# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/61 "2004-03-29T00:22:04Z")
**moriah** , it just seems to me you’re being extremely pedantic or disingenuous with your arguing. Most people think you’re talking about prejudice in the sense that the people who engage in this guessing game are being discriminatory. Prejudice in a negative sense as it were, the definition of prejudice we’re all used to hearing. However, it seems as though you’re talking about prejudice in the sense simply of “pre-judging”, in which case you’re being particularly pedantic. So, are you using the ‘by the book’ definition of prejudice here or are you actually thinking that people are being discriminatory? More related to the thread, why don’t we run an experiment? 😃 We can have various people who are reading this thread to either call someone and leave a message saying a particular phrase or vowel sounds or something, or make a decent-fi sound file of the same phrase or vowel sounds. Actually, I think sound files would be easier, then we could have someone make a test and keep track of the right answers, and we could have a few different people take the ‘test’, and see how well they do. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/62 "2004-03-29T04:29:49Z")
When I was living in San Diego California I ran into quite a few (young) black girls that talked exactly like thos girls in the movie “Clueless” had I ben talking to them on the phone I would have never guessed. Funny though, I can remember once I was calling around looking for a new apartment. I call this one lady who was clearly back to inquire about the apartment she had for rent. Her response to me was exactly this: "I DON’T RENT TO WHITE PEOPLE! [SARCASM] I was thinking; Damn why does the man ALWAYS have to bring me down!?..[/sarcasm] ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/63 "2004-03-29T05:06:25Z")
> [@dakravel](#): > > **moriah** , it just seems to me you’re being extremely pedantic or disingenuous with your arguing. Most people think you’re talking about prejudice in the sense that the people who engage in this guessing game are being discriminatory. Prejudice in a negative sense as it were, the definition of prejudice we’re all used to hearing. However, it seems as though you’re talking about prejudice in the sense simply of “pre-judging”, in which case you’re being particularly pedantic. > So, are you using the ‘by the book’ definition of prejudice here or are you actually thinking that people are being discriminatory? Well, since I’ve already made the argument that there is such a thing as non-discriminatory prejudice, I’m not sure why you’re asking if I’m **really** using the term in it’s discriminatory sense. I said I wasn’t. Sorry if I’m not creating a straw man that’s easier to argue with. In fact, there is such a thing as positive prejudice, such as “Blacks dance well,” “Asians are good at math,” “White blue-eyed people are God’s favorite.” If you don’t like the term ‘prejudice’ for prejudging someone based on irrational assumptions, would you prefer simply being called ‘ignorant’? Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/64 "2004-03-29T06:38:30Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > If you don’t like the term ‘prejudice’ for prejudging someone based on irrational assumptions, would you prefer simply being called ‘ignorant’? You’re way off base here. I haven’t seen any judgments being referred to in this thread. I have seen assessments of identity being referred to. Perhaps you should read your dictionary more thoroughly so you can tell the difference. Furthermore, the assessments are not irrational or made with no knowledge, but are based on an evaluation of information supplied (the sound of a voice) in comparison to prior knowledge derived from seeing and hearing people. It simply doesn’t fit the definition of prejudice. Now, calling people prejudiced based on nothing more than an assertion that they can usually make an identification by hearing a voice – **that** might well satisfy the definition of prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/65 "2004-03-29T07:38:37Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > If you don’t like the term ‘prejudice’ for prejudging someone based on irrational assumptions, would you prefer simply being called ‘ignorant’? Ah, there’s your argument: that it is “irrational” to guess a person’s race by the person’s voice. But poster after poster to this thread has stated that in their experience, they _have_ guessed the race of a black person by his or her voice, _with a very high accuracy rate._ If they had low accuracy rates, your argument that it was “irrational” might be more believable. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/66 "2004-03-29T07:42:13Z")
Yes, absolutely, there is a distinct sound to African American speech. It doesn’t mean every black person speaks a certain way but it does imply that those who do are black. I don’t pick it up from other English speaking countries so I don’t think it is tonal in nature. I’ve seen more than one documentary where black youth admitted they were accused of not being black enough because they didn’t talk the talk. Like any speech pattern, you get it from your surroundings. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/67 "2004-03-29T08:05:11Z")
It’s not about vocabulary, or word choice, or accent, or cadence. It’s about timbre. And timbre is something that has nothing to do with whether the person grew up in inner-city Philadelphia or suburban Royersford. It’s the SOUND of the voice, not the words they say, that is distinct. Just to add to the anecdotal evidence, I’ve always noticed this, too. I can tell most of the time whether the person I’m hearing is black or white. It’s not prejudiced, as there is no value judgment involved, even unintentionally. The voices are different, in general. Not better or worse or more unpleasant or less unpleasant. Just different. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/68 "2004-03-29T13:45:18Z")
A good test would be to listen to CNN or Headline news without actually watching the TV, and then guess the race of the correspondants. Seeing how there are quite a few black newsreporters, this shouldn’t be difficult. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/69 "2004-03-29T15:15:39Z")
