Is hating any accent racist?

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
I was in a discussion with someone about how I hated a certain accent. The reason I brought it up is because I was talking with someone on the phone who had a very strong version of this accent. He said that it is racist to hate that accent. I asked how it's racist if I am talking just about the accent. He couldn't say why but still just said it was racist.

Here's the thing I don't get: How is disliking an accent racist? I don't see how it has anything to do with race unless you think certain races have certain accents. In which case, I say you're the racist and pigeonholing/stereotyping people.

When I purposed that generally people don't find impersonating or hating on a British accent as racist, he didn't have much to say on that except, "Well, some might." (Paraphrasing but not by much) If a British man (with a british accent) said he hated American accents... that's racist? Wtf. Examples like these make me think that if you just generally hate the accent then it's not racist.

Thoughts, ATOT?
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
59,143
9,584
126
People are idiots, and can't think objectively. That person would blow a hippo if they thought it would put them on the right side of social justice. Of course there's nothing "racist"(holy shit, can we bury that word?!) about disliking a particular sound.
 

zCypher

Diamond Member
Aug 18, 2002
6,115
171
116
It's amusing to accuse people of being racist even when they really aren't

Otherwise... iuno.
 

BD231

Lifer
Feb 26, 2001
10,568
138
106
It's amusing to accuse people of being racist even when they really aren't

Otherwise... iuno.

Indeed. It's like gangstalking, even if you don't give them a reason to do something to you they'll just make one up.
 

tortillasoup

Golden Member
Jan 12, 2011
1,977
4
81
TridenT, if you want to know if what you're saying, doing, thinking or being racist, there is a very simple test you can conduct. Make sure you're not wearing any clothing that is covering your arms, put out one arm in front of you then turn your hand so your palm is facing upward. Now look at the color of the skin on your arm. If it's White, then yes you're being racist. If it's not white, then you're probably not being racist.

The rule for racism is simple. Racism is inversely proportional to color of skin. The darker your skin, the less racist you are.
 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
6,915
3,378
136
If I'm white and strongly dislike the accent of people from Boston, North Dakota or Maine does that make me racist? Then again it's probably racist that I used a color to describe myself instead of Caucasian.
 

inachu

Platinum Member
Aug 22, 2014
2,387
2
41
for it to be race related would mean you need to speak about color.
So this inherently means all blind people are not racist at all.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
98,969
17,389
126
TridenT, if you want to know if what you're saying, doing, thinking or being racist, there is a very simple test you can conduct. Make sure you're not wearing any clothing that is covering your arms, put out one arm in front of you then turn your hand so your palm is facing upward. Now look at the color of the skin on your arm. If it's White, then yes you're being racist. If it's not white, then you're probably not being racist.

The rule for racism is simple. Racism is inversely proportional to color of skin. The darker your skin, the less racist you are.

I hope you are being sarcastic.
 
Mar 11, 2004
23,444
5,848
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People are idiots, and can't think objectively. That person would blow a hippo if they thought it would put them on the right side of social justice. Of course there's nothing "racist"(holy shit, can we bury that word?!) about disliking a particular sound.

Unless the reason you don't like the sound is because it's characteristically made by people of a certain race. So absolutely not liking an accent could actually be racist, but it depends.

And further, what absolutely defines race? Race is more than just skin color, although that's been the primary focus of it in more recent times, historically race has included different language, nationalities, and physical traits, so yes racism actually does apply.

Now if you want to argue that it should be called what it really is (xenophobia tends to be a better blanket term), then fine, but acting like there aren't people who absolutely do show disdain similar to racism for groups of people based on things beyond the color of their skin is just outright delusional.

Really, a lot of bigotry is really tied together, so who cares if its racist, sexist, whatever-ist, it all leads to the same result, blind irrational hatred.

We have made some progress on xenophobia, but it absolutely is still a very widespread issue in pretty much every society and group of people in the world. The reality is that I don't think we've made as many inroads against it as we like to think, it's still there we've just made there be repercussions for voicing said opinions.

That being said, not liking things tied to certain nations, societies, etc does not necessarily mean someone is bigoted, and I know people feel that its been hyper-scrutinized which is making things worse (and that has actually often pushed people to outright bigotry in response) but there's a ton of people who were being bigots but just didn't feel they were because they just plain do not understand what it is or think they're justified and thus they can't be bigots (because to them they're justified for not liking a group of people so it's not disliking just for them being different, when functionally it's the same). And some people might just be making off color commentary intending it to be lighthearted but obviously people can take issue with it (which often devolves into the stupid freedom of speech debate where seemingly the people who originally spoke think that people exercising their own freedom of speech to be critical is worse; often times them being bigoted or not comes out in the wash as if they go on poorly thought out and worded tirades its clear they really are and are just trying to claim it was a joke to pretend they are not).

Yes there absolutely are levels of "racism" where certain kinds are more accepted or carry more of a joking connotation (for instance hating Boston or New York accents, or Southern drawls, Canadian "ehs", etc), with the distinction being that generally those are situations where a group of people don't have situations where their group was specifically targeted with horrible acts (and yes you could probably argue just about every group has, but

Anyway, point is, it's not nearly as simple as you make it out to be and if anything I think you could use more of your own objective thinking. There are people that are that way, but lumping in everyone who discusses race/gender/etc issues as social justice warriors or whatever nonsense is doing exactly what you're accusing them of doing (just labeling them as something without actually looking at the context or specifics of what they're saying). I can absolutely understand not wanting to constantly take things to that level, but I don't know why people have to be so dismissive of any ideas (I'm certainly guilty of doing this as well so it's not like I'm trying to cop a holier than thou attitude, I genuinely do not know why its seemingly human nature to be this way, perhaps it, and xenophobia are leftover vestibules of evolutionary biology).

