Re: Ebonics

[Linda Castellani <castle -at- CRL -dot- COM>]

        Doug, whoever you are -

        I live in Oakland, whose school board has taken this very unusual
step, and I have to object to your characterizing it as

> >some left-wingers in California want to recognize
> >what many right-wingers call "bad English" as
> >an official language or dialect, called Ebonics.

        This is not a liberal versus conservative issue, I guarantee you,
and I strongly resent your characterizing it as such.  It's clear to me
that in your view, if it happened in California it was initiated by
"left-wingers."  Please keep in mind that this is an extremely
controversial issue even here in Oakland, and that it was a schoolboard
initiated action.  If you plan to discuss this issue, intelligently, on
the Internet, I'm sure you prefer to be correctly informed, rather than
knee-jerk in your response.

> >Since Ebonics seems to be spoken primarily
> >by middle-to-lower class Blacks, the stir has
> >taken a partially-racial bent.
> >
        "Partially-racial?"  Please.  This is *entirely* racial.  Under
the circumstances, which are: classifying the dialect spoken by African
Americans, who are, by definition, black, what else could it be?

        Let's keep this issue on topic, at least nominally, by
focussing the discussion on the impact on language, and leave race and
politics out of it, shall we?

 > >Does this notion, Ebonics, seem legitimate
> >to you guys?  Since we're all TechCommies,
> >I think we'd have a unique viewpoint on this.
> >
> >Think they'll ever advertise for Tech Writers
> >fluent in Ebonics?  LOL
> >

        P.S.  You may refer to yourself as a "TechCommie" but I wouldn't
dream of referring to myself that way.  Please tar yourself with your own
brush and leave me out of it.