Cultural Curriculum Chat with Jebeh Edmunds

Season 7 Ep #11 Everybody Wants the Flavor But Not The Responsibility

• Jebeh Edmunds • Season 7 • Episode 11

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Ever changed your voice on a Zoom call? Avoided cultural references at work? Second-guessed your tone in every email? That mental gymnastics—known as code switching—is the focus of our thought-provoking conversation about authenticity, cultural appropriation, and the exhaustion of making yourself palatable in spaces that weren't built for you.

Drawing from powerful personal experiences, we explore the painful irony of being told our natural hair is "unprofessional" while watching others be praised for adopting the same styles. Remember those high school moments when white classmates used your skin as a "tanning barometer," wanting your melanin but not your lived experience? We unpack how these seemingly small interactions reveal a larger pattern where everyone wants the flavor but not the responsibility.

This episode goes beyond identifying problems to offer solutions for both individuals navigating code switching fatigue and those committed to creating more inclusive environments. You'll discover why constant assimilation creates versions of ourselves that are palatable but not whole, and how cultural appropriation manifests in everything from Halloween costumes to workplace policies. Whether you're a BIPOC professional seeking validation for your experiences or an ally wanting to understand the emotional tax of code switching, this conversation offers both validation and actionable insights.

Ready to embrace authenticity and help others do the same? Check out our Code Switching 101 mini course mentioned in the episode, which includes two private coaching sessions to help you recognize these patterns and create spaces where everyone can bring their full, magnificent selves. Your culture isn't a costume—and your voice is a powerful tool for change. Subscribe, share with someone who needs to hear this message, and join us in transforming how we show up in professional and educational spaces.


If you’re ready to stop code-switching and start showing up fully — this course is for you.

💻 Head to  https://jebehedmunds.com/plans/available-mini-courses/   

to enroll today.



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Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Cultural Curriculum Chat Podcast. I'm your host, jebe Edmonds, and today's episode is called Everybody Wants the Flavor but Not the Responsibility. We're diving into the reality of code switching, the fatigue of being culturally palatable and the ways cultural appropriation keeps showing up in places it shouldn't. So let's get into it. Okay, let's be real. If you are a BIPOC, professional educator or student, you've probably been code switching for a long time. It's that mental shift that we make in the way we speak, dress and show up, just to be accepted or taken seriously in spaces that weren't built for us and that's just bonkers. We're often praised for how well we fit in, while others freely borrow from our cultures the slaying you go girl, the style, seeing somebody in cornrows, the soul without the responsibility, the history or the consequences that we face. And that's what today's conversation is about. Everybody wants the flavor but not the responsibility.

Speaker 1:

Code switching isn't just a communication choice. For many it's survival. It's showing up like this Do you find yourself changing your voice on a Zoom call? Sometimes you avoid cultural references at work or you second-guess your tone in every single email. It's exhausting and it's expected in many workplaces, even unspokenly required. Have you had those little quips and microaggressions like don't be on CP time, or why do you always change your hair? Why can't you have hair? That's within our employee handbook? Or if you're a student, seeing pictures of appropriate haircuts and dress codes Sound familiar. But here's the truth Constant code switching chips away at your authenticity. It creates a version of yourself that's palatable but not whole Assimilation instead of being authentic. It's why so many of us leave work at the end of the day feeling drained and emotionally taxed, not just tired.

Speaker 1:

I want you to also think about when we're talking about cultural appropriation. I remember an instance in high school when it was talking about wanting that flavor but not the responsibility. This time of year in the United States, in springtime I'm recording this episode in May it's prom season and when I was growing up, especially in the late 90s in high school, a lot of white classmates, especially the girls, would come up to me and put their arm or arm against mine and using my arm as their barometer for their tanning sessions Upward not as dark as Jeb yet, but then again they wanted the flavor to be more melanated in their skin tone. But to think that, how incredibly racist and dehumanizing that made their Black friend myself feel they didn't care about. They didn't see the responsibility of what it's like to walk in my shoes and feeling hurt of not seeing me as fully human but as a litmus test of how dark you should go to look in your prom dress. So when we're talking about cultural appropriation, I want you to think about, while we're navigating this mental gymnastics of trying to fit in and what we often don't see. Those students that I was walking those halls with in high school didn't see me as who I was. They didn't see the pain and the hurt of what it was like navigating being a Black girl in a predominantly white populated high school. So prom was a really big point for me growing up.

