Bored? I'll proudly go where others won't by asking if anyone else caught Oprah's political push towards Obama with that ridiculous rise & fall (using Marthin Luther King's famous voice inflection as in his, I've Got A Dream?) Why does that woman switch personalities like a chameleon depending on her audience? On her show she sounds white, yet when she's supporting a black president to her black audience she sounds like a Louisiana preacher?

No, this isn't a racist statement, it's an observation. Word to Oprah: Decide who you are and be proud, not fickle.

Oprah probably changes her accent to make the person she is talking to feel better. Or to relate to the person.

When I talk to my Latino students, my accent and mannerisms change. When I talk to Asian or Russian students,my hands don't move that much and my facial movements are different.

I think I would be offended if someone did that to me.

It's about pretending to be something you're not, whether white or black. Regardless of skin color, Oprah's voice and mannerisms change depending on the color of people SHE is around. I'm not making a racist statent but rather pointing out how Oprah herself is playing her Race card to gain political momentum.

I think many people do this but on a much smaller scale. I speak completely different at work than when I am at home than when I am with my friends. I have a horrid potty mouth, I use a lot of slang, I don't really speak well. But at my job I try to be professional. I don't swear at work, I don't use slang, I finish my sentences completely. I speak to children very differently than I speak to adults. I have many girlfriends who change their entire tone and language when talking to a man. Sometimes the way we speak is determined by the company that surrounds us.

babygirl--I think that you are correct, we all switch according to our audiences. My question, again, is what is "talking white", "blacking it up"...

Let's be clear--white and black are colors. Many may not want to admit it, but from these statements one can infer that "white is correct" and "black is incorrect"

If I am mistaken, please give me an accurate definition of the two phrases. I have been wrong before

Just my two cents, but feel like to me the only people offended by this thread are black.

You are wrong about that. I'm white and I'm offended by many of the posts in this thread. I have a feeling that you don't even know how ignorant your post is.

"What is talking white? talking black?"

It could be worse, you could be told you "look Jewish." That's about as intelligent as telling the Pope he looks Catholic. It happens all the time to Jews though.

Oh, and I made the mistake, while I was in the military, of calling someone black who was so black that in the words of Chris Rock, "if it was nighttime and he closed his eyes, he'd disappear," but the person was Puerto Rican. He was not pleased, and I got to hear how it was offensive to him and other Puerto Ricans, and Puerto Ricans run the gamet from very dark-skinned to blonde hair and blue eyes. Lesson learned.

just imagine if you called him a mexican, I saw that happen once. The lady went ballistic

And your point is? I guarantee decent, intelligent people of any race would be offended.

Are you saying that just because I'm not offended that I'm not a decent or intelligent person?

My point in posting that, is to say that we could pick each others comments to death and it would be a never ending cycle. The fact is, Oprah does change her accent, depending on her audience. I watched the "big giveaway" show, in Macon, Ga., and for most of the show, she spoke with a southern accent. It was sooooo fake. It didn't offend me, by any means (even though I am from Southern Georgia and I do have a southern accent). It was just fake, plain and simple. I don't try to change my accent when I am speaking to someone from, lets say...........New York, or California, or anywhere else. I think the question that Tits was trying to ask is, Why does she feel the need to change just to fit in with a certain audience?

I think many people do this but on a much smaller scale. I speak completely different at work than when I am at home than when I am with my friends. I have a horrid potty mouth, I use a lot of slang, I don't really speak well. But at my job I try to be professional. I don't swear at work, I don't use slang, I finish my sentences completely. I speak to children very differently than I speak to adults. I have many girlfriends who change their entire tone and language when talking to a man. Sometimes the way we speak is determined by the company that surrounds us.

Exactly. Everyone does it. I know that when I'm around people in my home town, my Southern accent comes out. When I'm giving a presentation to the faculty and grad students of my university, though, I refine the way I talk. It's automatic, to a certain extent.

What I find offensive is that Obama thinks that just because Oprah "endorses" him that he'll get more votes, and what is even more offensive that he will just because of her. Why do they need to get celebrity endorsements? I'm sure it has nothing to do with them thinking the American people are too stupid to make up their own minds huh? Oprah is a one of the biggest names in TV and people worship her, so if Oprah says it's okay, it MUST be. I couldn't give two shits less who Oprah votes for, and neither should anyone else. we should make up our own minds by what they can bring to the table to make our country better, not who they bring to the table with them. It's rediculous and it insults our intelligence.

