So we decided to have a conversation that never loses its ability to cause conflict; it just never gets old. What is the true definition of a coconut and what makes me (or anyone else) a coconut? Believe that the conversation has taken on a life of its own. I know I’ve been called a coconut because “I try to speak like a white person” while my tongue was molded by English speaking teachers, I mean isn’t that why we find black people who speak with a heavy color accent? But why are there all these unnecessary definitions? I can not…
So we decided to have a conversation that never loses its ability to cause conflict; it just never gets old.
What is the true definition of a coconut and what makes me (or anyone else) a coconut? Believe that the conversation has taken on a life of its own.
I know I’ve been called a coconut because “I try to speak like a white person” while my tongue was molded by English speaking teachers, I mean isn’t that why we find black people who speak with a heavy color accent?
But why are there all these unnecessary definitions? Can’t I just talk like myself? I remember the gentleman who interviewed me once said in an interview that I “speak so well…” – compared to whom?
Did I have a stroke before and learned to speak again? Would it really matter how I speak – when I really just need someone to focus on the substance of what I’m saying?
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I swear, the next time someone tells me I speak well, the answer will be that they listen even better. It’s safe to say I was never called for a second interview… As black people, we just undermine each other.
We laugh at each other when words are not pronounced as we expect, but we are quicker than lightning to help white people with our languages. If we can help others learn what is foreign to them, why can’t we help our own kind learn what is foreign to us too? I can’t remember a time when a white person called me a coconut or tried to diminish my ability in Afrikaans or English.
But I can certainly remember the instances where black people shouted “she thinks she’s better,” or a certain statesman called us “smart blacks.”
All I can say is that black people have a PhD – “the pull him/her down syndrome”. We will never all speak the same, because we will never have the same kind of education.
Here’s a challenge: The next time someone says something wrong, perhaps instead of running to the bathroom to laugh at their “African accent,” we need to help correct the African living in Africa.
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