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Why Do People Adjust their Accents? Historian’s Take on Blaccent, Behind the Scenes of Ep. 1

PBS Origins | September 15, 2025



Historian’s Take director, Dolly Li, and historian, Danielle Bainbridge, sit down to talk about the pressures of having to adjust your accent. This is bonus material from our first episode on Blaccent: https://youtu.be/8mXaccYFKRQ

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Written by PBS Origins

Comments

This post currently has 46 comments.

  1. @pbsorigins

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    We saw some great discussions happening in our first episode about the history of Blaccent (https://youtu.be/8mXaccYFKRQ) so wanted to share this bonus convo between our historian, Danielle Bainbridge, and our director, Dolly Li, on regionality and their own accents. Do you feel like you've had to adjust your accent? Discuss below 👇

  2. @DaddyDoom24

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    As a black man I understand what both of them were talking about. I use to hate speaking to people because the first thing they’d say is you talk “white” one of the most frustrating things people can say. Like because I’m black you think I should speak in slang or less intelligent?

  4. @Pou1gie1

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    Around 2003-ish I was watching CNN while folding my clothes, and heard John King accidentally let his STRONG Boston Mass accent come out. Let me tell you, I dropped a sock it scared me so bad. It was like a spirit entered his body. And then he tucked it back deep down inside of himself and I haven't heard it since. I've looked everywhere for that footage. A lot of people code switch or hide their accents!

  5. @dianeridley9804

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I love this. Black populations are as heterogeneous as any other. Why should we all sound the same? We're not all from "da 'hood", like so many non-Black populations seem to believe.

  6. @darkangel9104

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    People say i have accent went i speak they said im european because my skin is white and i don't look like my mother family alot times people said im adopted because my skin and accent im mexican american and my mom is mexican and her family is mexican

  8. @hunterG60k

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    My story is a little different as I'm white Scottish who moved to the East of England. I had to adjust my accent pretty quickly just to be understood, I got fed up with having to continuously repeat myself. Now, when I'm in England, people tell me my accent is still strong but when I'm in Scotland people call me "posh". And I'll adjust my accent depending on who I'm talking to and how well I know them, but I think most people do that.

  10. @genius-in-a-lamp

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    When she talked about seeing how your accent is perceived and it affecting you, it made me think of how typical Southern accents are seen as racist and dumb. Even myself as a white southern have tried to shy away from talking in what we call here in the South like a “redneck” or a “hillbilly” accent. I have a more “professional” accent I use at work as well but even at home and around friends I don’t always use my southern accent and I live in the South. I’ve even made fun of other Southerners by “putting on” a heavier southern accent than I really have. This video has really made me think and made me sad for all different types of accents deemed not worthy, not smart, not professional. My own dilemma is less societally punished than either of these women on the video as well and those issues are of great importance to keep in mind. I just really sat back and thought about maybe my own internalized stigma against my own southern accent and thought “whoa”.

  11. @jlb73

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    Thank you so much for this discussion. These types of conversations do not happen enough. I grew up Trinidadian Canadian in a predominantly white community in Ontario in the 80’s ,with expectations to speak like the Black folks they saw on TV.

  14. @ash1rose

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    This speaks to me so much as a Black woman who's always been told she "talks white." Now that I'm older I understand the nuances of this. You ARE more likely to be listened to and regarded as someone who "knows what they're talking about" against someone speaking AAVE who has more knowledge about a situation. I've cultivated a certain speech pattern for years and it does change depending on whom I'm talking to, though lately I feel as though I'm "rebelling" against what I used to do (at the age of 42 no less lol), but there's also a safety of some sort in being able to speak in this way.

  17. @ghazal1084

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    i really needed this. like seeing my exact thoughts and words represented on screen, seeing these conversations while I simulate the same ones just me and myself in my head , ah. this dialogue and just getting it out there, making it accessible is so so important. I need a podcast version or something as related to this youtube channel and these discussions. like I need this in an hour podcast form lol I would run through all of them!

