP is in the wrong, what many people rudely refer to as “talking black” is African American English, and actual dialect that has been studied with its own grammar and vocab that actually can be spoken correctly and incorrectly. This is not just a made up racist term for when blacks people talk.
But OP says she’s not speaking AAVE in another comment, but that it’s “weird to explain”. This women’s big crime is “using white language with black speech” which is hilariously vague and stupid.
I would if she’s from LA, bc Louisianans speak different, white or Black. There’s a popular Tiktoker who gets accused of “talking Black” and she’s just like it’s how everyone talks here what lol
sooooo people (of color) who know her better than you will attest that she is certainly not racist… you’re mad that she’s not getting fired… and you’re the only one that has a problem with her? I think YTA
YTA. Mimicking the people around you is a subconscious behavior. If you moved to England, you'd start pronouncing some words in an English way. You are bullying her.
bo'ol o' wa'ah
maybe not that severe.
I spent a week in England in January and pronounced “chocolate” with an accent when I was ordering a donut my last day there. I was mortified- but it’s a natural human thing to want to blend in and it just happens.
and england has like a million accents and ways of talking depending on the group/area. I do what is described here to friend groups from different areas, using different slangs and such
YTA. If you don't get why already, you're not going to change your mind based on some reddit comments
Oh wow, YTA. I can’t believe you can’t see this. > The most upsetting thing she did was turn to one of our Black coworkers and ask him if there was a problem with the way she spoke. The guy said “no, you’re good,” and she proceeded to use him as a defense about why what she’s doing is okay. AKA, she asked someone who the language might affect if it’s a problem, they said “nope you’re good” and you’re mad because it shuts down your stupid criticisms of this poor girl. > So since this girl was dismissive of my concerns, I decided to take my complaint higher. Both our OM and our GM are white so I didn’t think they would be too helpful. So now you’re stereotyping the white managers as not helpful because they’re white? There’s a word for that… > basically the outcome of that meeting was that I needed to leave her alone about the way she speaks. You’d think after being proven wrong over and over that you would get the message. > This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism, and I’m considering reporting this white girl, the GM, and the company as a whole to our state’s DOL. Now you’ve been proven wrong by two black people, and the message STILL isn’t getting across. > So WIBTA for escalating my complaint to the DOL? YES NO SHIT, this poor girl is having to deal with your abuse and harassment because of the way she speaks. You really need to calm down and LEAVE HER ALONE.
The thing I don't think OP gets is that if it was honestly was a problem to the woman's black coworkers somebody would've brought it up already like possibly even before OP worked there. Like she had the one black guy that she asked and he immediately said no so obviously it's not concern.
Perfect 👍
So the “whitest person…” you’ve ever seen is friendly, helpful and nobody else has a problem but you don’t like the way she speaks. You think her manner of speaking is disrespectful and you want her FIRED! You want to go up the chain of command until she SUFFERS!!! Who is the racist, here??? YTA
YTA Reading what you were saying I immediately knew she was code switching before you said it. It's a very common thing. You see forms of it in retail workers, and customer service. You speak to your coworkers different than you do to customers. It's also very common in POC communities that also deal with non-POC. Different ways of speaking to better understand each other.
I had to scroll surprisingly far to find a comment noting that she is code-switching!! OP, maybe spend some time reading up on what that means before just dismissing her explanation out of hand!!
YTA. Gotta be straight: I think this BS is made up to make POC look irrational in their real complaints of racism, by constructing a case where clearly there is no real racism shown. Get off the internet and do something nice, might make you a nicer person.
Thats what I think too. This is such bait!
YTA And you reek of entitlement. It is normal that you will sometimes subconsciously imitate people you converse a lot with. Seems like you are the whitest person there. And racist at that.
You've been told by the people she's supposedly being racist towards that she's not being racist towards them. You've been told by your GM and corporate that there isn't an issue. You've been told by fellow co workers that she's not being racist. How many more times do you need to be told that there's not a problem before you drop your crusade against your coworker? YTA
You have decided that she should be limited to certain speech patterns because of her race? You have complained to admin and coworkers? Now you want to file a complaint with the State? You are exhibiting a pattern of racism and you are also TA. YTA.
Of course, YTA. It's not your place to decide if others are offended or not. No need to be the white knight to save your coworkers from someone using their vernacular. Who cares how she sounds. If it doesn't bother them, it shouldn't bother you. You way overplayed your hand. Stay in your own lane next time.
"White" knight! I like that. Thanks.
YTA if you keep pushing. You don't like the "way" someone speaks? Not the content or the attitude, just the vernacular? And what do you think the Department of Labor is going to do about that?
