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>Has anyone been following the news recently
>about the stir "Ebonics" has caused? Seems
>some left-wingers in California want to recognize
>what many right-wingers call "bad English" as
>an official language or dialect, called Ebonics.
>Since Ebonics seems to be spoken primarily
>by middle-to-lower class Blacks, the stir has
>taken a partially-racial bent.
>Does this notion, Ebonics, seem legitimate
>to you guys? Since we're all TechCommies,
>I think we'd have a unique viewpoint on this.
The Oakland, Ca, school district has declared
ebonics to be a separate language simply because
it makes the speakers bilingual and, therefore,
eligible for federal money. It is merely another
way to manipulate the system.
If this means that the children in these schools
will now have access to English teachers who will
use the ebonic dialect to teach standard 'business
English', this is a good thing. It will lead to
employability in the main stream culture, If, on
the other hand, it is simply used as a ploy to
get federal monies to finance other programs the
school district would like to see go ahead even
though the tax-payers have financially vetoed these
programs, it is deplorable.
YOUR THOUGHTS,
DREAMS,
and IDEAS
ARE LIKE BALLOONS...
KEEP 'EM FLYING!
J.P.