  20. @AlfiTsinela

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    Conclusion: We are all colonized. Maybe we all have white aspirations. Both of these women speak of the deliberate decision they have made to speak a form of English that is more accepted; “professional” aka white despite it not necessarily being reflective of their home environments. To set oneself on a more secure path of climbing the ladder via academia or a professional track like journalism is to play it safe. For a woman like Awkwafina to be herself and share her experience as an authentic artist from Queens is a much riskier thing to do, in my opinion. Yes, equality for all but that wasn’t the point of the original video. If it was, it wasn’t clear. If the academic is interested in equal treatment, why blast Awkwafina? She grew up speaking Queen’s English, no pun intended. Asians are marginalized next to Black folks and tearing down others does not solve solidarity. Please be more explicit in how we can stand in solidarity as POC, together. Otherwise, awesome videos. I’m glued to them.

  21. @meredithwhite5790

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    It is interesting how they mentioned adjusting their accents. I am white and I never consciously had to adjust my accent, but I spent most of my childhood living in the Philadelphia area before moving overseas and going to an international school. It wasn't until I visited my family in Philly after 2 years that I heard the Philly accent for the first time and being shocked because I didn't notice it before. My half-sister who grew up in DC told me I used to have a Philly accent as a kid. My accent changed because I was in a different environment. My Dad who grew up in Philadelphia and didn't leave until college says standard English was his second language and he had to make a conscious effort to change the way he spoke, his accent often changes when he is around family. Although for my Dad, adjusting his accent was about class, not race.

  23. @Desmuu

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I always thought it was cool in a lot of other countries people take pride in their local accents. It's wild to me that in the US accents are so controversial.

  24. @jhonwask

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I like accents and am always intrigued by them. Life would be bland without accents; they're all good. Now grammar, that's where I may cringe. i admire perfect grammar and am always trying to perfect mine, as should we all in the name of good communication.

  28. @Tockrellman

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    This behind the scenes almost doubles back on everything about the “Blaccent” that was talked about in the episode. You mentioned regional accents, which is important distinction, because it’s about where you’re from not who you are. You also mentioned that there are as many ways to be black as their are black people, which could be applied to any race. If you’re not “trying to talk white” then someone who naturally speaks with an “urban accent,” is not trying to adopt a black accent. That would be a double standard. We need to move away from color identity, and focus on shared cultural identities, regional identities, and embracing people of every color and background. Yes we are different, but we’re also the same.

  29. @Darknamja

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    Grew up in the Bronx and never paid attention to my speech until I joined the military and heard from Blacks and Whites I spoke like a White person. How silly a thing to judge people's worth on. 🤔

  30. @fthcrwfrd

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I am of Jamaican decent as well. I grew up in the States during the 1980’s, went to schools of different cultural, ethnic, and racial makeups, and now work in predominantly white corporate America, I can say this piece is 100% spot on as it relates to my experiences.

  32. @jessicawood2972

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I'm white, but I grew up in a lower income and mostly hispanic neighborhood in Houston, TX. So my natural way of speaking (when I'm not "trying to sound professional") is 1 part "country" (y'all, fixin to, etc), 1 part "blaccent", and 1 part "chola". In fact, I used to straight up sound like a chola without even knowing until I was moved to a predominantly white suburb and my "accent" was made fun of by the white girls in my classes. It was so 2nd nature to me to the point where I was using spanish words mixed in my every day speech (aka talking in spanglish). But today teenage me would be mistakenly accused of talking in black/brown face? While I agree that ppl who do that intentionally should be called out for it, should there be a little room for nuance in the cases of those who didn't purposely change their speech because it was trendy?

  33. @Joey-kd8lj

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I'm not American, but a Malaysian Chinese. I definitely code switch quite a lot – like if I'm speaking to my family, I'll use English mixed with Cantonese and Malay but if I'm amongst friends I'll use English only. Whether it's American or British English depends on who I'm speaking to although I don't think I have an accent. When I'm in the UK and want to be more formal/polite I think I have a slight RP lilt but I'm not sure