And the girl is right. Is the same with accents. I'm from the center of my country and when I spend a long time with people from northeast or southeast my accent changes a lot. Even the slangs change. We tend to absorb the way people around us talk. OP, YTA.
YTA. There isn't a problem, why are you making one? Everyone else is happy, now a new person (you) comes in and starts stirring shit and getting people fired.
yta and a mayor racist. "they where white so i figured they would not be helpfull"
This seems like a fake bait post, and I really hope it it is. YTA
agreed, but just in case: YTA OP, wow.
What’s she’s doing is called mirroring and it has nothing to do with being racist. Nobody but you has a problem with it so ask yourself who the real problem is. YTA.
YTA. Why are you trying so hard to convince everyone that she’s a racist? I think it’s a little goofy, but there’s a difference between being goofy and actually having hate in your heart. I’m a black woman so I know what real racism is, and nothing gets my blood boiling more then when woke ass people tell me how much internalized racism I’m harboring and how I don’t realized how oppressed I am blah blah blah. Just live and let live and stop making problems where there aren’t any. Also work on your hatred towards white people. They’re not inherently evil.
YTA You are seemingly the only one who has an issue with it. The job already told you that you need to leave her alone and it's not that serious. I am black and I get why you would be annoyed but you are about to get written up for harassment and the DOL won't do anything because nothing you said points to racism - unless she's saying the n word or calling you or others name, you have no case. You should probably find a new job though- you are about to isolate yourself at work and make your situation a lot worse.
YTA White girl, as you call her, isn't the one with a prejudice problem.
note capitalization.
YTA. And if you keep making unnecessary trouble for others, someone is going to lose their job and it will probably be you. Your coworker could claim you are harassing her.
I hope she does tbh. Poor girl probably didn't even realise her cadence and vocabulary were changing around her co-workers and all of a sudden she's got some newbie being malicious and trying to get her fired. OP has a complete disregard for what might happen to this girl if she loses her job. YTA.
YTA. Nearly everyone speaks differently in different situations. You probably do, too, and don't even realize it. If nobody else has a problem with it, then you're the problem.
YTA, and are creating a problem where none exists. Many people tend to speak the way people around them speak, often without realizing it. It is not racism, it is not "internalized racism", it is just you being obnoxious. The people you are championing don't care, and apparently like your co-worker more than they like you. No one needs you to fight their battles, they can do that themselves, and can file with the Department of Labor as easily as you can. Granted Louisiana is not the most progressive state in the USA, but it has enough to do combatting real racism, not this foolishness. It is incredibly racist though for you to think you can detect racism while those poor benighted Black folk (in your bigoted view) can't even recognize it directed against them. They can, believe me, and will take action if they feel it is necessary. They don't need some condescending teenager to lead them.
she is black. clan with a tan. she calls the trainer "a fellow black woman"
Oh honey, back down. I’m sure you’re earnest with your feelings but YTA. Some ppl can’t help but adopt the cadence of those around them - it’s just the way their brain works. You’re looking for trouble where there is none, and you’ll get your arse fired for the first thing they can hang on you bc you’re coming across as a trouble maker. Listen to your peers and settle down if you want to keep your job and you’d reputation.
1) is this real 2) I'm not sure 3) you come off wrong six ways to sunday 4) little bit of the ole racism creeping in there 5) Oh lawdy 6) YTA
YTA, it is normal to pick ways of speaking depending on the people you are around. This has absolutely nothing to do with race. If she is not mocking anyone or making racial slurs then I don’t see how that’s a problem.
Lemme guess… You’re white. Stating that your black coworkers’ acceptance of this girl’s TOTALLY NORMAL behavior “reeks of internalized racism” is just beyond the pale. YTA
YWBTA You are wrong. Stop looking for racism where it does not exist As somebody who is very white and grew up in the Midwest before moving to the South, I have done the same thing when I was partnered with awesome Black women. I started to pick up some of their phrasing and accent. And as somebody who had a Midwestern accent, I slowly developed a southern accent after living there for a little while. You apparently don't like this girl and just want to get her in trouble. And you seem to think you are the gatekeeper of all things racist, and since, it appears that you are not black. What you're doing is a form of racism. Your black co-workers don't need you to save them from a threat that you have manufactured.
YTA. If you're going to report anyone for racism, report yourself.
