February 3, 2006
The Racial Dynamics of Metro's New Voice
When on Wednesday Metro announced they had found themselves a new voice from the original 1,259 hopefuls and 10 finalists, we expected the story to be filed away and soon forgotten. Reporters at the Post, see something different, though, something much more black and white.
Courtesy of our friends over at Fishbowl DC, who seem to have an in on the Post's internal critique board, we find that a number of the newspaper's staffers noticed and were offended by the overwhelming whiteness of the contest's ten finalists. Some excerpts of the discussion, which was kicked off by African-American columnist Courtland Milloy:
Keith Richburg: Why are all the 10 finalists to be the voice of Metro all, apparently, white? Did someone at Metro decide they didn't want a "black-sounding" voice or an ethnic voice to say "doors opening" or "doors closing?" [W]hy was that point not made in the story, since it seemed so glaringly obvious from the photo that it jumped out at me and grabbed me by the throat the second I picked up my Metro front...Are the Post's reporters on to something, or are they making a mountain out of a mole-hill?Jonathan Yardley: I emphatically second Richburg's comment on the Metro competition. Those ten lily-white faces leaped out at me, too. We do the same thing all the time in this newspaper of course, so maybe we're just inured to this incredible insensitivity about the region's complex racial and ethnic mix, but this one stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb.
Marc Fisher: I've received a bunch of emails and calls on this today, all from folks identifying themselves as white and all wondering why Metro, which serves a very mixed rider base, would not want a greater variety of backgrounds in the finalist group. The readers shared Keith's suspicion that there was a preference in the selection process for white-sounding voices.
Image of finalists above courtesy of the Post. Three other finalists, all white, were pictured seperately.
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I don't get it.
Since when is a voice white or black? Ever watch the news? There are black reporters that speak just like the white ones. I listen to the radio and I can't tell whether a speaker is black or white or hispanic or asian or whatever. Does James Earl Jones or Morgan Freeman or Oprah Winfrey sound black? Please tell me what a black or white person is "supposed to" sound like. Sounds like a stereotype to me.
Metro wanted a clear, distinctive, easy to understand voice. The voice they picked was chosen for its clarity, not its color.
Sometimes a recording is just a recording.
Are the Post's reporters on to something, or are they making a mountain out of a mole-hill?
Both.
i would guess that there weren't too many 'ethnic' entries.
furthermore, as a black dude, this has to be #44983983 on my list of racial inequities. there are better things to worry about.
molehill.
they were picked based on thier voce,not skin color. why would i care what color the person was, we're going to hear the voice, not see a face. the only thing that would make those complaints sillier is if they were demanding an 'ebonics' voice just for the green line.
Can Metro possibly get Samuel Jackson to do this? "There's muthafuckin SNAKES on the TRAIN! Stand clear of the doors!"
Andrew Feinberg, in his comment, begins with "I don't get".
Unforunately, for a lonmgg, long time I din't get it either. Though black, historically, in my younger years, family members, friends and folks said that "I sounded acted white." And yet once they'd meet me or if they already knew that I was black they reaction and treatmnet towards me would be very than it were white.
I didn't get it. But I sure the hell have gotten now.
My necies and nephews who've come a generation after me have expressed that folks also say that they sounded and act white.' While the females have a different story the black males have themselves, years later 'not having gotten it.'
I didn't get either. But when a yoiur white kid or an old white man, city resident, toourist or whatever sees me, a black man, on the subway or out taking pictures there reaction to me is very different than if I were white.
In fact many people have said "I thought you were white" when they see my photography. Once they see that I'm black, though they are amzed, their reaction to me is more a form of 'negation.'
I didm't get it. either. For a long, long time.
What 'I do get' is that when other people see a black man, there is a problem for me.
Close, but DCist is wrong on one count. The Post did explicitly mention the race issue in their article on the winner. It wasn't racist, it was blind:
All 10 were white, despite the region's diversity. Debra Johnson, a Metro manager who helped choose the finalists, said the panelists were given no information about the contestants except their names. "We didn't know if they were white, black, purple or green," Johnson said. "When we were listening, we were only focused on whether it was clear, whether it was audible."
I call it a "very quirky coincidence" when considering the fact that the judges didnt see any pics or have a racial description of the entries. Very interesting though....
making a mountain out of a fucking molehill. report on the real stories, posties. there is an administration out there that is obviously keeping the public in the dark about many things (abramoff, iraq, etc.) and you're worried about a voice on a fucking train?!? someone shoot me, this whole thing is asinine.
"In fact many people have said "I thought you were white" when they see my photography. "
What the hell? People thought you were white because of the photos you took? Why?
