# Can you tell just from hearing a voice if a person is African American? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302 "2004-03-25T06:20:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/41 "2004-03-26T15:00:47Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > People thought Dusty Springfield, Elvis, and Wolfman Jack were black by hearing their voices. > > That’s called prejudice, literally pre-judging their skin color by hearing their voice. I disagree. Prejudice is treating somebody differently based on their skin color (ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc). If I were to hear somebody’s voice, decide that they were black, and tell them “We don’t serve blacks here.” that would be prejudice. When listening to a voice, we assume all kinds of thing- age, gender, and other things. Unless we treat people unfairly based on these assumptions, we aren’t being prejudiced. Any Generation X guy can tell you that the voice actor who did Panthro on the cartoon Thundercats, was black. There were simply certainly qualities to his voice which were distinctive. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/42 "2004-03-26T15:03:38Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Any Generation X guy can tell you that the voice actor who did Panthro on the cartoon Thundercats, was black. There were simply certainly qualities to his voice which were distinctive. You just made my day! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/43 "2004-03-26T15:48:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Any Generation X guy can tell you that the voice actor who did Panthro on the cartoon Thundercats, was black. There were simply certainly qualities to his voice which were distinctive. Like when he threatened to bust a cap in Mum-Ra’s ass, called Cheetara a “chickenhead” and pimped up the Thundertank. Biatch ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/44 "2004-03-26T16:13:13Z")
It seems to hold true as a general rule, but I remember all too well the day I discovered that the voice of a certain black woman was eminating from the body of a white man. And then there was the BeeGees. . . . I think most of what we call the African-American accent is simply a variety of the Deep South accent. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/45 "2004-03-26T16:29:45Z")
I never said Panthro was black, just that the actor who did his voice was. [Panthro](http://www.queencheetah.com/Thundercats/CI_Panthro.html) A quick search proves, shockingly, I was right. [Earle Hyman](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0405165/) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/46 "2004-03-26T16:44:15Z")
Panthro is Grandpa Huxtable! This is an awesome world we’re living in! ---
**Author:** ![Steel\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/47 "2004-03-26T17:17:05Z")
One supervisor I had was black, grew up in Erie, PA, but had no “black” tonal inflections to his voice at all, except when he wanted to. In 90% of his conversations with me and others in our group he sounded like anyone from Erie, PA (had trouble pronouncing the long A sound, so that the word “mail” came out as “mell”, and so on). But when speaking to other black employees he would sometimes slip into the more “ebonics” mode of speech with the appropriate vocal inflections. On a related note, one day I heard another black guy I worked with trying to teach a black girl we both worked with the “secrets” of talking “black”. She had no such inflections in her mode of speech, and he was teaching her to say the name “Eric” the way that many blacks do, saying it “Uric” instead of “Airic.” This kind of gave me a new insight, that many blacks probably practice sounding that way, why, I don’t know. She wasn’t buying it, of course. Hopefully I didn’t come off as paranoid or prejudiced there. I’m not, but everyone must admit that the so-called stereotypes are based on reality, for any race. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/48 "2004-03-26T18:12:28Z")
This is more of a survey than a factual question, so I’ll move this thread to the IMHO forum. bibliophage moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/49 "2004-03-26T18:26:14Z")
I find afro-carribeans tend to pronounce words better. They give words a fuller pronounciation and are generally easier to understand. They are also better rappers and I would say better singers as well on the whole. It’s probably a genetic factor. White people tend to merge words more and and not give as much emphysis. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/50 "2004-03-26T18:39:05Z")
I couldn’t, when I lived in Western Canada, where everyone pretty much sounds the same unless they are a recent immigrant. Since moving to Baltimore, I find that I’m usually correct. There is a very pronounced accent here among the African-American population, and also among the Caucasian population. Hon. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/51 "2004-03-26T18:48:05Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > You mean my blind black friend who thought I was white just from the sound of my voice was racially prejudiced? And all these people having a reasoned and lively discussion on vocal timbre and intonation are prejudiced as well? Black people who believe can tell other black people by their voices…are actually predjudiced against black people? Yes, I do believe that. Haven’t you noticed the anecdotes given here when people realized they were wrong about their ‘guess.’ > [@](#): > > Whoa. Calm down. Prejudice is > > 1 a. An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. > > b. A preconceived preference or idea. > > 1. The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions. Ahh… it ain’t a rip roaring internet debate without a dictionary quote. (I’ll try to hold off on a Nazi reference. 