  34. @leoneforte444

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    No such thing as blaccent, just cus ur black doesn’t mean you gonna speak a certain way what type of stereotypical racist junk is this, these are American slangs and there’s many people that grow up that way not just black people, there’s many people who grow up in these environments and are surrounded by this art style also many white older people at that time didn’t like Elvis cus they saw the music as the devil so even he had hate not all praise but you don’t see that, and even if you wanna say this is how black people all talk which isn’t true it’s about where you grow up not color of skin, but if so, why you mad that people are actually enjoying something from black people, pure ignorance

  35. @flymypg

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    In 1970, when I was in ninth grade our family moved from north-central New Jersey to Michigan. I had a rapid-fire "machine-gun" accent, including the complex sing-song patterns used to add extra layers of meaning, with a bit of Southern, Yiddish and Italian dialects and slang mixed in for good measure. Yes, we lived in a vibrant multi-cultural and multi-ethnic working-class neighborhood.

    Upon arriving in our middle-class white-bread Michigan suburb, nobody could understand me unless I s-l-o-w-e-d w-a-y d-o-w-n and enunciated very carefully. They were confused: I looked white, but I didn't sound anything like their version of white. I was actually asked if I was raised in America! That's how insular that community was.

    In the coming months I adapted, mimicking those around me, until I had acquired that white Michigan non-accent, and no longer stuck out like a bent nail needing to be pounded down. (Side note: For several decades, the search for "accentless" newscasters for national programs significantly favored those from Michigan and California.) My part of Michigan was so boring, so uniform, devoid of the great diversity I had grown up with.

    My transformation had some interesting side-effects: I became good at impressions. I also became better at singing, despite having had no coaching. Combining these suddenly made me funny and interesting (imagine Richard Nixon singing The Beatles).

    When I joined the US Navy after graduating high school, I was back in the melting pot, happy as a clam. But I was unable to revert to my New Jersey accent! I could speak it for a while, but would shift back to the Michigan non-accent when my attention drifted. Something fundamental had been lost. My birth accent was just another accent to imitate, no longer my own.

    All these years later, and I still miss my New Jersey accent. I still resent Michigan taking it away from me. Though I do still like being able to imitate folks and sing!

  36. @everythingispolitics6526

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    A very important conversation. I must also add that all this 'accent politics' is deeply rooted in ytness and imper*alism and it re-perpetuates these harmful practices and ideas. Also, due to the myths and miseducation, people have continued to internalise these distorted ideas and images of themselves. It centerss ytness as the "normal" and "Others" everyone else (who are the world majority might I add). For example, the the study of post-colonisation examines how colonisation institutionalised the 'Othering' of non-yt people. Language is power. It carries cultural knowledge, customs, spirituality and more. Linguistic imper*alism (aka accentism) is another form of domination and psychological w*rfare. It informs who we deem as "worthy" and acceptable and hence deeply problematic. It also subconsciously informs who we see as worthy of harm. It's an incredibly layered problem. I for one, I'm still unlearning decades of indoctrination which were also passed down through generations. From a diasporic perspective, I'd recommend folks read Decolonising the Mind by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.

  38. @TheAureliac

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    I find it incredibly annoying to listen to news stories wherein the American (presumably white) reporters repeat everything said by anyone with an accent not dominant in the U.S. I'd rather they asked a third more questions than spend their time code-switching for people who often speak English perfectly well.

  40. @danielking2944

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    Noam Chomsky makes it clear there is no inferior language.Having lived in various cultures I’ve had to modify my ne Tex accent and vernacular in the interest of clear communication,not because it is inferior, but because accurate transfer of ideas is more important than prideful adherence to my culture.I learned Spanish among immigrants from Chihuahua.Some times it seemed that I was putting on airs because I also did a lot of reading in a more international vernacular.I never tried to assume a “Mexican “ accent.When I hear that, it’s offensive.Even so it’s obvious where my accent comes from.Can you imagine how incongruent the words of John Henry Faulk or Molly Ivens would sound if they didn’t speak Central Texan? We need a clear and powerful voice like Barbara Jordan to SPEAK UP in times like these.

  44. @SloppyLarry

    September 15, 2025 at 5:08 am

    Is such a thing as a mirroring. Most likely just a evolutionary tool we have programmed in our minds for adaptation reasons. Spend enough time in another country and it will start affecting your language.

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