“You talk like a white girl”

I’m so tired of hearing this. When I was little I was very fluent in speaking Spanish until I got adopted. I was forced to learn English because my brothers couldn’t speak it and we lived in a predominantly white neighborhood. When I started speaking English I had a very hard accent and stuttering problem. My brothers would make fun of me for that which made me feel insecure so I started mumbling when I spoke English. Then my mom would get mad at me for mumbling and she would yell at me to speak clearly and enunciate my words properly. Over the years I forgot how to speak Spanish because it wasn’t spoken in our home even tho my parents were able to speak it fluently. They only spoke Spanish when they didn’t want me and my brothers to know what they were talking about. Now as an adult, I’ve tried learning the language again. I would say I’m a pretty intermediate Spanish speaker, I understand a lot of it but i still have a hard time speaking it. But now when I speak Spanish I have a stuttering problem which makes me feel insecure about trying and reminds me of my childhood. I have been working and living in an area with a huge Latino community for several years now and that’s how I’ve been able to pick up Spanish again. I also live with my boyfriend and his family who speak Spanish all the time. But all the time people tell me “you talk like a white girl”. Even now my boyfriend will mock the way I talk in a “white girl accent”which makes me feel insecure. Like I don’t fit in. Like I’m not “Latina” enough to speak Spanish or appreciate my culture.

I was upset with my boyfriend because we went to eat at a fast food place and he was confusing the lady who was helping us. So I stepped up to help but she seemed bothered by us. Afterwards I joked to him that she had an attitude and he said “it’s because you talk like a white girl” when i asked him what he meant he said that i talk slow and exaggerate some of my words which makes me sound condescending. I don’t mean to sound like that but I just do it because I would get in trouble for not speaking clearly when I was growing up.

I’m so tired of hearing this from people. Can anyone else relate? How have you gotten over this?