Speaker 1:

In thinking about another example Halloween and other holidays where people cherry pick the aesthetics of marginalized cultures, the flavor, without the context of accountability, or it's why your natural hair might seem unprofessional it's our vernacular in the African-American cultural group but monetized on TikTok. When someone else is using it, we're constantly told to tone it down, while others are praised for turning it up. It's also shown in us as oh, those nails are too long, you're ghetto, or your wig is unnatural looking colors, but then again, if a celebrity is rocking those styles, they're pushing the norm, or they're also hip and trendy and staying up with the latest trends, and that disconnect, it hurts, it silences, it exhausts. I want you to think about times, maybe in your younger years, where you were at that gangsta party or you put on blackface makeup. Oh, that was a different time then, I didn't know, but that was very harsh and stereotypical to groups of people where you want to hear that argument. Oh, we're just celebrating a culture, no, you're caricaturizing it. So what do we do with this Jeb? First, we name it. We have to start having those courageous conversations about why people still code switch, about appropriation versus appreciation and about what real equity looks like. And second, we need to educate ourselves and others. That's exactly why I created my mini course Code Switching 101.

Speaker 1:

This mini course is for you If you are looking for a transformative mini course that will go deeper in your understanding of what code switching is, why it happens and how it impacts personal and professional relationships. So, whether you're an educator, dei professional or someone looking to enhance their cultural competency skills, this course offers practical tools to help you recognize, reflect and respond thoughtfully in diverse environments. We are going to talk about the psychology of code switching. We're going to give you real-world applications. You're going to explore scenarios where code switching shows up in classrooms and workplaces and in daily life. And you know, your girl, you've been listening to me for a minute. I will give you empowerment, strategies to learn how to create those inclusive spaces where authenticity is celebrated and not suppressed. And again, you know I love a good bonus y'all. It includes two private one-hour coaching sessions with me, your girl and you'll get personalized guidance to help you dive deeper into your unique experiences, ask those questions you're afraid to ask and develop actionable strategies tailored to your work environment. So this mini course is perfect for educators committing to creating inclusive classrooms, de&i professionals and leaders seeking to strengthen their advocacy. So anyone who is dedicated to fostering equity, empathy and understanding in these diverse spaces, that mini course Code Switching 101, is for you. So check it out in the show notes below and get this on-demand course ready to go right there for you, and I can't wait to coach you through the process we talked about in this mini session of our episode today, about learning what it takes to code switch changing your voice, changing your vernacular, changing the way you dress, changing your hair just in order to fit into spaces that were not meant for you in the first place.

Speaker 1:

There's so many people out there that are unapologetically authentic. They are using their vernacular with style and grace and showing people that there are many dialects in our English language, especially in the United States, and also honing into the culture of being an anti-code switcher, and that, to me, is very fascinating in that, standing up for who they truly are, up for who they truly are. I wish I had in high school the confidence to push those arms away. I wish I had the friends that didn't look like me, that were also white student friends that said, oh enough, leave Jebba alone. That's not okay. You cannot compare your rates to hers to say, oh, that's beautiful only in the springtime, but then again, you don't want to respect me as a full human being all year long. I tell you, even till this day, in 2025, I still get emotional about that experience and that hurt that I did experience in high school. I know I'm not the only one that's been through it. I know there's many young Black women and other people of color that also had that similar experience.

Speaker 1:

Some of our young people are still experiencing that today, but I am hopeful that people like you that are listening to this podcast are those action takers, are those ones that are willing to stand up, even if their voice shakes, to have those courageous conversations, to speak up and say something. If you are ready to stop code switching, I want you to definitely start showing up fully and take the course. I also want to thank you for tuning in today to the Cultural Curriculum Chat Podcast. I'm Jebbit and remember your culture isn't a costume. Your voice is a tool for change. And make sure to subscribe, share this episode and, of course, check out my course Code Switching 101. Until next time, keep leading with authenticity and courage. Bye-bye.