Hooked on Ebonics...doesn't work for me.

“You talk like a white girl.” “You trying to act white.”

For some reason, many black people have come to adopt the notion that we as a race speak improper English; that if you don’t add enough ain’t’s, imma’s, skreets, skraights, and skrimps to your speech, you are indeed acting or speaking “white.” Being that I’ve always been a target of this claim, I have always felt offended and quite frankly, put in a box, with this type of thinking. For me, it limits what is considered “black,” and what is considered “white.” It stereotypes. It produces shortcomings. It automatically sets up a hierarchy when it comes to language…black people speak poor English and whites speak proper English. Why does my English have to be poor? Can’t I be proper?

Of course, this is in reaction to the new Drug Enforcement Agency undertaking where they are attempting to hire nine Ebonics speakers in order to solve drug and criminal investigations. I have a problem with this. If blacks cannot agree on what is “black” and “white” in language, amongst many other things, how can we come to define Ebonics as African-American Vernacular English(the term that is being used)? So all of a sudden we have a language that is not used or recognized by all of its members? I think not.

The term “Ebonics,” became widely recognized in 1996, when the Oakland school board attempted to write a resolution that would allow instruction to be given in Ebonics and English. Upon my research, I found that Ebonics was not and is not simply considered slang, but it is actually being presented as though it is a language of the African-American community. Apparently African-Americans are “biologically predisposed toward a particular language through heredity.” I guess genetics has contributed to me throwing all of my words together, cutting off my sentences, and adding a “know what I’m sayin’” at the end. The Oakland schools were even trying to consider English as a second language (ESL) endorsement for teachers who were “bilingual.” Come on. While I appreciate someone attempting to legitimize the way we speak behind closed doors, but not really, I’ll pass.

And now the DEA wants to hire Ebonics experts. This step would actually “legitimize” Ebonics as a language, coincidentally confirming the idea that all or most African-Americans speak something other than English. I guess maybe we should have hillbilly experts, or perhaps valley girl or surfer dude experts as well. When teachers have conferences, they’ll need translators for Spanish-speaking people, as well as black folks. When parents schedule their conferences, they’ll need to decide whether or not they need a translator present for the meeting, for those unfamiliar English terms.

In case I was unclear, I don’t like this idea. It will inevitably have a serious backlash against the African-American community. “They talk so bad, they need translators.” “They’re so different, they have their own language.” The thing is, it would be recognized as a “language,” but definitely not given legitimacy. A person speaking Ebonics will still be seen as an ignorant person, with non-standard, lazy speech. This is more than just an aid to the DEA, it’s an open door for controversy, discrimination, and continued separation.