AA
English
In this film clip, Professor Mary Zeigler of Georgia University
discussed the influence African American's have had on the
development of American English. The three
black female students featured in the clip not only defended, but also embraced
a different “dialect” for blacks and whites in America. The students appeared
to be very well educated and well versed on the history and roots of Ebonics. Professor
Zeigler expressed her relief and joy at the academic communities acceptance of
Ebonics, and commented that her students prefer to speak to one another in the
language or “variety” of language that they identify with. Three things stood
out to me in this clip: a well articulated point about the perceived dichotomy
of Ebonics and American English (and the need for that to change); a weak and
unsupported claim that the reason for the preponderance of Ebonics amongst
African Americans is a lack of available teachers and examples of American
English; and the great pride the students took in “owning” their language and their heritage while accepting these beautiful things as a part of their identity.
There were some very thought-provoking
arguments in this clip. More
specifically, the comment by the student in the orange blouse: “It’s not about
this is bad and this is good... It’s not
bad and good, its about teaching our kids about what will make them more
successful in life but not sacrificing what they already know.” This student expressed need for change in
the way Americans place Ebonics and American English as polar opposites. This dichotomy needs to be recognized as
unsupportive and destructive, and then an active effort needs to take place to
facilitate a positive change.
At the very beginning of the film,
one of the students made clear that the reason for the differences in black and
white English, is both the lack of time Africans have had access to education
in this country (the 1960’s) and the few numbers of examples young blacks have
had to model English instead of Ebonics. I disagree with this student, and find
her argument to be very unsupported. If
we are to agree that equal education was not made available to blacks in this
country until 1970, we can safely assume that a minimum of 3 generations of
African Americans should, in the American public school systems, have been
taught to read and write American English by now. Most immigrants who come to
the Unites States have (first generation) children who are fluent in the
language of the new country and speak the native language in appropriate
cultural and familial settings. It is
unclear to me why African Americans do not approach assimilation of American
English in this same manner.
Overall, the film clip exuded the
pride and joy the students feel about their cultural heritage and their unique
Ebonics dialect. This reminded me very
much of Asante’s description of language as one of the African cultural
“experiences” that remain with African
Americans in place of African cultural artifacts. These women are as far away from an 18th
century Slave Ship as can be, yet they still find a sense of sisterhood, pride
and identity in their African linguistic similarities. What a beautiful thing.
Black English Panel
This film is a recording of a panel discussion about the
politics of language and culture and was held at the 11th annual
Harlem Book Fair in New York City in 2009.
Titled "We Be, You Are, They
Is: Black English, Language, and Culture", the panelists in the film discussed
if a nonstandard language such as "Black English" should be deemed
inferior, and the problems of transferring between languages. The discussion
highlighted three main features of language: the concept that language provides
a sense of identity and defines ones sense of placement within society and time;
the difference between the style of language we use in personal and intimate
relationships vs. the language used in more formal academic or workplace
environments; and the great variety of English spoken across this country and
this world, of which Ebonics is but one.
The major
points of this panel presentation were very consistent with the writings and
theories of Asante, in that the panelists agreed in the importance of the
connection that Ebonics provides to blacks, both with their African past, and
with each other. Speakers of African
English, according to the panelists, are no different than any other American
who speaks English as a second language.
The strongest argument that was made by the panel was the need for black children to
learn when to use Ebonics or what
they referred to as “rap culture English” and when to use Standard English. Exemplified in the discussion were the
differences between home language and culture, and school language and culture,
as well as the media and the lack of respect for Africa, and African American
people in this country.
This film
presented many theories and opinions but few solutions. The topics discussed were merely the outer
frosting on a multi level cake of issues within politics, education, urban
areas, vast socioeconomic differences, linguistics, cultural awareness and
biases. Sadly, no real proposals for
solutions were given.
Ink
Spot: Ebonics in the age of Obama
In this montage of clips from “The
Ink Spot”, Dr. Garrard Mcclendon moderated a conversation between the Ink Spot
panel as they reviewed the book Beyond
Ebonics and debated whether the use of Ebonics is “dumbing down the English
Language”, or a dialect of the English Language. Also addressed were issues the panel had with
the concept of “universal black culture.”
Two of the panelist felt that while people who speak Ebonics are most
certainly not “dumb”, Ebonics itself is most definitely a “dumbing down” of
Standard English. Once again, as in the
prior films, the argument was made that real change for black children lies in
the use of standardized English at home, and by the teachers at schools.
The female member of the panel was
in definite disagreement with the other panelists. It was clear that she did not accept Ebonics
as a cultural continuity amongst African Americans, but rather as a result of a
poor education. While it may be easy to
dismiss her as unaware of the linguistic research that has been done, I feel
she has a valid point for some of the African American
population. Many African American
children are receiving a substandard education, especially here in metro
Detroit. While these children may hear
only Ebonics at home, there are black speakers of standardized English on all
of the local news channels, on television shows, and even serving as our
President. If these black children have been exposed to standardized English
via the media, then why are they not reading and writing standardized English?
The answer to that lies in the very argument that the female member of the
panel was making: they have received a poor education. I was nauseated when I heard the man in the
clip quote a teacher in a school who said “come
here baby give me your feets so I can tie your shoes.” Given this model of English from a person of
supposed authority, how and when would any child learn to speak standardized
English? It is so important to recognize that while a substandard education may
be the reason some African Americans speak Ebonics; it is definitely not the
case for others, who choose Ebonics as a clear cultural identity marker.