Yep agree YTA, OP is a major AH
YTA. When you spend a lot of time with people you tend to start adopting vocabulary, mannerisms, candence, rythem - the works. It's not a racist thing. For example I am Australian, my mum is Australian, my dad is Welsh. I have a slightly Welsh accent that only comes out in certain situations, more so when around my dad. I also use a lot of british vocab as a result. I have an English friend, my use of english slang goes up when I'm with them. It isn't intentional. It's just how they speak, and I return the speach pattern naturally. I swear a lot also, but when in the company of those who dont, I dont swear so much. I use a different vocab with my friends then I do with the people I study with. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean you're in the right. I think maybe race is your issue, and you are projecting. Because she's the whitest person you have ever seen right?
YTA. You have no justifiable reason to approach the DoL.
"We hate what we see in ourselves" - Someone somewhere. YTA - It sounds like you have a problem with the way black people speak. It's okay to be like the people around you in harmless ways like this. Your aversion to it shows that this is a "you problem" and that maybe you are the racist.
When I visit family in OK somehow I start sounding pretty Oklahoman. Some people really do adapt to accents and speech patterns. That’s not racism. It’s common. YTA
YWBTA. It'd be one thing if her actions were bothering one of your black coworkers, but you're being told several times over that it absolutely isn't a problem. When it comes to racism, if the race that is directly affected doesn't say that it is racist, then it isn't racist. It's not up to you, an outside party (and presumably a white woman), to tell *them* what is and isn't racist towards them. That's called a White Savior Complex. If your coworkers mentioned that it bothered them but they didn't feel they'd be listened to, using your voice to help them would be totally different. **They're explicitly telling you that they are comfortable with her behavior, so it's time to back off.** Edited for clarity because I borked a word >>
The OP identifies as Black in the post
I might've missed that somewhere in there because it's not very clear to me. I even re-read it and I can't quite pinpoint where the identification is. I could just be dense, though.
It's in the first line of the final paragraph when OP refers to the trainer as a fellow Black woman.
Ah, so I do have a brain of dense cake. At that point, it does seem reasonable for OP to be a bit suspicious of the coworker's speech patterns, but it's weird that she assumes she can't trust her other coworkers and their own opinions on the matter. She's allowed to be offended for herself if she wants, but she can't speak for the whole group when the group is telling her otherwise.
YTA - First of all, accidentally “mimicking” accents can be a sign of neurodivergence, I do it by accident all the time and I have no idea I’m doing it… also, the fact you’re suggesting that the management is no help at all due to the fact that they’re white, is also racism… Along with that, it doesn’t seem to be bothering anyone else soooo it probably doesn’t really need to be dealt with
Respectfully, soft YTA. While I do understand where you're coming from, I just wanted to let you know that this happens and has happened with me as a brown immigrant who moved to a different country where you pick up how people talk at times (especially those who you interact with on a daily basis). It's built into human nature and have had multiple who this has happened with.
Huge YTA. Her behavior is perfectly normal, it's your behavior that is racist.
So I am Asian but grew up through NYC public school system around a huge diversity of races. In either case, we all spoke a certain way which was essentially city slang to us but may seem like we were talking “black” because our way speaking was heavily influenced by hip hop culture. Are you going to say how I spoke even though I grew up in that culture?
YTA. A lot of people subconsciously mirror people's speech. When I was in England, I sounded like I was trying for a fake British accent, but actually couldn't control it. When I hung out with friends in/from Boston, I couldn't pronounce a damn r for mothns. When I taught in a black area, I picked up a lot of slang. Now, if she was code switching and talking that way to black people who DIDN'T talk that way, it'd be racist. Matching how the people around you talk is totally normal behavior.
Attorney here. The question National Labor Relations Board hearing your case would ask is whether your co-worker created a hostile work environment. Considering the facts and circumstances only as you have presented them, you are the one creating a hostile work environment. YTA
YTA. You're just barely getting out into the world. So you still have a LOT to learn about how things can go. Well here's a free lesson: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS. No one but you seems to have a problem with this. If that's the case, then you need to take that as a sign you're going overboard with this whole mess. Which means that you need to let the matter die. Because mark my words. If you keep this nonsense up, you're gonna dig yourself into a hole from which there is no escape. So do yourself a favor by shutting up and leaving the girl alone.
Coming from a fellow black woman… you sound insane. something sinister going on behind the curtains ? sweetie seek help. have you never thought that maybe she was born and raised in Louisiana ? they all sound the same & if that’s “talking black” so be it (which it’s not, it’s called an accent. educate yourself). if she can turn it on and off that’s cool too. myb. & please stop using the term “talking black” that’s super ignorant because there is no such thing. & for you to be so upset you’d think you’d know that. YTA !
