When+Black+Women+Talk+with+White+Women

Workshop: Chapter 11
Is there a difference in the way African American women and white women speak? Do you notice a difference when you are speaking with a woman of the other race? In this essay, Marsha Houston illustrates how ethnicity can "trump" gender. It goes into detail about how communication between women of different races can become "stressful, insensitive, and in some cases even racist." There are many different types of concrete communication advice to white women about what to say and what not to say (the essay is written from an African American woman's point of view). In order to write this essay, Houston had 135 African American women and 100 white women fill out questionnaires--professionals, undergraduates, and graduate students. This way, although what she calls "Black women's talk," and "White women's talk" may not fit every black or white woman, but it should be fairly representative of many women's experiences. With all of this collected information, Houston was able to find cultural differences and perceptions that each race has towards the other. Throughout my presentation, we will be discussing what both African American women and white women think about the way each other communicate, and how they believe women of their own race communicate. We will also be discussing the mutual negative stereotypes that both races think about one another, as well as the different styles they speak (bistylistic or monostylistic). There will be a few video clips to show different scenarios of which different styles are used, and also to display the differences between the way white women and African American Speak. Towards the end of my presentation, I will be going over the advice that Houston gives white women in order to speak to African American women. This leaves a lot of room for discussion, regarding whether or not there could be advice given to African American women on how to speak to white women. Be prepared for discussions within this sections, because everyones imput is welcome.