I can _usually_ tell, by the accent. But I don’t think there anything inherent in the voice: a couple of years ago, I dated a woman whom I met though a personals ad. Before meeting face-to-face, we talked several times on the phone, for an aggregate of an hour or so. I had absolutely _no_ inkling that she was black (she had described her appearance as a ‘brunette with brown eyes’), and I’m more attuned to accents than most people, having worked in radio. FWIW, both of her parents were college graduates, and she herself was Ivy-League educated. She sounded like any other woman of the same demographics. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/70 "2004-03-29T20:07:54Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > A good test would be to listen to CNN or Headline news without actually watching the TV, and then guess the race of the correspondants. Seeing how there are quite a few black newsreporters, this shouldn’t be difficult. The results may be skewed, as newscasters do not represent a random sample of voices. Broadcasting favors voices that are racially and geographically nondescript. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/71 "2004-03-29T23:35:34Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > The results may be skewed, as newscasters do not represent a random sample of voices. Broadcasting favors voices that are racially and geographically nondescript. That’s my point. It says a lot if you can distinguish a black newscaster from a white one just by the quality of their voice. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/72 "2004-03-30T00:23:50Z")
Given the number of double takes that I (and members of my family) have gotten when I show up somewhere after having previously spoken on the phone… no, most people can’t tell at all. Many think they can, but really, they haven’t the foggiest. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/73 "2004-03-30T03:31:40Z")
Now, how does Rick Astley fit into this? I personally think he might really be black and MTV has whooshed me. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/74 "2004-03-30T21:37:23Z")
Semi hijack: Reminds me of being a little kid and playing that game in class, you know the one. Heads-up-Seven-up. Or something. You covered your face and stuck out your thumb, and the seven kids up at the front of the room roved the rows and tapped one thumb each. The tapped kids then picked out who they thought had tapped them. We had a few black kids in my school – a pretty much American-demographic proportion. But I always knew when it was a black kid who had tapped me out, because they had cold fingers. Always. I didn’t know why, I still don’t know why, but all the black kids had cold fingers. So if it was cold fingers on the hand that tapped me out, I’d look for the black kid. If there were two or three, well, it was narrowed down, wasn’t it? I don’t recall being wrong more than once or twice. When I hear this question, though, I always think of James Earl Jones with that beautiful, beautiful voice and that elegant accent. And I think “Could any white guy on the planet get such a profound and resounding bass?” Ye gods, I love that man’s voice. Gives me shivers. Maybe 'cause of Star Wars. Maybe because of “This is CNN.” _oooh_ ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/75 "2004-03-31T02:30:10Z")
I think there is a tonal difference. Something that doesn’t have to do with accent or vocabulary. I say this as a black person who “sounds white” even when I’m just hanging out and using slang. My impression is because my voice is-- I can’t think of another way to describe it-- hollow. Not high, not soft and definitely not quiet, but all surface. I have a niece and nephew who grew up in Alaska. They don’t put on a “telephone voice” to sound white. They speak in perfectly and naturally accented Alaskan white. But they both have that roundness in their tones (especially my nephew). Rick Ashtey (or however you spell it) is a white guy with well rounded and not hollowed out tones. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/76 "2004-03-31T02:31:25Z")
> [@Faucet](#): > > I’m African American and 95 per cent of the time I can tell simply by voice if someone is Black just by hearing them speak whether it is a man, woman, boy or girl. > It is just something very distinct in the voice and it doesn’t matter if the person is using slang or talking proper. Is it true do we really have what I heard someone describe as a black accent…although to me I wouldn’t really describe it as an accent because that seems like and understatement. > What would you say? Naaah, I don’t think so. I usually can’t tell unless it’s a really strong “black accent”. Even if it’s a black person with a southern accent I can’t tell, unless they really pull out either the newfangled ebonics, or the old “girlfriend” kinda stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/77 "2005-04-18T15:29:53Z")
I’m not too sure. I answer quite a few calls from students abroad making enquiries about study at our university. If I was to make a stab at their race, it would be on account of their accent, if they sounded like they were from Africa, India etc. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/78 "2005-04-18T15:38:12Z")
I can generally tell, but I’ve also noticed exceptions. I’m fairly certain I would not know that either Condoleeza Rice or Colin Powell were black if I had never seen them. I have a feeling this is not a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/79 "2005-04-18T15:45:36Z")
> [@Little Plastic Ninja](#): > > When I hear this question, though, I always think of James Earl Jones with that beautiful, beautiful voice and that elegant accent. And I think “Could any white guy on the planet get such a profound and resounding bass?” Orson Welles and [Thurl Ravenscroft](http://members.aol.com/allthurl/thurl2.htm)! ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302/80 "2005-04-18T16:00:55Z")
> [@Faucet](#): > > I’m African American and 95 per cent of the time I can tell simply by voice if someone is Black just by hearing them speak whether it is a man, woman, boy or girl. > It is just something very distinct in the voice and it doesn’t matter if the person is using slang or talking proper. Is it true do we really have what I heard someone describe as a black accent…although to me I wouldn’t really describe it as an accent because that seems like and understatement. > What would you say? Sometimes, perhaps. Once I was renting a condo in Breckenridge, CO for a while. The man on the phone at the leasing office had the same last name, and said he was originally from a location not far from where some of my family was from. We joked that we might be related. We got a bigger laugh when we met, and discovered that we most likely were not related. I would have never guessed that he was black. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-tell-just-from-hearing-a-voice-if-a-person-is-african-american/236302.md?page=5)