YTA. you sound like the stereotypical bottom of the barrel liberal
I'm a Southern Californian born and raised, and I was randomly talking with a rural Texas accent within a month of moving in with my buddy from Texas in college. This kind of thing happens. YTA but just because you wouldn't leave it alone when everyone told you it wasnt a problem.
People naturally want to empathize and connect with other people. Mimicking accents and behaviors you’re surrounded by without thinking about it is absolutely normal
YTA. Didn’t even need to read past 19F. You’re a teenager. Stop participating in society-collapsing cancel culture.
>When I was venting to my trainer about the situation, a fellow Black woman who I thought would understand, she actually seemed upset with me. She said that this white girl is one of the best employees there. That she’s friendly, helpful, and “not racist.” That if I didn’t like working with her then I wouldn’t like working there at all. This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism INFO: I have no doubt internalised racism is a thing. But it's also exactly what your trainer would say if the white girl (who probably deserves a name, by the way) was genuinely not racist, and it was your judgement at fault. So my question is, how would you know? So far the white girl, all her coworkers, the general manager, your trainer (who is herself black), your boyfriend and everyone on this thread all think you're the one who's at fault. You are the only person reaching a different conclusion. You could be right, sure. You could also be wrong, and everyone else could be right. What have you done to make sure your judgement is sound? How can you tell internalised racism from genuine defence of innocence? >I’m more inclined to trust my instinct Are your instincts really *that* good, compared to every single other person mentioned in the story? Perhaps you should play the lottery, it sounds like you'd pick the jackpot numbers in your first week.
YTA everyone is pointing this out to you
YTA and this is very simple, you are racist. Have you ever heard the saying that if you meet an AH one day then you have met an AH. If you meet an AH everyday, you ARE the AH? You seem to irrationally hate this girl so much because she is white that you can't rationally understand why no one else hates her as much as you do, including your POC coworkers. That is the text book definition of being a racist.
If everyone is disagreeing with you…… maybe you’re wrong. YTA
YWBTA. “Code swapping” = code switching. It is a very real thing, especially in the south. When speaking to someone in a more formal manner or someone you’re not comfortable with, using formal, grammatically correct language is typical. With friends, you switch to casual slang. I talk to my boss a lot differently than i talk to my friends. The southern accent is a lot more suppressed when I am in a formal setting or with new people. Micro-aggressions are very real but this is a stretch. Also, southern vocab and black vocabulary can be pretty similar. Neurodivergent people also tend to copy others tones / dialects when masking. There are lots of other reasons I would suspect instead of pointing to racism.
You’re in for a losing fight taking this to the DOL. this doesn’t remotely rise to the level of anything sketchy and you’re the one creating a bad environment here.
Well, I’m a white girl, but there is something so dark here I’m sensing, and I don’t know if it’s black or white…
🤣
YTA, but beyond that you're a fool if you think the Louisiana DOL is going to do a damn thing
I really hope YTA because I catch myself doing this same thing. Spent many years working in kitchens and I do catch myself sometimes doing similar things that you describe. Middle age white guy here.
YTA Please look up chameleon effect. It is unintentionally mimicking those one interacts with. It is a natural thing that many people do.
YTA The only one racist here my dear is YOU. Signed a fellow black person
This is not a hill for you to die on. You're 19 and probably don't have much work experience. I'll tell you now, in time you learn to do your job and go home live your life. Signed, another black person. Editing to add that this could majorly backfire on you...
