Students Hooked on 'Ebonics' Are Being Groomed for Failure

INSIGHT magazine ^ | June 3, 2002 | Nicholas Stix

[Lance Romance]

Feel free to reprint my "racist" comment. Yes, that's a challenge.

In hindsight you will realize that you and connectthedots were behaving more like Al Sharton than William F. Buckley.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

My career choice ties me to Nashville, but I generally like the South.

So, what, you sell grits for a living? LOL.....tied to the South.....!

The people are very friendly and the quality of life is great.

Agreed....

But I do wish the people here could talk normally.

Funny, that's exactly what they say about you.....;^)

[tdadams]

So, what, you sell grits for a living? LOL.....tied to the South.....!

Now who's stereotyping?

[Born in a Rage]

I used to think that ebonics was the hardest 'dialect' to understand but I've changed my mind over the weekend after meeting my long lost cousins from Kentucky.

One of them told me some people who live there don't even know about 9-11....never heard of the Twin Towers; don't have no teevee, don't have no 'lectric, don't have no phone, don't even go down to WALMART!!! Imagine that...?!?! HaHaHa....lol :-)

[parsifal]

You know. That thing that looks "groobedy." Many slang words are quite intuitively understandable. I bet if you let yourself feel the word, say it a few times to yourself, you could correctly select which item was "groobedy" out of an assortment of things. Do you want to try? If so, I will reply back with a set of things. parsy.

[Cagey]

But I do wish the people here could talk normally.

I agree. If only the whole country spoke perfect Jerseyese everything would be okay, Doncha think?

Texas and Rush, read post 165!!! ROFL

[Cagey]

don't even go down to WALMART!!! Imagine that...?!?!

Eyup.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

#165 is PERFECT for Rush! lol........ Hey, we don't even live in Kentucky, but our Walmart is staffed by, and shopped by some of the strangest people you've ever seen........ like a freak show at a traveling carnival.........lol

tdadams, You don't know "hicks" until you've seen some of the folks in Pennsylvania Dutch country! lol

[Cagey]

"Welcome to WalMart, can you help me?"

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Absolutely no need for a comment........lol

[mrustow]

I would strongly suggest that anyone who wants to study the true issues behind this debate take a look at Dr. John McWhorter's "Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of "Pure" Standard English."

Thanks for the tip; I'll try and get the book.

I don't think that Afrocentric and "progressive" pedagogues push street slang as the language of instruction, and celebrate students' use of it in spite of, but rather because of the failure of this method. They want to enslave poor blacks.