Can you tell if someone is black or white just by hearing their voice on the phone?

This was once a story on 20/20. Do you think it's possible to tell if someone is black or white without seeing them in person, but only hearing their voice on the phone? In the report they refer to this as language profiling. What do you think?

Sometimes.

Black ppl tend to have deeper voices. But that tone crosses races, so it is not always accurate. Joe Cocker always sounded like a black man to me but coulda just been his style.

Accents and coloquialisms are often the giveaway. I ain't lyin' but that only works with mature ppl. White kids and black kids tend to mimic each others' vernacular so again, not accurate.

My wife, influenced by living in Chicago didn't have the usual accent from down here and ppl who spoke with her on the fone were always surprised to find out she was black.

Sometimes you can. It's not strictly black and white, no pun intended. When people are in a professional setting, you tend not to pick up as fast or can be completely oblivious as to what race a person is. It depends on what they say, their diction and what setting you're speaking to them in. I used to get picked on for "sounding white", but I really just have a high voice. People can switch up how they sound effortlessly and I think black people in general can master the art. Perfect example (yep, posting it again):

I am a receptionist and, yes, I can usually tell. I believe black Americans as a mass speak with a distinguished accent that's been passed down from generation to generation. (People have always said I have an accent, and it has to be the European-English accent I picked up from my parents.) A few have lost that "accent", not many. I'd be willing to be put to the test at the phones, and would bet that I'd be at least 90% right.

I also 'know' when I'm speaking to an East Indian, Asian, and Russian. Maybe I'm just damn good at it, I don't know, but I don't think it's hard at all. So there's outcry on this, too? I can't believe this is a big deal.

Most of the time. Black and white people tend to have different "tones" to their voices, let alone speech and dialects patterns.

Sometimes, different races can have a certain "accent".

For the most part, yes.

Sometimes.

For the most part, yes. I'm on the phone all day every day and if the name isn't a giveaway, the voice is. Like others were saying, it's mainly the tone, sometimes the dialect (I can tell when I'm talking to a black chick from the hood vs a white chick from the hood....that sounds soooo wrong coming out LOL. But it's the same as being able to tell a black suburbanite from a white suburbanite).