HABLA USTED EBONICS?
A year or two ago the Oakland (CA) School Board was trying make black English dialect fit into their schools as a second language. I understand they have reversed themselves now, and the subject is rarely even mentioned.
The contention of proponents of the idea at the time argued that black children - and not a few white ones - speak this mutilated form of English at home and elsewhere anyway, so why not make it legal. Such a step would prevent such slighted students being “left out”of educational advances; probably cut down on crime and violence; be of value to all of us by enabling us to to understand some of that which is being said, to, for or about us.
Actually,the entire scheme was more or less still born. The School Board found they had some political, social and legal problems at hand which had not been mentioned in the rosy-glow, dream-talk phase. Example: how does one go about applying for backing to teach a language which does not exist? The had to deny they would be teaching a narrow, “black” version of English; they had to deny that their term “Ebonics” was merely a semantic cover up to hide connotations of “black” anything.
One has to wonder what influenced the Board to consider the scheme at all. I sense an undercurrent of someone planning to be asked to do do research in development of such a course of study at a variety of grade levels; research in testing such materials , and control of editing, printing, publishing and altering such courses in all forms including printed,and other forms of of idea transfer -including some not yet in common use. Then there was also a need for allocated funds to train competent teachers.
The “real” damage had already been done, elsewhere.
Adapting the teaching of Black English would have opened the gates to demands from speakers of Spanish, German, Swahili, Russian, Japanese and any other language able to show that a minority existed in any area where public schools were ,a maintained ...including a comprehensive “Pidgin English” course for all Great Wall persons. You would be driven to tour the labyrinth of languages and never once would you come cross one named “Ebonics”.
I see no real need for us to designate English as our official language or to restrict the use of other languages within our borders. Certainly speaking and reading in other tongues nourishes understanding and mutual appreciation of each others cultural attainments and generates comprehensive understanding.
A.L.M. January 12, 2005 [c434wds]
