Lessons from an anthropologist [inventor of "Ebonics"]

Jewish World Review ^ | Sept. 9, 2003 | Clarence Page

[SJackson]

He was one of the people who gave us "Ebonics" in the 1990s. But don't hold that against him.

John U. Ogbu also helped bring attention to the self-destructive tendency that drives some black students to reject standard English and academic excellence as "acting white," as if ignorance were supposed to be a black thing.

The distinguished University of California at Berkeley anthropologist most recently made news when a group of black middle-class parents hired him to examine why their teenagers were not succeeding academically as well as their white counterparts. After careful study, Ogbu concluded that the black parents were a big part of the problem. (See Black parents must teach their kids to succeed )

When some scholars and civil rights organizers accused him of "blaming the victim" for problems caused by racism and its legacy, he shrugged off the backlash. "If things get too rough," he joked, "I'll have to charter a plane and go back to my village in Nigeria."

Alas, Ogbu's body has returned to that village, but for the last time. He died Aug. 20 in an Oakland hospital. Doctors say his heart stopped after a lengthy back operation. He was 64.

Whether you liked what Ogbu had to say or not, he was like the starship Enterprise, boldly going where nobody had gone before, into today's touchiest questions on student achievement.

Why, he asked, do some minority groups lag behind whites, while others do as well or better?

The answer, Ogbu offered, depends a lot on how you--or your family--got here.

[knarf]

My favorite Eubonic word ...

Ahmo.

Ahmo kick yo' butt!

[Tax-chick]

God bless him. I've read more than one of his books, and he was a true, honest scholar. Now we have one less person with the courage to see and accept reality, rather than fantasy.

[Boxsford]

Why not post the entire article? It's worth it. Good post.

[Boxsford]

Thought you might like to see this article if you haven't already.

[SJackson]

JWR has to be excerpted.

[meandog]

Ever hear of the "Miss Ebonics USA" beauty pageant? It featured only 49 contestants...

...they couldn't find a Miss I-da-ho!

[GovernmentShrinker]

Thanks for the ping. I hadn't known of Mr. Ogdu before -- his passing is truly a great loss. As for the "blaming the victim" accusation, it's very important to distinguish between blaming the victim, and pointing out the simple fact that departing from victimhood is something the victim will have to undertake on his/her own steam. Saying "you have to solve your problem" is very different from saying "your problem is all your own fault".

Re JWR, they have requested that FR posters excerpt and link, since they are a shoestring operation (I think "they" is really one man) and need the hits. Especially since they asked nicely, rather than suing FR as the Washington Post and LA Times did, most posters are gladly complying with the request.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[cyborg]

BC ping

[SJackson]

ping

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

If you want on (or off) of my black conservative ping list, please let me know via FREEPmail. (And no, you don't have to be black to be on the list!)

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

[cyborg]

Similarly, the children of black immigrants from Africa or the West Indies tend to perform well above the average of native-born black American students.


Ogbu distinguished between the "voluntary immigrants," those who came to America with their identity intact because they chose to come here, and "involuntary immigrants" or "castelike" minorities, like U.S.-born blacks, Latinos and Native Americans, who were descended from American slavery or military conquests.


*** He's right about that. Glad someone other than myself believes this. Instead of inspiring children with stories of ex-slaves who tuaght themselves to read,etc. Kids are being taught watered down, packs of lies called 'afrocentric' education. It has not helped any as far as I can see.


He also showed, through the example of non-white voluntary immigrants, how the burdens of history could be turned into a platform from which African-Americans can launch their children into a brighter future of limitless achievements.

*** This is a good idea, as opposed to calling them oreos, sellouts, coconuts and african bootyscratchers. Instead of being jealous, whining and wondering how they did it, imitation would be better.

[StopGlobalWhining]

Ah, those good old days of ebonics, back at the end of 1996 and through the first half of 1997. Those dark days between the time of the Clinton reelection but prior to the emergence of Hillary rival, Monica, when something to laugh about was so sorely needed.

Cornell Review

May 9, 1997

STUDENTS at Cornell University, who burnt hundreds of copies of the campus newspaper in a protest over a humorous article on the way blacks speak English, are threatening further action unless the Ivy League college's authorities meet their demands by noon today.

The students, many from ethnic minority groups, are demanding changes in the way the bi-weekly Cornell Review is run and financed, sparking fears that some want it closed down. They are also pressing the college authorities to introduce mandatory "racism sensitivity" courses for all new undergraduates. In turn, supporters of the newspaper accuse the protesters of an assault on press freedom and Nazi-style tactics in burning copies.

At the heart of the row is an unsigned article which parodied "ebonics", a word formed from the words ebony and phonetics, and which attracted international headlines six months ago when the school board in Oakland, California, suggested that black English should be treated as a separate language.

A working party set up in Oakland rejected the idea this week and said resources would be much better spent on teaching minority students to speak standard English.

But the article, "The Africana Major", outraged black and other students with its course descriptions in ebonics. For a course in Racism in American Society, for instance, it suggested: "Da white man be evil an' he tryin' to keep da brotherman down."

Hunter Rawlings, president of the New York university, has denounced the article, saying: "Race-baiting, stereotyping and intentionally degrading attacks on Cornell's African-American community have no place in our campus discourse."

The editors of the newspaper, however, have been surprised by the uproar. Michael Capel, the Review's president and a graduate student in public affairs, said: "It didn't stick out, even to me. In retrospect, I can see that it might have been offensive to some people, but I don't think it's particularly out of the ordinary."

[Tax-chick]

Thanks for the info about JWR. I just emailed him to ask for an address to mail a donation.

Xy

[Boxsford]

My bad I forgot about having to link JWR. I see so much excerpting on sites that we don't have to I'm losing track.

You make some good points GS. People the likes of the so-called Rev. Jesse don't do his race any favors. He makes his living on propagating victimhood.

[Snowy]

"Oh stewardess? I speak Jive."

[T Lady]

Such a shame a voice of reason has been silenced. But what a great legacy. My Pastor consistently reinterates what the late Dr. Ogbu said about academic achievement, placing the emphasis on PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.

...Victimhood will get us nowhere as a nation, or a people.

-Regards, T.

[mafree]

Sorry to hear about Dr. Ogbu's passing. May he rest in peace and may some of his work be more widely known.

[SunkenCiv]

---

Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes by Stephen Howe Africana

---