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July 18, 2005
Poor Speech Skills are Now a Civil Right
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's all right there in the preamble to the Constitution. And if you want to speak in a way that's difficult for most people to understand and makes you sound uneducated, well, that's your right too.
You guessed it: ebonics is back, and of course, San Bernadino County in California is right in the thick of it.
Incorporating Ebonics into a new school policy that targets black students, the lowest-achieving group in the San Bernardino City Unified School District, may provide students a more well-rounded curriculum, said a local sociologist.
"Ebonics is a different language, it's not slang as many believe,' [Mary] Texeira said. "For many of these students Ebonics is their language, and it should be considered a foreign language. These students should be taught like other students who speak a foreign language.'
That's right. Encouraging students to ignore basic rules of grammar and employ street talk in formal settings is going to give them a well-rounded education. It's not slang, it's a foreign language. I can't wait until it's introduced in my school system along with Spanish, French and German. Corporate America, I hope you're paying attention...these are going to be the students you are expected to hire as part of the minority quota. Never mind if clients can't understand them; it's all in the name of civil rights.
"When you are doing what's right, others will follow,' [black activist Ratibu]Jacocks said. "We have led the way before the civil-rights movement opened the door for women's rights and other movements.'
Um, encouraging sloppy language that will hinder future employment prospects (as well as further divide blacks from the rest of the population) is hardly what I would consider to be a civil right. Did Martin Luther King Jr. speak "Ebonics?" Jesse Jackson, for all his faults, is well-spoken. (He has to be; he has to be understood by the corporate honchos he is keen on blackmailing.)
By pandering to feel-good, politically correct hogwash, the students in communities where "Ebonics" is encouraged are being done a real disservice. What a shame.
Hat tip: Michelle Malkin
Posted by at July 18, 2005 08:52 PM
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» This Ain't No Jive: Ebonics Be Back from California Conservative
Word up!
Michelle Malkin reports: "Check out the latest edu-follies in San Bernardino, Calif. Apparently, ebonics has been resurrected and is now a considered a civil right:
(Staying ignorant is more of a personal choice, not a right. But it's al... [Read More]
Tracked on July 18, 2005 10:10 PM
» Independent Sources Needs Bling Bling: The World’s 23 Best Ebonics Headlines from Independent Sources
Attn: Senior Administration Official
The editorial staff of Independent Sources thoroughly enjoyed your posting on Ebonics entitled “Ebonics? Again?”. We just wish you had taken as much pride in naming the post as you did writing it.
As... [Read More]
Tracked on July 19, 2005 03:24 AM
» Ebonics - The Cultural Rash That Won't Go Away from geosciblog
A common language is one of the most important aspects of cultural unity and prosperity. [Read More]
Tracked on July 21, 2005 03:10 AM
Comments
As you can see from the trackback, your title made our list of the 23 best Ebonics headlines. Keep up the good work. If not, it's not your fault, or sue me. Whichever works for you.
See who else is on the list with you at www.independentsources.com or
Posted by: insider at July 19, 2005 03:49 AM
Wow...thanks!
Posted by: Pam M. at July 19, 2005 04:14 AM
I'm very excited about getting the cassette tape, "I Be Hooked On Ebonics"
Posted by: MagicalPat at July 19, 2005 09:40 AM
It's literally insulting. I emailed that article to my father and he was furious. As hard as some of us try, our community is simply misguided.
Ebonics should be studied in college as some dialect or whatever, but should not be taught in school.
This should be held out front as the product of unchecked liberalism.
Posted by: Aaron Matthew Arnwine at July 19, 2005 11:12 AM
Yes, Aaron, and sad to say people like you are sometimes considered "traitors" because you hold yourselves to high standards in order to succeed.
Aren't we supposed to be a "color blind" country? Aren't we all supposed to strive to constantly improve upon our lots in life, no matter what our color or ethnicity? And who suffers from the nonsense of ebonics and the like? Not those who promote it, but those who are on the receiving end.
It's a crying shame.
Posted by: Pam M. at July 19, 2005 12:48 PM