Ebonics Slang No Substitute for Standard English

Project 21 ^ | 8.23.02 | Michael King

[mhking]

I need to get my Journal (http://mhking.blogspot.com/) site up and on P21's site, and in their releases...

[E. Pluribus Unum]

According to some black academics and race warlords, "Ebonics" is derived from one of three potential sources: 1) an African language passed on among blacks, 2) a vocabulary derived from encounters between African slaves and Irish immigrants or 3) a new dialect created since the 1960s by young blacks to separate themselves from whites.

Ebonics = Ebony + Phonics?

[Destructor]

"Poor and working-class blacks with Afrocentric educators, however, do not have the opportunity to learn the Standard English necessary to succeed. They are stuck learning through Ebonics. What students aren't told is that, without Standard English, their employment prospects after leaving school are virtually zero. This could lead to chronic unemployment and, potentially, a life of crime."

This is exactly what the Dimocrats want! Criminals are becoming their largest constituency group.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

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Extra warning: this is a high-volume ping list.

[madvlad]

"Criminals are becoming their largest constituency group."

No, that would be idiots!!!!!!

[Michael Barnes]

"Poor and working-class blacks with Afrocentric educators, however, do not have the opportunity to learn the Standard English necessary to succeed. They are stuck learning through Ebonics. What students aren't told is that, without Standard English, their employment prospects after leaving school are virtually zero. This could lead to chronic unemployment and, potentially, a life of crime."

C'mon man! Do it right!

"Poor an' working-class blacks wiff Afrocentric educators, however, do not gots da opportunity ta learn da Standard English necessary ta succeed. They iz stuck learning through Ebonics. What students aren't told iz dat, without Standard English, they employment prospects afta leaving skoo iz virtually zero. This could lead ta chronic unemployment an', potentially, uh life o' crime." don't make me shank ya!

[DancesWithTrout]

ebonics=bad policy + bad grammar skills

[madvlad]

No.

Ebonics = Ebony + Moronics

Mad Vlad

[Paul Atreides]

Ping, to myself, for later.

[Lamont Cranston]

Great journal! I'd love to be added to your "ping" list if you don't mind.

[Pistias]

return our classrooms to Standard English

Col' got to be! Yo!

[Destructor]

""Criminals are becoming their largest constituency group."

"No, that would be idiots!!!!!!"

Right you are, Sir. I stand corrected!

[goodnesswins]

Funny....one of my most memorable, and best, English teachers was a black woman (who also was handicapped by today's standards - polio of arm).....The QUEENS English was a REQUIREMENT in her class!

[Congressman Billybob]

Ebonics is a fraud directed at black students, just as bilingual education is a fraud directed at all students whose families speak a language other than English at home. Would it make sense to break the ankles of every black and immigrant child in public schools, and then ask them to run a race? It makes equal sense to teach them a language other than standard English and then ask them to compete in society, for jobs, higher education, or any other benefit.

Did I miss anything?

Congressman Billybob

Click for latest column: "The Truth of a Gravel Road."

Click for latest book: "to Restore Trust in America"

[Destructor]

Cease fire, man! Don' make me git mi gat!

[Wright is right!]

""Poor an' working-class blacks wiff Afrocentric educators, however, do not gots da opportunity ta learn da Standard English necessary ta succeed. They iz stuck learning through Ebonics. What students aren't told iz dat, without Standard English, they employment prospects afta leaving skoo iz virtually zero. This could lead ta chronic unemployment an', potentially, uh life o' crime." don't make me shank ya!"

You beat me to it. I was planning on running the whole thing thru The Dialecticizer (mode=jive) but a paragraph is all you really need. Good work.

Michael

[Destructor]

Here's a glimpse of the future. The Latin inscription on the seal of the College of Ebonics reads: "Ebonicus Significadus Nunca"

[madvlad]

"Po' an' working-class blacks wiff Afrocentric educators, however, do not gits da opportunity ta learn da Standa'd English necessary ta succeed. They iz stuck learning through Ebonics. What students ain't told iz dat, wit'out Standa'd English, they employment prospects afta day leaves skoo iz virtually zero. This could lead ta chronic unemployment an', potentially, uh life o' crime." don't make me shank ya!

Dese be correkshuns to da original passage.
Yous be required to repeat Ebonics 101
cuz yous is dum!

Mad Vlad

[Gumlegs]

Thank you very much. Excellent work. Someone observed (was it Bill Cosby), that the KKK couldn't have come up with a more effective way of keeping Blacks oppressed than ebonics.

Those who are interested in the general lack of standards in English education and the implications thereof might enjoy -- so the speak -- work by Richard Mitchell. "Less Than Words Can Say," and "The Leaning Tower of Babel."

[AdA$tra]

Great article Mike! As a white guy who grew up in the seventies and eighties who attended racially mixed Topeka High School, slang of ALL types has always influenced my use of language. Most of the seventies "hippie slang" that my English is still marred by, has probably had an effect regarding people's opinion of me. I have made an effort to get rid of trite "slangy" expressions in my professional life and am making an effort that my kids understand that people judge them by the way they speak.