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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 130
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 07:38 pm: | 
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Anthropology professor explains phenomenon
Helen Rhee
Posted: 9/18/06
August 29 marked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster that devastated the Gulf Coast of the southern United States. Since then, many Katrina survivors whose homes were destroyed or heavily damaged have looked to relocate within the region.
Professor John Baugh has been researching the differences between white and black citizens in finding new housing. His work follows closely with a National Fair Housing Alliance study that found that 66 percent of the time, white test callers were treated more favorably than the black test callers. According to their findings, white applicants received housing related offers that black applicants were never offered. Instead, black callers were often bombarded with extra administrative fees.
Baugh calls this phenomenon "linguistic profiling," which can be thought of as the auditory equivalent of racial profiling, with one important exception: linguistic differences are not based solely on race, but also on gender identity and region identity.
"These issues essentially correspond to the comparison between the dominant language of a particular culture and the dialect or accents, which are seen as nonstandard, uneducated ways of speaking in those societies," said Baugh. "My research asks the question: is it possible to discriminate against someone based only on hearing their voice over the telephone?"
Baugh's research was prompted by his own experiences of racial discrimination.
"Although I am African-American, most people can't tell by the sound of my voice that I am black," said Baugh.
Baugh said that the research was based on overall statistics rather than individual calls. The reasoning behind this stems from the fact that people who are discriminated against very often do not even know that they have become victims to discrimination.
Baugh's research shows that many landlords screen prospective tenants either by using answering machines or simply by making a judgment when they hear the caller on the other end.
Baugh recalled one particular account of linguistic discrimination in St. Louis. A black man called a landlord to see if a particular apartment was available. The call was answered by a worker who told him the apartment was not available after hearing his voice. When the man asked his white friend to call the landlord, the apartment was available.
His research found that this phenomenon is not limited to the housing market, but also extends to the purchase of goods and services over the telephone. Over the past fifteen years, Baugh has tested this phenomenon around many major urban cities throughout the nation including San Francisco, New York City and St. Louis. All of the results he obtained revealed a similar pattern of discrimination that NFHA had recently found among Katrina Victims in the Gulf region.
Does the person sound gay? Does the caller sound black? Latino? Asian? Baugh emphasized that when examining linguistic profiling, race becomes the most heated issue in the United States because "linguistics embodies characteristics that reflect someone's heritage and culture."
Baugh's next project focuses on linguistic profiling in the context of criminal procedure. Baugh proposes the creation of a system that enables the witness to pick out the suspect by voice recognition. The concept is similar to visual lineup in which a witness to a crime picks out a potential suspect out of a lineup.
Baugh is a professor in the departments of Psychology, Anthropology, Education and English. He is also chair of the African American Studies department. In 2004, Baugh received a Pioneer of Fair Housing award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
© Copyright 2006 Student Life
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Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 1466
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 18, 2006 - 07:45 pm: |
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Wow! This is such shocking news. I'm about to fall out of my chair. Really, I had absolutely no idea that if you sound Black on the phone you'll be discriminated against. As always, thanks Tonya, from the bottom of my heart - for the insightful information that you consistently provide for us here at Thumper's. |
Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 134
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 8 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 09:49 am: |
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Not to sound rude or anything but when I think of the people at Thumpers, sorry, your name just never surface; in fact, when I think of people in general...your name is never one that comes to mind.
So there really isn't a reason for you to..
thank me "from the bottom of [your} heart."
But if you feel you must..
...Please...
..you’re as welcomed as any asshole who visits this site. |
Prettybabygurl
Newbie Poster
Username: Prettybabygurl
Post Number: 21
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 11:10 am: |
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LOL @ Mzuri. I'm shocked too! Tonya! What for you post such stupid stuff? Girl, on your knees and start sucking on this funky fat pussy. Come and please Pimp Kola! |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 723
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 11:45 am: |
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”Wow! This is such shocking news. I'm about to fall out of my chair. Really, I had absolutely no idea that if you sound Black on the phone you'll be discriminated against.”
You’re kidding, right? Ok…no doubt about it. If you have the wrong inflection or dictation in your voice, there is always the possibility that you will be discriminated against. I don’t find this report to be shocking in the least. Remember, unlike other countries (e.g. England), in America, language is tied to race. Blacks are expected to speak English in a certain manner while whites (and others) are expected to speak English in another manner. Based on the so-called “black English” (e.g. Ebonics), blacks can easily be weeded out over the phone. It’s not 100% (I can personally attest to that!), but it works more than it does not work. I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “They sounded black”. Well, that’s just the way it is. So this particular type of discrimination and linguistical profiling does not surprise me in the least.
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Tall_brother
Regular Poster
Username: Tall_brother
Post Number: 48
Registered: 08-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 4 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 12:54 pm: |
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Tonya thats a good post.
Always good to edecate people.
Mzuri so jealous of the sisters on here. Kola first of all. I never saw a stank women like Mzuri level. She is rotten person.
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Tonya
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 142
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 6 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 01:25 pm: |
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Yeah, TB, it's a good thing that researchers are starting to document this stuff ("linguistic profiling")...since that's one of the best ways to fight discrimination. 
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Yukio
Veteran Poster
Username: Yukio
Post Number: 1430
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 - 12:11 pm: |
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Well...what may be common sense to black folk is not to the general public! Really! That this is confirmed by research helps the issue, though I'm sure anyone who misuses english would be discriminated against, depending, of course, on the group and the particular historical moment. |
Nels
Veteran Poster
Username: Nels
Post Number: 547
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 29, 2006 - 01:25 am: |
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Guess those NI's need to learn how to speak English correctly. |
Tropical_storm
First Time Poster
Username: Tropical_storm
Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 04:18 pm: |
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What really saddens me is when I encounter people who do speak in a "nonstandard, uneducated" way and then proceed to act out in ways that confirm every stereotype that is attached to people who speak as they do.
So while it would be easy for me to condemn landlords who engage in "linguistic profiling," I simply cannot because of my own recent experience. Especially in today's housing market, I want every homeowner in my neighborhood that is planning on renting out their house to at the very least only consider candidates who speak grammatically correct English. |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 2018
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 28, 2006 - 04:30 pm: |
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That would be housing discrimination and it is illegal. You can probably exclude people with a criminal history, but not people who don't speak grammatically proper English. |
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