Black
English
Linguistic
Discrimination in School: African American English is a short clip of a film that details the story of
brothers who were tested and placed in Special Ed Courses on the basis of their
use of Ebonics in the Ann Arbor school district. The brothers were three of twenty-four black
children in a sea of wealthy white students that comprised the student body.
A social worker involved with the family helped them to pursue a landmark
court case on the basis that the boys were receiving a substandard education
because the teachers disregarded of them due to their use of Ebonics. This was the first time that any school
district in the United States recognized that the use of Black English, or Ebonics, was a tremendous roadblock in
the classroom.
Language
Discrimination:
This clip from Fox 2 News features a teacher who is working very
hard to teach young African Americans the difference between “Ask and Ax” and
other English words that Ebonics pronunciation has slaughtered. The news clip does present the other side of
the story; highlighting how bad grammar is consistent across all aspect of
American English.
This teacher is to be
applauded. He is, by title, a
teacher afterall. It is his job to present the
material in a way in which it can be processed by his students, and then re-present
said material to those who might struggle with it. In this case, he is presenting key problems
African American students who speak Ebonics in the home and are trying to learn
how to “switch hit”, or speak standardized English, may be experiencing in the
school setting.
This type of language discrimination
occurs daily in this country. Whites,
and even some blacks hear a man or woman speaking Ebonics, and almost
immediately, assumptions are drawn as to that person’s level of education,
family life, IQ, professionalism, cultural, sexual, musical and style
preferences, and even ability to reason and problem solve. Like any stereotype, assumptions of any of
these qualities based solely on language acquisition and verb tense usage is a
very limited, shortsighted way of thinking.
African-American English, from Voices
of NC
This small clip from the 2008
documentary Voices of North Carolina features
examples of a few common terms from Ebonics, such as right on, peace, what up man, I’m chillin, etc. that have wporked there way into mainstream standardized English. The film argues that every generation has to identify itself and create a new
language. According to this film
excerpt, the new language addition to the Ebonics and Standard American English of this generation is
“Hip-Hop.”
This clip briefly explores the idea
that Hip Hop is a new language of it’s own , and emphasises that culturally identifiable
languages are important identifiers amongst all peopls, not only African Americans.
My Position on Ebonics
These six films, in combination with chapters
one, two, three and four of our classroom text have shifted my previously held
position of the use of Ebonics in this country. Prior to this course, I
was unaware that many aspects of Ebonics as a linguistic style (and
specifically the verb tense forms) was able to be traced back to the 1700's and
the West African coastline. It is clear to me now that Ebonics has many
elements that are culturally significant to African Americans. Like any
other language, Ebonics has evolved with time. It has gained some figures
of speech, and lost others. The same can be said for Standard American English.
(When is the last time you have heard a speaker of American English say "why that
is just dandy"?) Shifts in intonation, inflection and pronunciation
occur with all languages. Because the evolution of the genre of hip-hop music
has affected Ebonics spoken in this country, many feel the language has sunk to
an unsalvageable language and should be discarded. I argue instead that these
changes do not lessen or weaken the language, but instead help to solidify the
cultural and identity- stamping importance of the language.
That being
said, I do feel there is a time and a place for everything. Learning when
to use Ebonics is just as important as understanding the roots from whence Ebonics
came. I would never address my boss with a "Hi hon, what’s up" although I may address my friends outside
of the office in this manner on a daily basis. I have learned situational
appropriateness for my differences in language, and I strongly believe that
African Americans would be discriminated upon less and treated with more respect and
authority if they were to learn to do the same.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteYou've made some great points in your post. I do agree that there is a time and place in which to be more relaxed with language or use of Ebonics. However, I think the association or assumptions that come with language is a problem that has no one solution. I think there is a huge problem with people "assuming" that a person is not worthy of respect or authority because of their language. That would be as worse as a teacher refusing to teach a student or giving up on a student because of their language, as was the case in the Language discrimination video. Sometimes, a person's language, dialect, grammar usage, or lack there of is a circumstantial matter. Not to sound cliche but some folks are "victims of circumstance." I know people who have gone through the educational system, speaking every bit of Ebonics, slang, or whatever we want to call it, and when you sit down to have a conversation with them, they are quite intelligent. The delivery might not be "professionally acceptable" but the knowledge is prevalent. Should I dismiss this individual or not respect him because of his speech? We live in a country that is a melting pot which has every variation of the "English" language that you can think of and it's a tough realization that at one point or another you will have to sacrifice a little bit of yourself so that you can be accepted. My family comes from the "deep south" and for some of them, Ebonics, heavy accents, and just about every other word on the list from our text is their everyday rhetoric. I understand what the "norm" requires for one to be considered a part of it, but should they fight to overcome their accent, fight to rid themselves of the only language they've known, so that they can become "professionally accepted?" Isn't that sort of asking them to rid themselves of a piece of their culture? As stated earlier, i do agree that there is a time and place but I also agree that those times and places are different for each of us, not just African Americans.
Now, for my disclaimer :-) Because we are replying through text please do not think I am yelling or angrily typing. I am, hopefully, engaging in pure debate and discussion. I would have loved to taken this in a classroom setting so that we can get a better understanding of each classmates arguments.