Rachel Dolezal & the Science of “Sounding Black”
nless you’ve been on a media blackout this summer, you likely have heard the story of civil-rights activist Rachel Dolezal, an ethnically white woman who has long presented herself as black. The story provoked curiosity and controversy, prompting some to object that she was clothing herself in a racial identity that was not rightfully hers. Dolezal is certainly not the only white person to be drawn to an African-American identity. And though she may be unusual in having pretended to black, some whites aim to black by adorning their speech with features of the variety of English known as African-American English (AAE). When is the use of AAE by white people a form of cultural theft, and when is it the natural outcome of a lifetime of experiences and relationships within an African-American community? A close analysis of a person’s speech patterns can offer clues about the authenticity of