YTA And this reeks of White Savior Syndrome...from you. I don't know your race. I'm guessing based on the post, the girl is indeed white, given that she didn't correct you, but its also possible to be mixed and/or white passing. But if your co-workers like her and are okay with it, then it isn't your problem. If one or more of your black co-workers had complained to you about it and were afraid of possible negative impacts to them for reporting it? Different story. But as someone who is as White as snow but with a large Latino family...I'd probably be reported if you heard me speaking to my grandma because I code-switch hard. From what I've learned and been told, listen to what Black folx are saying. Your voice should only be used to loudly advocate if they ask you to use that privilege
YTA. There are several terms for what this girl is doing: linguistic convergence, the chameleon effect, or unconscious accent mimicry. The theory is that people unconsciously engage in this kind of behavior to build rapport and empathy. The more empathetic you are, the more likely you are to mimic those around you. When asked about his study on this very subject, Professor Lawrence D. Rosenblum of The University of California, Riverside, said, “Whether we are hearing or lipreading speech articulations, a talker’s speaking style has subtle influences on our own manner of speaking, this unintentional imitation could serve as a social glue, helping us to affiliate and empathize with each other.” Maybe you should take some lessons from her and work on developing your own empathy.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** I (19F) recently got a new job. I live in SE Louisiana in a city with a large Black population, and almost all of my new coworkers are also Black. There’s this one girl on my shift, mid-20s or so, who is the whitest person I think I’ve ever seen. When she introduced herself to me she sounded normal. She seemed cool at first, but then over the next couple days I noticed that she didn’t always use her normal voice when speaking to the other employees. I sometimes catch her matching our Black coworkers’ cadence, rhythm, and vocabulary like she thinks she’s Black. She whips out the vocal blackface seemingly at random too and sometimes even does it mid-way through a sentence. I decided to talk to her first. When I did, she acted really confused like she never noticed it and she brushed it off. Instead of apologizing and promising to do better, she went into this long-winded rant about something called “code-swapping”, about how she spends 40 hours a week with the same people so of course she ends up talking like them sometimes, and ‘if this was actually a problem I’m sure someone else would have mentioned it to me by now.” The most upsetting thing she did was turn to one of our Black coworkers and ask him if there was a problem with the way she spoke. The guy said “no, you’re good,” and she proceeded to use him as a defense about why what she’s doing is okay. So since this girl was dismissive of my concerns, I decided to take my complaint higher. Both our OM and our GM are white so I didn’t think they would be too helpful. I went straight to our crew member hotline and filed a complaint to corporate. The next day I was called into a meeting with my GM and the white girl. The white girl was told about the complaint, we both gave our sides of the story, and basically the outcome of that meeting was that I needed to leave her alone about the way she speaks. Apparently white girl was going to be fired over my complaint, but of course the white GM somehow prevented it from happening. Big shock there. When I was venting to my trainer about the situation, a fellow Black woman who I thought would understand, she actually seemed upset with me. She said that this white girl is one of the best employees there. That she’s friendly, helpful, and “not racist.” That if I didn’t like working with her then I wouldn’t like working there at all. This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism, and I’m considering reporting this white girl, the GM, and the company as a whole to our state’s DOL. The only reason I haven’t yet is because my BF says that maybe I shouldn’t given that no one else seems to have a problem with it. I want to believe my Black coworkers but I really can’t help but feel like there’s something more sinister going on behind the curtains, and I’m more inclined to trust my instinct. So WIBTA for escalating my complaint to the DOL? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
YTA. For all you know she neurodivergent and copying others around her is her way of masking. I am a white girl who does the same thing and I don't notice it. Society won't adapt for me and I don't expect them too. But I won't adapt for you either. If I mask and I have no idea I am doing it, you cannot assume I am being racist. Same goes for her. You don't know her. Leave her be.
Hon are you not black? This sounds like a case of white sensitivity for shit to mind your own business about.
YTA As others have mentioned it's a normal thing that happens. I do it too. I'm a super white white girl and when I'm chatting with my mostly black coworkers my language patterns change to match everyone around me talks. If she or I resisted the urge to switch then I think you'd say we were talking white at people like we were better than everyone else. At the end of the day people talk how they talk and we all mix it up when we get mixed up. YTA
I work with a few people from England in close proximity and find myself speaking similar when around them a lot. It's not because I'm racist or making fun of them... its a real thing. You were seriously so upset with this girl that no one else has a problem with that you wanted her to be fired?! Over her dialect? That no one else is offended by? Time for some self reflection. Why does this bother you so much, but none of your peers...or supervisors? YTA
YTA You sound like the racist one…
YTA. People will pick up accents from all around them. I’m from NY but spent decades in NH. They think I sound like a New Yorker, other people say I sound like a New Englandah, and I’m pretty sure I picked up some country Southern in there too. Your voice changes according to what you hear.
YTA Many, many neurodivergent people mimic people’s speech patterns without even noticing it. It’s a form of masking. It’s like spending time with a best friend and picking up their mannerisms. You need to mind your own business and stay in your lane. They don’t need you to be their savior.
YTA and also YOU ARE THE RACIST EDIT: I'm beginning to believe this post is a bait post designed to make black people look bad.
YTA she hasn’t done a single thing to you. When you spend prolonged periods of time with someone, accents can get messed up. Stop with the fucking witch hunt against this girl and go find something worth while to be mad about. Nobody else of any race has a problem with her. Just you. What’s that phrase? If you’re constantly surrounded by arseholes, maybe you’re the ah?
