Thursday, October 19, 2006
And voila! A counter argument to the information I have already presented you...because a good education was never obtained without appropriate levels of dissent.
Ebonics is defective speech and a handicap for black children
Leon W. Todd, Jr.
Education, Winter 1997
The controversy over ebonics, a word derived from the combination of ebony and phonics, raises serious questions about the place of proper speech, dialogue, and discourse. It involves information economy where standard English determines one's career success and failure. Let us face it, ebonics is a fancy political cover for abnormal, defective, or dysfunctional speech. Students and their families who use these unfortunate speech patterns often are in need of a speech therapist to help treat their group reinforced speech pathology if they are to function effectively in the usual mainstream society.
Not a Legitimate African Language Some researchers are far too quick to suggest that the appropriate language tests used in our schools to detect faulty communication problems too often misdiagnose Black children who speak a Tiegitimate Afranized dialect. Unfortunately, some attempts to legitimize such poor language habits as being a culturally legitimate African or English language do more harm than good to students who need to recognize that their poor language habits learned on the streets, will simply not serve them very well in later life. Also, language habits often tend to be permanently disabling in the classroom if not corrected immediately.
Standard English Needed
American public education is based on standard English, and the commerce of the information society is based on standard English. For teachers to dupe AfricanAmerican youngsters into believing that their inappropriate speech can be expected to deliver a good career is to show disrespect and to mislead the child and an entire race of African-American people. Public schools are failing today largely because they have lost respect for standard English, and instead post respect and approval for street language in the name of culture or diversity.
Alternate Language Forms
Alternate language forms become disorders when a child can not recognize proper speech and when the dialect becomes a dysfunctional speech pattern. Some argue that these children with ebonics, who are victims of a poverty class or dysfunctional family language environment, are appropriately thought to have language disorders and often with learning disabilities. Such erroneous arguments spring largely from a grievous misinterpretation of such child speech problems. It is not so much a misinterpretation of the child's dialect that is the problem, but the inappropriate speech pattern that becomes an inhibition to learning.
Dysfunctional Ghetto Family
It matters little if the inappropriate speech pattern derives from poverty, rap music, hip hop culture, a dysfunctional ghetto family, or historical speech variations from Africa or the plantation, the problem still needs to be diagnosed as a major language disorder and/or a learning disability so the child can receive the help needed to correct the situation. Ebonics needs to be recognized early in the school experience as a language disorder, and the child needs to receive help early in the school experience to overcome the disability. Treating the problem as if it were simply a dialect that is to be tolerated will surely cripple the child's ability to learn effectively in the classroom, and making the child unfit for later career development in a post modern information society. Such children miss out not only in terms of career readiness development, but also in the development of language skills needed to socialize with the broader school population and make friends outside of their small ebonic related group.
Ebonies Instructor Certification
The real objective for ebonics, like Afrocentric education, is to immobilize and often to discredit the public school systems efforts to teach the standard English. This argument in support of ebonics quickly leads to a segregated school population involving "instructor certification," implying an urgent need for teachers certified to teach ebonics; as opposed to the standard English language. Indeed, it becomes one of finding teachers properly certificated to teach ebonics, and where no such teacher preparation is in evidence. In some instances the need for counselors properly certificated to deal with ebonics speaking children has been evidenced as well.
The Oakland School Ebonics Problem
The Oakland school district made a egregious error when it recognized ghetto talk as a legitimate English language alternative. The Oakland School District needs to learn how to teach proper English, not how to coddle inappropriate speech in the classroom. Public school speech embracing ebonics can lead to verbal segregation of students, and with ebonies speaking students ill prepared to complete in the career market for jobs in the future. The information economy is more color blind and speech conscious in selection than has been suspected, and no affirmative action program can compensate for sloppy ineffective speech.
Mapping Race or Ghetto Talk
The argument of whether or not a racially diverse society should tolerate such speech diversity is irrelevant. The interesting fallout of the ebonics controversy is that when race is mapped to speech and speech patterns, suddenly what is really incorrect, imperfect, and imprecise becomes correct, but only for a select few involved in the incorrect usage. This becomes a major force in playing the race game, and an ever ready Black community is ready and willing to support their own people. This rally around race only serves to lead to ghetto children less prepared to compete in the world of tomorrow.