If you have to have Oprah or any other celebrity tell you who to vote for, then IMO, you shouldn't be voting because you aren't voting for the right reasons.

I also agree with the others that say that everyone changes their mannerisms depending on who they're around. I have a very strong southern accent, but if I'm around a lot of people that don't, my accent isn't quite as bad. I don't know why it happens but it happens without me even thinking about it. So that I don't see it as a big deal, I wouldn't even have noticed if it wasn't brought up here.

I always wonder why black people are often accused of pulling the race card, yet.... never mind... carryon

I agree with most of the comments about switching accents when with different audiences. I do take offense to labeling speech as "white" and "black"....I am still waiting on someone to define "talking white" and "talking black"

Are you saying that just because I'm not offended that I'm not a decent or intelligent person?

My point in posting that, is to say that we could pick each others comments to death and it would be a never ending cycle. The fact is, Oprah does change her accent, depending on her audience. I watched the "big giveaway" show, in Macon, Ga., and for most of the show, she spoke with a southern accent. It was sooooo fake. It didn't offend me, by any means (even though I am from Southern Georgia and I do have a southern accent). It was just fake, plain and simple. I don't try to change my accent when I am speaking to someone from, lets say...........New York, or California, or anywhere else. I think the question that Tits was trying to ask is, Why does she feel the need to change just to fit in with a certain audience?

Yes, that's pretty much what I was trying to say.

If that's what she meant, then that's what she should have said. Saying someone talks a race (or as someone else pointed out a color) makes no sense. People do talk different according to who they are around. And if you never do that then okayyyy. When I watched Paula Deen on Oprah she acted differently than she does on her show. She was quoting 50 cent lyrics.

And to the person that claimed I was pulling the race card, you are full of it. I asked my white bestfriend that I have had since kindergarden and she said I guarantee you if someone said Oprah sounded fat and she was breathing all hard that more people would have been insulted. I had to agree. I would have heard all sorts of people saying I don't sound like that. Or if someone had said that fat people were lazy and smelled there would have been a 20 page thread.

quote If you have to have Oprah or any other celebrity tell you who to vote for, then IMO, you shouldn't be voting because you aren't voting for the right reasons. endquote

The entire reason I started this thread is because there's a radio poll asking people if they're going to vote just based on what Oprah says, and a shocking number of people who never voted before plan to vote for Obama just because Oprah said so. Even the radio personalies tried talking the woman out of voting, then other callers tried talking her out of voting. Soon calls were flooding in with people defending the woman who also plan to vote for the first time to support Oprah. SUPPORT OPRAH? Call me a racist, I don't really care because this is sick, and it's even sicker that people are defending Oprah. We're talking about someone running our country here, and that job shouldn't be based on celebrity votes!

quote If you have to have Oprah or any other celebrity tell you who to vote for, then IMO, you shouldn't be voting because you aren't voting for the right reasons. endquote

The entire reason I started this thread is because there's a radio poll asking people if they're going to vote just based on what Oprah says, and a shocking number of people who never voted before plan to vote for Obama just because Oprah said so. Even the radio personalies tried talking the woman out of voting, then other callers tried talking her out of voting. Soon calls were flooding in with people defending the woman who also plan to vote for the first time to support Oprah. SUPPORT OPRAH? Call me a racist, I don't really care because this is sick, and it's even sicker that people are defending Oprah. We're talking about someone running our country here, and that job shouldn't be based on celebrity votes!

I still don't see what that has to do w/ "talking black."

Oprah is not the only celebrity that tours with/supports politicans. Sure she has a lot of influence, but buying a book club choice is different that voting for the leader of the free world.

I am from NC and Jon Bon Jovi came here here w/ John Edwards during the last election . I have listened to for 20 years, but that doesn't mean I am going to vote for him b/c I like It's My Life or Bed of Roses. How is it Oprah's fault that people are dumb? Can't feel sorry for followers.

Tits, you are right about the voting. It is sad and it is pathetic that people don't care about issues and such, and will base their vote on a celebrities point of view. Hillary is going to have women voting for her just because she is a woman. Obama is going to have blacks vote for him just because he is black. Oprah is going to pull in some votes because she is Oprah. We just have to hope that the majority of our voting society bases their vote on something more important than gender, race, or the celebrity factor.