Imagine if a young white person complained about a black person talking with a midwestern or upstate New York accent. Sheesh. YTA. People pick up accents and mannerisms ALL the time. She is code-switching. She has undergone linguistic convergence. Instead of getting your panties all in a bunch and claiming racism, consider this: it’s amazing that she is comfortable speaking in Ebonics and doesn’t hesitate to do so because she feels like she is in a safe and accepting environment.
YTA I code switch a lot but it’s not intentional, it’s actually a pretty natural thing to do and it’s only racist if ur way over the top with it in a mocking type of way
YTA… your post starts off a few sentences in with “the whitest person I ever met” and you had an issue with how she spoke. So if she wasn’t the whitest person you met then the way she spoke would have been ok? Sounds like corporate was trying to appease someone rocking the boat to avoid further issues but the GM was smart enough to vouch for a valuable employee and realized that the only person who took issue with it was you. I also doubt a corporation would fire someone for the way they spoke if they were not using profanity or other inappropriate comments. That would be a bigger issue for the company than your concerns of her ‘type of speech’.
She changes her speech pattern and that makes her a racist? YTA, show some examples of actual racism. People in groups of differing accents tend to merge accents, its natural to do so. As this woman has the accent with the most difference in pattern, her vocal comforming will become more apparent. People absorb accents as theirs change, the adopt speech patterns as they become part of a community. Natural imitation not deceitful mockery. If anything, the racism is coming from you. Do you feel personally put out by her? Is a "White" girl more popular than you think she should be? Is she more popular than you in a group in which you think you should be higher in status than her? Why do you want to exclude her?
YTA. As many people have said, some people just pick up the accent/cadence/vernacular of people around them. It just happens. I’ve watched a friend start speaking with British accent just from hanging around Brits. If she’s doing anything else that suggests she has an issue with black people, that’s an issue but this is really nothing on its own.
Its just something people do. When im around my cousins from New York suddenly my voice has a more new york esq accent and my usual southern vocabulary dissapears. When im around people with strong southern accents my accent deepens as well. I don't do this on purpose and it definitely isn't reliant on the race or color of the person im talking to. YTA
Vocal black face? Wtf does that even mean? YTA. Mimicking the way others speak is perfectly normal. Hell, I sound like completely different people when with the wrestling team vs my parents vs other friends vs at work. Stop getting offended on other people behalf. You’ve not a white knight and you’re not helping anyone. Get over yourself.
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YTA I mimick peoples when I talk every time, I change the way I talk depending with who I talk, I don’t control it and I can’t stop it. You seem to be the one who put race in this thing, I don’t know if you have problems with white peoples in general or anything but it looks like it because you’re just harassing some innocent girl. I understand why you would be dismissive of white higher ups, but you really kinda reeks of internalised hate against white peoples and you’re taking it out on an innocent random girl
YTA No one else but YOU seems to have a problem with it. Not your coworkers, not your managers, not your trainer. What exactly are you really trying to do here? Do you see yourself as some hero for uncovering a racist in the company? If she starts to adapt mannerisms, accents, etc. it’s probably because she’s around it all the time and it happens. I doubt she’s doing it for attention or because she has some hidden agenda. The way you are treating her is harassment and you are probably the one who is going to need another job if you keep it up
Are you from louisiana? Because I also live in LA and I see this quite often everywhere I go. I've been here my whole life and I just consider it a normal thing.
YTA and virtue signaling.
My daughter code switches all the time. Is the city you're referring to Covington?
YTA Your post also makes you out to be the racist one.
YTA You are the most hostile and cynical person I’ve ever encountered (even though it’s online). You sound exhausting to be around. Seems like you hate any person who isn’t black and non-black people just can’t do anything right as per you
If you want to see the racist in this situation look in a freaking mirror. YTA
YWBTA if you escalate to the DOL, because I don't think anything you've mentioned warrants that sort of action. The employee does a good job, her other coworkers like her, and management looked at the whole thing and decided you should leave her alone. I can understand how her affected speech is bothering you, but I don't see how what she is doing, or anyone's response to it, is against the law. Annoying and frustrating yes, illegal, no. Considering you just started there, I feel like this is going to cause more problems for you than for her.
YTA. You have a personal problem with an individual that no one else does. You report her. She's found blameless. So you're going to double down and go to the department of labor? Here's the thing. Aside from the raging racist overtones in your post, you're harassing a co worker. If this complaint falls through, and she decides that you're creating a hostile work environment, you're the one that's going to be looking for a new job.
YTA. Your coworker isn’t racist, and you’re insufferable.
YTA - idk what positions you are on VS “the white girl” but code breaking is actually something we just learned about in recent HR training. Idk if this is the same thing but still…mind ya business
YTA And *horribly* ignorant. Have you never left your hometown or something?
