ASA Lochblog- Rhetorical Reading Response "Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures"

 

Shevantai Gooden, Amir Arnold and Andreana Clark

Dr. Cantice Greene

English 1101

2 February 2022

Rhetorical Reading Response- “Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures”

In the blog “Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures” (2013) by Tiffany Hendrickson, Hendrickson describes how people have perceived her as being black based on the sound of her voice. Hendrickson provided proof of this misconception by giving her audience examples of instances where individuals have told her that they thought that she was a black girl after hearing her speak. Hendrickson contrasts her views of color versus her views of sound in order to give her readers reasons why it is so unusual that individuals are comparing her voice to the color of her skin. The intended audience of this blog are persons who have experienced racism/judgement and people who are racist/judgmental.

I am baffled after reading this blog because it is so surprising to me that people are so creative in finding ways to be racist and degrading to others. Solely based on the way Hendrickson forms her words and expresses them, individuals have taken that and formed it into a weapon to use against her. This makes me disgusted with society and how nowadays, people are more likely to choose to be negative than to have something positive to say. I agree with the authors points of how sound and color are two completely different things and so neither should be used to describe the other.

The author argues that there is a distinct difference between sound and color when she says “sound for me is simply a transfer of sound waves” (Hendrickson) and “color is simply a cultural ethnicity” (Hendrickson). These differences outlined by the author gave me reason to believe her point. Hendrickson feels strongly about her point and so she uses pathos for emotional appeal towards her audience. Pathos were portrayed when she said “I told my mother about the incident and she cried, as if she felt guilty about the incident–my mother, who has never heard white nor black speech, who has never even heard her own daughter’s voice” (Hendrickson). The author constantly uses rhetorical questions such as “is it because my language isn’t white enough?” (Hendrickson) throughout the course of the blog to engage readers. The author uses descriptive writing to paint a picture of her environment. An example of descriptive writing is shown where the author says  “I walk up to the corner of my Price Hill neighborhood, there stand two highly ranked Catholic High Schools in Cincinnati—Seton and Elder High School” (Hendrickson). Hendrickson uses quotations such as “Well, then talk white. Stop talking like a nigger!” (Hendrickson) to support her claims of being told that her voice doesn’t match her color. The writer also uses metaphors such as “you sound like a black girl” (Hendrickson) to describe what people have said to her when casting judgements based on her looks and the sound of her voice.

 

Hendrickson, Tiffany. “Talking in Color: Collision of Cultures.” Queen City Writers, 21 March. 2013, https://qc-writers.com/2013/03/21/storming-the-gate-talking-in-color/.