Ebonics 3
This week's reading about race questioned the common idea of what 'race' is. Most people would think of race as a physical, concrete identity stemming from ancestry. Superficial qualities, such as skin color, dominate the common views of race. Fields, however, throws out the idea of race being a concrete entity, and instead says that race is purely ideological. It is something brought about by social issues and concerns, and is entirely socially and historically constructed as an ideology in a way that class is not. Because people really do concretely own or not own land and workplaces, class has 'objective' dimensions. Though not at all valid, the 'objective' dimension of race is what I said earlier...skin color. Moreover, race is constructed differently across time by people in the same social class and differently at the same time by people whose class positions differ. Though it is crucial for us to recognize and appreciate the vast differences across our different cultural heritages, these differences should not be addressed in a way that will separate everyone into 'white', 'black', 'asian', et cetera. This is the root of racism, the fact that we are all different based on which box we check on a questionnaire.
Ebonics is a very substantial means to separate blacks from quote-un-quote "mainstream society". I'm sure all of you have heard ebonics jokes, and most of us even find them rather amusing. It would be easy for an ignorant person to assume all black people speak in this separate 'language', generating yet another stereotype in this country of black versus white. I don't believe Fields would be a very big proponent of ebonics based on this very idea. As she thinks that race is socially-constructed, so are the 'inherent' differences between whites and blacks. I'm willing to bet that just like she said about race, she would also say that a language exclusive to those with dark skin is ''a notion that is profoundly - and in its very essence ideological'. On December 18, 1996, the Board of Education of Oakland, California, passed a resolution concerning "Ebonics". I will go through a few of the interesting "WHEREAS's" of this resolution, each with a comment on its particulars.... WHEREAS, the interests of the Oakland Unified School District in providing equal opportunities for all of its students dictate limited English proficient educational programs recognizing the English language acquisition and improvement skills of African-American students are as fundamental as is application of bilingual education principles for others whose primary languages are other than English; and No matter how I've tried to understand the logic of declaring Ebonics a language, I can't escape the view that the effort is demeaning to American children of African descent. It is one thing to "get down to it" with friends and with family members in the privacy of your own group and speak in the familial and folksy matter that allows you to identify with the cultural roots of a treasured historical past. It is quite another thing to try to elevate the folksy dialect to the level of a language because you think you are better able to reach and educate the children who use it or to justify getting federal money for doing it. **Genetically based? We all know that since our parents are Englis
Some common words found in the essay are:
Language Systems, Black English, , School District, Ebonics WHEREAS's, English Russian-speaking, Americans African, Minnesota Oakland, School Board, American English, african-american students, african language systems, african descent, language systems, african language, black english, teach english, english language, class people, makes difference, idea race,
Approximate Word count = 1408
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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