"Yeah, look at that chair. Definitely a white dude designed that chair."
Also, just because no one has mentioned it, the 2nd grade teacher lady, second from right? Rrowr.
"Doors (I love you!( Step away from the (let's make out!)"
Yes, WMATA doesn't want any black voices on the metro. Thats why they have recordings for all the station names and the metro drivers, plenty of which are black, don't announce the stations in their own voices. idiots.
I can't believe everyone is missing the true elephant in the room here: the invasion of the evil pancake men! Seriously, look at that dude on the right. I bet they just rolled him up like a poster after this photo-op was finished and sent him up one of those old-timey mail vacuum tubes. I don't know about you folks, but I want my metro speaker to have perspective, dammit!
Is it odd that all the people were white? Yes. Is this an incredibly stupid thing to get worked up about? Also yes.
What exactly is a "black" voice or a "white" voice? True racism (or closed-mindedness if its pointed at one's own race) is the idea that every black person should sport some kind of lazy drawl a la Snoop Dogg - or that someone isn't "white" enough if they don't have some sort of hillbilly accent or uptight WASPy intonation.
This is a coincidence, nothing more. Some people are just looking for a reason to get angry. There's plenty of actual, consequential racism out there (poverty, education, the criminal justice system, the governmental handling of Katrina, etc. etc.) to get worked up about. This is just an idiot distraction.
Here's an idea: If what you all want is more diversity in the voices of Metro, let's use a different voice for each station, one that represents the heritage or perception of the neighborhood. Some examples:
U Street-Cardozo: Smooth jazz voice. "The doors are closing. You dig, maaaaan?"
Dupont Circle: Stereotypical gay voice, with pronounced lisp.
Cleveland Park: Voice with stereotypical New York Jewish accent.
Foggy Bottom-GWU: Annoying sorority girl voice.
Gallery Place-Chinatown: Voice with heavy Chinese accent.
L'Enfant Plaza: Voice with French accent.
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport: This should be obvious.
Stadium-Armory: Sports announcer-type voice.
Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan: Panda noises.
Ballston: Beavis and Butt-head: "Huh huh huh, you said 'balls,' Butt-head."
Man, I haven't seen that many white faces since ... the staff on this web site (ok, you got 2 that aren't). But still, I thought I was at an Arlington bar for a second there.
I guess Takoma's would be a hippy. "Like Peace man, let's spread out and make room for everyone, man. *twirly dance*"
Or an angry environmentalist...
RoIYB: Do we really have to go through this again? People who would like to write for DCist are welcome to email us, and we would love to have more diversity on staff in order to help us cover this diverse city.
If you don't feel like contributing to that effort, kindly STFU. Or at least quit cowering behind a pseudonym.
I don't care how old I get or how sophisticated I try to be, I still hear Beavis' voice whenever I pass that sign on George Mason that says "Balls Crossing". Huh huh...huh huh...
Oooo, are we playing the DCist cliché game? Then the announcement for Shaw should alternate between a "black" voice complaining about whitey, gentrification, vegetarians who want to drink, and so-called tradition, and a "white" voice complaining about double-parking on Sundays and how they can't get anything to drink at their favorite restaurants.
I personally LOVE Jim's idea. In other topics, metro should focus on making their announcers more enjoyable... read this http://www.gwhatchet.com/media/paper332/news/2006/01/30/Opinions/Brendan.Polmer.1900DcMetro.A.Sexy.Encounter-1520240.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com
I personally LOVE Jim's idea. In other topics, metro should focus on making their announcers more enjoyable... read this http://www.gwhatchet.com/media/paper332/news/2006/01/30/Opinions/Brendan.Polmer.1900DcMetro.A.Sexy.Encounter-1520240.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com
When I saw the pictures when they were first published in the post, I did wonder why they were all white. And I thought maybe it was because those contenstants have easier access to voice recording hardware/software in comparison to other races.
I personally was hoping it going to be James Earl Jones. Verizon should take him back.
What baffled me was how similar some of the voices SOUNDED. You could divide the women's voices into two groups: one group they all sounded like the same librarian telling you to shush, the second group they all sounded fakely happy, like an infomercial. Some were indistinguishable from each other. What's more, after listening to them all, I actually like the one we have now better. Oh well. One more thing to hate about Metro.
They need to get that one guy who does like 2/3 of all movie trailer voice overs...
"In a world that wouldn't accept dorkers ..."
"In a time when doors were closing ..."
"In a place where people moved to the middle of the car ..."
what about the "Law and Order" voiceover guy
Carrot top, man. Carrot top.