The Hand That Feeds You

I won’t be ignorant or insensitive and quote one of my favorite lines of Chris Rock’s Bigger and Blacker, but if you are familiar with his standup, you will soon realize what quote I am referring to. To put it plainly, I am so tired of black folks. Of course I realize that “all black people” are not one particular way or another, and I also realize that I am using “black folks” loosely. Charge it to my poetic license and not my level of open-mindedness or tolerance. However, the crime and mentality in many black neighborhoods is so devastating to our community and society in general, that it pains me to continue to witness and experience much of its effects. Although I have purposely placed myself in low-income communities to work, my desire to continue my service in our communities has recently been challenged.

As an educator, I see my purpose as helping children to grow and mature academically, emotionally, psychologically, and socially. I know that children from low income families, which are often minorities, often have problems getting the resources, instruction, and proper role models that they need in order to actually develop into the individuals that are going to contribute most to society. So that’s what I feel my purpose is…to help little minority children realize their potential and press towards that potential. But what is sad is, the community sees us not as community leaders or service providers, but as targets, targets for their criminal activity, their vandalism, their ignorance.

My second week on the job, my car was broken into, windows busted, and out of sight valuables, stolen. Just last week, two teenagers were standing outside in the almost empty parking lot, in the rain, with hoods on, waiting for myself and/or the other dedicated lone ranger to leave the building. The custodian had to watch me as I went to my car. And today, a hubcap from two different cars was stolen. All this, from a neighborhood that needs educators that can give their children, their brothers and their sisters, the love, attention, and intellectual stimulation that is so often missing in their own families of origin.

It is disheartening that as an educator, you sacrifice so much of yourself. You give your all. You endure ever-changing policies and methods of evaluation, budget cuts, and subpar pay just so that one student’s life can be enriched because of your service. You take your dedication to tomorrow’s future and become a teacher, a principal, a school counselor (that’s me), a school psychologist, and yet, a target. What happens when enough is enough, and all those dedicated individuals take their dedication elsewhere? A place where they will be safe, their belongings secured, and their efforts appreciated? Where will that leave our little minority children?

This blog was a nice little vent, but a follow-up to what all this means for black America is forthcoming....hold your horses.

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.

Another One Bites the Dust

A suburbanite. An educator. Having led a fairly sheltered life, even I am not exempt. Even I have been affected by this epidemic that is plaguing our community. What am I talking about is young black men that have been, are, or will be, caught up in the justice system. If we turn on the evening news, we can see how black men are continuously involved in illegal activity that lands them on my T.V. screen, in the courts, and in jail or prison or dead. But for most black people, even sheltered suburbanites like myself, we do not have to turn on the T.V. to learn of another black man that has just virtually ruined his life or at least put a major dent in its progress.

Recently, cousins and childhood friends of this suburbanite have faced charges ranging from terroristic threats, to pimping, to robbery, to murder. And I am sure that it will not take you long to think of someone in your circle with a similar story. So if everyone knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone, who has this story, where is the black community going? Yes, we have made huge advances…Obama is President, but the state of the black community is in despair.

I was having a lively debate with my cousin who was basically stating that “the system” has set our young black men up for failure. They have put drugs into the community, subjected black kids to poor education, etc. And while I agree that these things definitely contribute to the hardships that blacks, and black men specifically face, I had to ask, where is the accountability? I definitely do not want to negate responsibility that these factors carry, but what does identifying them as a reason for our condition do for our condition? We as a community cannot waste another breath blaming someone for what we are currently facing, but instead we need to look within to find out what we can do to help alleviate some of the affects. We are the ones making black men an endangered species, by killing each other over money, power and respect. We sell drugs to our brothers and sisters, leaving them addicted to crack cocaine. We have numerous babies out of wedlock, signing our children up for the many dangers that come along with a single parent home. We leave our children to raise themselves, thinking that real parenting does not involve being an active parent.

My point is, yes, there are definitely systemic institutions and barriers that have, and continue to hold black people back from truly living a life of greatness, but there are so many things that we are doing that make our condition worse instead of better. There are things that at the bare minimum we can do the place ourselves in a better position. It’s a multifaceted problem with no quick solution. But the time is now…