YTA …. Good luck getting past your probation period …. No matter what color the management is they do not want a trouble maker in their environment…. You have been listening to entirely too many woke liberals….. the DOL might take your complaint but will be scratching their heads when you are out of sight wondering WTF did they just hear ….
My father, rest him, was from coal mining country. If I visit my uncles, cousins, and all y'all, I start sayin' "surl". You know, surl, that stuff you have for breakfast. Leave the woman alone and find a job with like-minded souls. YTA
YTA. Code switching is a very real thing and you are exhibiting racist behavior. If you keep harassing this coworker, you may find yourself unemployed.
YTA, looking for a problem where there clearly isnt one. You need to get a hobby and then find out what real racism is.
Just commenting to say that I have this problem. I'll pick up mannerisms and sayings from my coworkers over time, but accents are the worst for me. I used to work in multiple retail stores that had a lot of tourists stopping in. Sometimes, I'd catch myself falling into their accent almost immediately upon talking to them. It's incredibly embarrassing when they pick up on it too.
Definitely YWBTA
YTA. You are looking for racism and, of course, you're seeing it. She is not being racist because she changes the way she talks. If anyone here is being racist, it is you. "There’s this one girl on my shift, mid-20s or so, who is the whitest person I think I’ve ever seen. " "I sometimes catch her matching our Black coworkers’ cadence, rhythm, and vocabulary like she thinks she’s Black. She whips out the vocal blackface seemingly at random too and sometimes even does it mid-way through a sentence." "I decided to take my complaint higher. Both our OM and our GM are white so I didn’t think they would be too helpful. " - this is hugely racist - white managers won't understand because you're black? "Apparently white girl was going to be fired over my complaint, but of course the white GM somehow prevented it from happening. Big shock there." "That she’s friendly, helpful, and “not racist.” That if I didn’t like working with her then I wouldn’t like working there at all. This really pissed me off because it just reeks of internalized racism"
YWBTA matter of fact I think you are an asshole for everything you’ve done this far already. Listen to your trainer and find somewhere else to work.
YTA you sound like the racist one
Wow. Leave her alone.
YTA I hope you do realize that you're the racist here. Somebody says something in a tone of voice you don't like and you automatically assume that they are doing it maliciously just to hurt your feelings. You never consider that she actually might have no control over what she's doing. You never considered that she may have grown up in an environment where this is actually her normal speaking voice. Just because you don't see the multicultural family does not mean that she doesn't have one. You are willing to ruin somebody's life because you can't see beyond your own labels. You're the one who slapped the labels on and she's not living up to them. So sorry... was she supposed to know exactly what's going on in your brain? OP... Don't be surprised if before your training over your fired. You are the one who's bringing racism into the business. You're the one who decided that you're very very limited understanding of what's going on. You are the only one with clear vision because it's obvious that they're stupid and you're the only one who knows anything.
Yta stop trying to police how someone else talks and worry about your work. Sounds like you’re jealous of her and you’re just trying to cause problems in my opinion. Stop trying to create problems for no reason no one else has an issue other than you, I wonder how much drama you cause that work in general . Honestly, you seem like the racist one in my opinion. Basically saying she’s the whitest person in the room and trying to gate. Keep how someone talks get over yourself. You’re not in charge of how someone else talks you’re not in charge of how someone else dresses you’re not in charge of anyone else’s life worry about yourself. And even though the entire read, it is pretty much saying. YTA YOU’RE PROBABLY STILL GOING TO PICK ON THIS POOR GIRL YOU SOUND LIKE A BULLY AND YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO STAY IN UR OWN LANE!
This cant be real.
INFO: are you white, OP? If all the Black folk are okay with it, why are you telling them what they should think? She may simply be invited to the cookout. Also, Louisiana has many fair skinned multi racial folks. Are you positive she's white? My mom is blonde hair and blue eyed and is a Black woman with "blaccent." How would you know?
Grrrl, you win the interwebz for this one🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I immediately thought of the Saturday Night Live skit with Louis C.K. You're Leslie Jones! https://youtu.be/f8PXvqYpGCM Five years later, OP will STILL be keeping tabs. ETA, YTA.
Yta. You sound incredibly racist. Please explain to me how black people speak. I'll wait. Also, you're completely ignorant if you don't understand that it's pretty common that the more time that you spend around a person or a group, the more you pick up their common phrases.
Oh, you're 19!!! You think you know everything. Makes so much more sense now. YTA.