😉 ) If you parse definition 1a, you’ll see by the conjuntive ‘or’ that it isn’t necessary that there be an ‘adverse judgment.’ It is sufficient for their to be an “opinion formed beforehand without knowledge or examination of the facts.” This is the case when a person does not know the color of the person’s skin, but assumes they know the color by vocal timbre. This is the definition of prejudice. Definition 1b simply defines prejudice as a preconceived idea (such as voice=color). Again, the ‘or’ does not make ‘preference’ necessary for the defining of prejudice. And definition 2 certainly fits since this whole voice=color argument is an unreasonable preconceived judgment or conviction. The problem is that you’re looking at all the connotations where such prejudice in judgment leads to unfavorable discrimination. Discrimination is discrimination. Prejudice can be simply the erroneously preconceived judgment and/or the unfavorable discrimination that follows. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/52 "2004-03-26T19:07:38Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Panthro is Grandpa Huxtable! > > This is an awesome world we’re living in! Yeah, I use to really love watching _The Cosby Show_ for just him. Panthro was the coolest. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/53 "2004-03-26T20:22:35Z")
Personally, I was always a fan of Snarf, m’self, maybe just because he looked exactly like my sister’s dog. Someone mentioned Wolfman Jack, and it seems I remember hearing that WJ was of “mixed blood” and had trouble at some times finding work/acceptance because of it? Or am I just plain crazy? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/54 "2004-03-26T21:21:01Z")
I don’t understand. I can almost always identify black people by their voice - national origin or dialect notwithstanding. Black peoples’ voices are different on a purely phonic basis - their is a distinct timbre present that white peoples’ voices don’t possess. Of course, this is only a generality, and plenty of white people have the same ‘richness’ or ‘fullness’ to their voice that I generally identify with black people, and vice versa. But there are plenty of black people out there who still have black-sounding voices when they speak Standard English. The “black accent” - generally termed Black Vernacular English in linguistic circles - is a particular dialect of English, and it’s identified with black culture but it is obviously not inherent to black people, nor is Standard English somehow inaccessible to black people - and probably the majority of blacks I’ve known were completely ‘bilingual’ - they spoke noticeably differently depending on whom they were talking to. I’ve also noticed a particular style of speech among educated black people that I’ve never heard from an educated white person, but I’ve never heard of any research on the issue. I suspect white people and black people have different vocal physiology - something about the sound production apparatus differs between blacks and whites and lends a deeper, fuller tone to black voices. Of course, as I said above, this is strictly a generalization - most assuredly there are plenty of exceptions. But black Brits sound different from white Brits just as black and white Americans sound different. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/55 "2004-03-26T22:48:34Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > Yes, I do believe that. Haven’t you noticed the anecdotes given here when people realized they were wrong about their ‘guess.’ Aha. So my blind black friend, who could tell I was white by my voice, is racially prejudiced against white people. He could aslo tell with a fair degree of accuracy which of our classmates were black (numerous, it was an HBU), so apparently he’s prejudiced against both white and black people. How’s that work again? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/56 "2004-03-26T23:38:01Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > If you parse definition 1a, you’ll see by the conjuntive ‘or’ that it isn’t necessary that there be an ‘adverse judgment.’ It is sufficient for their to be an “opinion formed beforehand without knowledge or examination of the facts.” . Wrong. The or doesn’t mean “opinion or adverse judgement”. The or means that the modifier applies to both nouns. The sentence properly parses as “adverse judgement or adverse opinion”. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2004, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/57 "2004-03-26T23:38:13Z")
**moriah** , is being able to differentiate a male’s voice from a female’s voice prejudice too? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/58 "2004-03-27T00:00:03Z")
Most people can’t automatically tell my ethnic background just by hearing my voice. Actually, I sound like my mother and my sisters, who are all white. Not just intonations, but our vocal cords must be very similar, because we get confused for each other all the time. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/59 "2004-03-27T00:10:37Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > **moriah** , is being able to differentiate a male’s voice from a female’s voice prejudice too? Just curious. Actually, yes. And my prejudice was proven wrong a few times in my life when talking to someone on the phone and I guessed their sex wrong simply from the sound of their voice. Peace. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/60 "2004-03-27T00:13:41Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Wrong. The or doesn’t mean “opinion or adverse judgement”. The or means that the modifier applies to both nouns. The sentence properly parses as “adverse judgement or adverse opinion”. I admit that that sentence can be parsed that way. However, I believe definition 2 still makes my case that a prejudice can be irrational without necessarily being deleterious. Peace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302.md?page=4)