I don't think you're racist or really bigoted much in any way, so don't think that I'm claiming that or even the whole thing is actually targeted at you, but rather the overall trend of some of that that I've noticed (personally I think there's been quite a lot of blatant bigotry online that, and maybe I changed or just started to be more aware of it, but it seems more apparent lately, and it's also been taking a more aggressive tone such that its more pointed and much less jokingly done than it used to; some of it is specifically because people are just discussing some of the topics and then people that don't want to impart negative reactions, and while I'm not lumping you in with the heinous ones, you seem dismissive in a way that I feel like its misguided).
 
Mar 11, 2004
23,444
5,848
146
I was in a discussion with someone about how I hated a certain accent. The reason I brought it up is because I was talking with someone on the phone who had a very strong version of this accent. He said that it is racist to hate that accent. I asked how it's racist if I am talking just about the accent. He couldn't say why but still just said it was racist.

Here's the thing I don't get: How is disliking an accent racist? I don't see how it has anything to do with race unless you think certain races have certain accents. In which case, I say you're the racist and pigeonholing/stereotyping people.

When I purposed that generally people don't find impersonating or hating on a British accent as racist, he didn't have much to say on that except, "Well, some might." (Paraphrasing but not by much) If a British man (with a british accent) said he hated American accents... that's racist? Wtf. Examples like these make me think that if you just generally hate the accent then it's not racist.

Thoughts, ATOT?

Its simple. Why do you not like the accent? Do you have a general disdain for the people that accent is associated with? Or is there some other cultural reason you dislike it?

It could be racist, but it might not be. If you just don't like the accent then you're probably not racist. But if you tend to think all people of that group are the same, have the same flaws, and a general disdain for things associated with that group then you are bigoted.

And you can absolutely be bigoted similarly hating on an accent that is commonly associated with a group of people that while similar to yourself in many ways (skin color for instance), also have key differences (in the case of the British and American it'd be nationality).

For me, it depends on the person. I'm trying to think of any language/accent that I feel strongly one way or the other about in a wide general sense as it comes down to inflection/tone/etc. If you make a lot of high pitched noises, speak very loudly often, or do other weird embellishments then I might not like how you speak, although frankly that's probably not much better than blanket dislike for an accent as individually it's likely there are plenty of reasons for it (could be a biological issue, or something, for instance stuttering or other speech impediments).
 

Humpy

Diamond Member
Mar 3, 2011
4,464
596
126
I can't stand Vietnamese nor Boston accents. They both sound like dumb animal noises to me. I don't know if it's racist or not, but everyone's a little racist so if it is then I'm OK with it. Being a Caucasian, blue eyed male I don't really have to concern myself with such trivialities.
 

Naer

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2013
3,398
175
106
My parrot is pretty racist, srs

2ywd4kh.jpg
 

NetWareHead

THAT guy
Aug 10, 2002
5,847
154
106
Boston accent sounds awful to me. I moved up to New England and was trying to meet girls. Hearing a chick with a thick Boston accent was one of the biggest boner killers ever.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,010
66
91
Boston accent sounds awful to me. I moved up to New England and was trying to meet girls. Hearing a chick with a thick Boston accent was one of the biggest boner killers ever.

Did you help her pahk her cahr on your way to the bahhr?
 

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
21,752
6,177
136
People are idiots, and can't think objectively. That person would blow a hippo if they thought it would put them on the right side of social justice. Of course there's nothing "racist"(holy shit, can we bury that word?!) about disliking a particular sound.

This is exactly right.

I'm sick of everything being about race. The term is now used as a tool and more often as an excuse.

Pro tip for all of America, you don't have to like anyone, you can in fact actively dislike any person, group, or lose assemblage of simpering half wits you choose. What you have to do is tolerate pretty much everyone.
 

B-Riz

Golden Member
Feb 15, 2011
1,595
762
136
Taking programming classes in school, the professor had a thick accent that made understanding what they were talking about frustrating.

I could care less where someone is from, how they sound, what they look like; but if I cannot understand what they are saying, and am paying good money to learn something, that is a point of contention.
 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
6,915
3,378
136
Whenever I call Vonage I always end up talking with a lady that sounds like the secretary from Ferris Bueller's Day Off lol. The call center must be in Minnesota, North Dakota, Canada or somewhere close.
 

DesiPower

Lifer
Nov 22, 2008
15,299
740
126
If you cannot understand someone then you can definitely point it out, ask that person to slow down, speak clearly. But if you say - I cant understand a word of what you are saying, your ascent sucks, then its a problem, its just being rude and insensitive. At that point the other person, who is obviously offended, can also bring be rude and bring up some type of irrelevant point to fight back, like accusing the other person of being racist.

In IT where everyone faces outsourcing, and struggle to understand Indian English, nobody lashes out at Indian saying that you suck, instead they ask us to slow down and speak slowly and clearly.

That being said, I love ascents, Spanish, British, French, Southern, African American, they all sound very enjoyable, I really love them.