Students Hooked on 'Ebonics' Are Being Groomed for Failure

INSIGHT magazine ^ | June 3, 2002 | Nicholas Stix

[SamAdams76]

Yo! H-Dog in da house. Don't be feedin' me dis here jive. I got me a gig as Accountz Reeceevable Supahvisah at Midstate Office Supply. And damn if I ain't the baddest stone-cold supastah in da joint. When it comes to puttin' togetha fly Excel spreadsheets, tha H-Dog got skeelz, ya know what I'm sayin'? Don't mess wit' da H-Dog. Word.

[CaptRon]

No way! C'mon, you made that up, right?

[First_Salute]

Nice catch.

[CatoRenasci]

The approach you suggest, requiring that teacher use, teach in, and expect students to respond in, Standard English, is the only approach that gives poor ghetto children a reasonable chance to learn the habits of success that will enable them to escape.

Your point about the lack of competence of the teachers is well taken. Although most of us can recall teachers who stood out as excellent, inspiring, and even mentors, most teachers are not recruited from the most talented students in our most competitive colleges and universities. One is reminded of the old saying Those who can, do. Those who cannot do, teach. Although society pays lip service to education, and it is essential to success, it is as if many blacks have taken to heart the old Anglo-Saxon suspicion of those who smell too much of the lamp.

[Constitution Day]

Linguistics professors Walt Wolfram and Erik Thomas defend ebonics as the legitimate dialect of a dynamic minority in their new book, The Development of African-American English.

Sad to say, but both Wolfram and Thomas are professors at N.C. State.
I recognized the name because I read Wolfram's book on the Ocracoke Island "Hoi Toider" accent and where in England it originated.

[billbears]

If I remember correctly, wasn't he the one that said that dialect would be dead in a few decades?

[twigs]

I agree. This is a dialect worth saving. However, as you say, I do not believe in teaching it. Teachers should not discourage students from using it at home, but they should know standard English and how to use it with no difficulty.

[Poohbah]

When it comes to puttin' togetha fly Excel spreadsheets, tha H-Dog got skeelz, ya know what I'm sayin'? Don't mess wit' da H-Dog. Word.

I thought he was a superstar on Excel, not Word.

[general_re]

A little Schadenfreude in the morning, perhaps?

Oh, I don't know about that. I feel pretty much the same way, but I derive no pleasure from it - it's just a simple fact. Sooner or later, the people pushing ebonics will wise up and stop handicapping their own children in such a fashion - and the sooner, the better - but until then...it's still a dog-eat-dog world out there. And every someone who intentionally or unintentionally removes themselves from the running makes the path that much smoother for me and mine.

[Constitution Day]

Not sure, man. I must have missed that...

[Phantom Lord]

Snopes.com says it is a hoax. But Jamie Farr tells of it in his autobiography, being that he was the 'celebrity partner' i lean toward believing Farr on this one. Snopes.com has in the past been shown to cover for politically incorrect things.

[Oschisms]

When this story broke, lo those many years ago, 3 things happened:

1) I immediately listed "Ebonics- East Coast Dialect" on the language section of my resume.

2) My friend Eric ceased to be called "E-dubs" and promptly received a new nickname, "Ebonics."

3) I immediately began refering to the way I, an American of Irish descent, speak as "Ironics."

[Poohbah]

Sorry, but to get the true flavor of Ironics, you have to visit the Old Sod, preferably Galway.

[Lion Den Dan]

"Experts" tell us that ebonics is three things:

Dey bin huffin wacky tabacky. The little excerpt written in Ebonic is also a fraud. The author did not once use the requisite Mutha F. With out that term of endearment, no claim to Afrocentric speech is valid.

Dan

[Eva]

Could you please direct me back to the other article you posted on history education. I marked it to reply later and I have not been able to find it again. Thanks

[wbill]

Yo! Where be the 5-inch letter opena o' death? Go wack those accounts paybo (people)!

I love Herbert Kornfield. I work with a guy that talks exactly like that...except that he's serious. Shame. Smart guy, good technician, guaranteed to go nowhere in the company because he can't express himself.

[Night Hides Not]

You just gave me a chillin' thought: how long will it take for Microsoft to put an Ebonics spell-checker in Word? ;^D

[mhking]

And don't forget an "ebonics" version of Google...

[Stand Watch Listen]

Are you referring to this article?

America Disappearing Down Memory Hole of PC Educators
Source: INSIGHT magazine; Published: June 3, 2002;
Author: Don Feder