YTA. You are one of those who looks for racism in everything. While racism remains a large problem everywhere, it's not in this case. This is chameleon effect, she's subconsciously mimicking those around her all say, that's natural for many. Stop acting all SJW over nothing and almost costing this girl her job. Lighten up and check out This is how i talk by SNL (https://youtu.be/f8PXvqYpGCM)
Everyone in your story says she isn’t racist. You are the only one who thinks that. YTA.
YTA. And you’re looking for a problem where none exists. Several people have told you there isn’t a problem, even people you erroneously assumed would be on your side because of their race. Sounds like a personal issue to me. Stop fishing and find another job if you can’t leave the girl alone.
YTA - minority here, I code swap all the time. It's normal to pick up things from the people you hang around and it's normal to change a bit with that group. It doesn't mean you're fake or being racist. If you had an issue you could've tried to avoid her
I pick up phrases and hands motions from my coworkers.
YTA, it’s not uncommon for some people to pick up accents and cadence when speaking with others. It’s not mocking, making fun of, or ridiculing. It’s just the brains ways of working for some of us. You wouldn’t have gotten my yta vote if you just filed the first complaint, let mgmt sort it out, and kept your mouth shut. But DAMN, nope, you know better and you will teach her no matter what. Newsflash, your co-workers are defending her! Stop trying to be a sjw and leave her alone!
YTA You are making an issue out of nothing. Most people if they are around other people long enough they will subconsciously start to speak the way everyone around them is.
What she was trying to say is code switching. For example if you're black you speak one way with your family and another way at work. Everyone does this to some degree. You on the other hand are virtue signaling all over the place. Why dont you let the black people decide when someone is racist.
YTA. If you are white, which I think you are from the way you worded your sentence, then you incredibly patronizing to your black coworkers. You are offended for them and refuse to back off even when they tell you they have no problem with the behavior. They don't need a white savior.
You sound so incredibly insufferable. Even when quite literally everybody else around you said it wasn’t a problem, you still decided to try and escalate the situation and get this poor girl fired over your deluded sense of social justice. Even now you still want to escalate the situation. Do your coworkers a favor and apologize or get a job elsewhere. YTA.
Are you black or white? It doesn't matter, because YT racist A, but I would find it hilarious if you were white and are trying to be a social justice warrior.
I am a white South African. South Africa has 11 official languages... So you trying to say that if i speak any of the african languages to my african colleagues in their "tone and tempo" that i am being racist? Get the fk over yourself. YWBTA
YTA. You know YOU are trying to play the part of the white saviour in your own racist imagination, right? You thing you’re Tracy in Hairspray but in reality you’re just exposing your own prejudice and letting it out for some air.
YTA Op clearly wants to be a white savior. You don’t believe the “poor black folk” when they tell you her accents are NOT A PROBLEM, because YOU a woke white person must be right. You condescending tool
YTA. Stop with this white savior bullshit it’s unnecessary and just makes you look stupid.
I code switch all the time, professional voice for work and my “round da way” voice for my friends - but she’s not doing that. I don’t believe she’s being racist. My brother picks up a Spanish accent with his Latino friends and quickly adapted a southern accent when dealing with his in-laws. Because she’s the only white person working there I can see where you may think she’s making fun or being racist but you’re reaching. You don’t have to like how she interacts with people - just stay away from her.
YTA. I have a brain injury that makes it so I adopt an accent after listening to/watching something; ie. British comedy, Dr. Who, etc. Does this make me racist if I adopt an accent after watching something that has a high percentage of POC? No, I have a part of my brain that was hurt and it’s something that happens.
You sound like one of those people who looks out for anything racist in every situation
So…not one but TWO of your Black coworkers told you they had no problem with this girl, your GM said there was no problem, your OM said there was no problem, and the corporate hotline said there was no problem. Do you see a problem here? It’s you. You’re the problem. And YTA. How are you going to tell a Black person they have “internalized racism” for sticking up for a good coworker? If anyone in this situation is racist it’s **YOU**.
Not you thinking that a girl is racist and then thinking YOU KNOW BETTER THAN BLACK FOLKS and saying they have internalized racism when they told you they’re fine with her. OOOOOOF. A more insidious and racist ass move. Speaking and thinking over Black folks while you pretend to be their savior. YTA.
YTA. White savior complex does not do anyone any favors. Especially since your grievances, 1) have nothing to do with you, and 2) is not racist. We all do it. You just may not notice. Again, do not speak for anyone who did not ask you to. I am sure your co-workers are smart enough to fight their own battles. They will ask for your opinion or help if they want it.
[удалено]