American public education is based on standard English, and the commerce of the information society is based on standard English. For teachers to dupe AfricanAmerican youngsters into believing that their inappropriate speech can be expected to deliver a good career is to show disrespect and to mislead the child and an entire race of African-American people. Public schools are failing today largely because they have lost respect for standard English, and instead post respect and approval for street language in the name of culture or diversity.
Respect for Ebonics Child
The argument in some circles regarding the ebonics speaking child has been a need to respect each child and tolerate individual differences. Typically, it involves a poor Black child often from the ghetto that is involved, and pity for that individuals must be foremost is a prevailing argument. Actually, the truth is that not immediately correcting the child's substandard English is always disrespecting the child all the more. Whether it is a hillbilly child, and African American child, or other, respect for the child has little to do with tolerating or not tolerating incorrect English.
Native Americans
On another stage in our schools Native Americans have begun to war over whether the term "Kimosabics" could be used to close a friendship and partnering with the "murderous" white man. Those who prefer a more warlike posture have suggested the term "featheronics;" while those who want a more traditional approach suggest the term "powwowonics." Many indians feel that English is really a substandard foreign language, and should be replaced by an indigenous native American tongue.
Hispanic Community
On still another stage in our schools, and with rapidly growing numbers, especially in California, Texas, and Florida; argue for still another language. Cubans want cubanonics, Mexicans desire chicanonics, Puerto Ricans favor ricanonics, and Columbians suggest cocainonics. Each Latin group wants their own name to be associated with the non-standard dialect of bilingual Spanish proposed to be taught in the public schools because they know that along with the name accepted will go some control of the Federal dollar given to schools for such purposes. Each group, of course, is trying to equal the monies that they expect the Oakland schools to win for the teaching of ebonics. The federal government has suggested that Hispanics get their act together if they expect to receive any federal money, and have suggested that maybe "brownonics" could be used as a collective alternative with dignity. So far all four of the Brown groups have rejected any compromise and firmly insist on their own proposed handle with the full right to dictate the selected ebonic substitute for other Brown people.
The Malcolm X Middle School
As ebonics elicits debate across America Malcolm X (middle school, 2760 N. 1st Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) with its Afro-centered curriculum has spun extensive and sometimes wild disagreement between supporters and critics. At issue are a series of concerns including the school administration's relationship with faculty members, as well as the handling of fiscal affairs.
Todd Receives Oreo Cookies
During a recent school board meeting a Malcolm X supporter gave Todd a bag of Oreo cookies, bestowing him with the "Oreo Cookey of the Year" award. Todd reminded the presenter that he remembers well when he had to sit at the back of the bus, and drink from a separate fountain as a boy. One evening Todd's home was fire bombed. No one was hurt, but the bombing left behind a $1,000 in property damage.
Afro-American History
Todd insisted that he was strongly in favor of Black children learning the history about their past, and with full inclusion of their culture. In addition, Todd insisted he wanted Black children to learn about American history. He reminded the critics of the life and contributions of Mahatma Ghandi's effect on Martin Luther King Jr., and how King embraced the passive philosophy for accomplishing change. Afrocentrism fails to deal with the ancestral home of many Black Americans in West Africa and the Congo Basin. Todd insisted Afrocentrism is a pseudo science, and not history, and too often it includes historical fallacies, racism and racial isolation that school must not teach our children.
Kemet and Auser Auset Society
Todd insists that the Malcolm X school personnel were involved in the Kemet and Auser Auset Society which advocated polygamy and the worship of ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. He suggested that Malcolm X focus on a curriculum that prepares students to pass college entrance exams and leads to higher education. Often the Black consultants now wear special dress are only after the tax dollar; not trying to prepare Black children to pass entrance exams to enter college and to prepare for success in life.
Blacks Have Paranormal Power
Too often Afrocentric history includes the teachings of Asa Hillard of Georgia State University who insists that Black Egyptians due to the melanin in their skin were gifted with paranormal power, extra sensory perception. This, of course, means they could read the mind of others, and make objects simply obey their will. He insists that Egyptians soared the skies over the Nile river on expeditions and for recreation. Todd insists there is no real documentation for such stories, and that they should be eliminated from history.