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Oh swell. Another generation of black kids trained to stand sullenly behind the counter at the local Mickey D's, afraid to make eye contact or try to talk to a white person, because they only speak "ebonics" and are embarrased when they try and communicate outside of their own community.

Great way to keep 'em on the plantation, libs...

afraid to make eye contact or try to talk to a white person, because they only speak "ebonics" and are embarrased when they try and communicate outside of their own community.

You have made an excellent point that few people seem to have noticed. Many young black workers come across as sullen and hostile, but I have always felt that a lot of them are embarrassed and defensive. They know that they are hard to understand, they know that they come across as stupid to many of the customers, and they must realize that they are trapped in a world that is different from the world inhabited by their customers (black or white or Hispanic).

It's very sad, because of course their public image - which comes across as hostile and not exactly customer friendly - keeps them from making even that little personal effort that might have enabled them to jump over the years of lousy, separatist "education" they have received.

Heck, people can come here from Afghanistan (I'm thinking of some hot-dog vendors in NYC) without a word of English, and end up with a huge clientele that comes to their particular little hot-dog stand simply because they smile, if you're a regular, they know what you want on your dog before you even ask - and, of course, they're busy taking English lessons at night and dreaming of the day when they own their own little grocery store. These poor kids, on the other hand, are so sunk to the bottom that they can't even imagine fitting in or ever having a future.