From Diverse Online

Current News
Perspectives: Houston, We Have a Problem Over the "Ghetto Handbook"
By Dr. Pamela D. Reed
Oct 9, 2007, 20:20

 

Dr. Pamela D. Reed is a diversity consultant and assistant professor of
English and African-American literature at Virginia State University.

Not since the Oakland, Calif. School Board voted in 1996 to recognize
Ebonics as a language to be factored into its speakers' English classes
- sparking a national debate - has there been so much focus on
African-American speech patterns. Fast forward to 2007, and we now have
the appalling case of the Houston Independent School District (HISD)
police officer who, for whatever reason, saw fit to produce and
distribute the Ghetto Handbook: Ebonics 101 to fellow school district
officers. From the debasing cover illustration of two Black men, one
brandishing a gun, to the offensive subtitle "Wacha dun did now?" -
including the outrageous poem thrown into the mix - this document is
rife with racist and offensive African-American stereotypes.

The good news here is that this is a rare and profound teaching moment,
and it should be treated as such. It is clear that ignorance abounds in
this country with regard to African-American language, and this
unfortunate incident speaks to the need for greater education and
understanding in this area. To begin with, it must be made clear that
Ebonics and slang are not one and the same. Words like "hoodrat,"
"gank," "bling," and much of the list in the "Handbook" are not Ebonics,
but slang words promulgated in urban America and in some hip hop songs
and music videos.

 

American Ebonics is a contact language that resulted from the mingling
of non-English-speaking, displaced and enslaved Africans with English
speakers. Hence, its lexicon is English, but many of its grammatical
structures and its syntax, according to some linguists, closely resemble
those found in West African languages. This is not unlike the practice
of African-descended persons melding traditional African religions,
whose practice were forbidden, with Catholicism, creating the widely
practiced Santeria.

 

At any rate, Ebonics is the primary language spoken by many
African-Americans, particularly those lacking formal schooling. Still,
there are even countless middle class African-Americans (this writer
included) who are fully capable of speaking formal English - and who do
so on a regular basis except on those occasions, in relaxed, informal
settings among family and/or friends, when Ebonics is sometimes spoken.
This phenomenon, which is almost second-nature, is called
code-switching, and it is very common among people who speak more than
one language. It is also worth noting that Ebonics is a graduate level
course offered, and completed by this writer, in the doctoral
African-American Studies program at Temple University. Of course, there
is an ongoing debate about whether Ebonics is an actual language, or
just a dialect; however, that is a matter that will not be resolved
here, and is best left to the socio-linguistic community.

 

What is not disputed, though, is the fact that the vast majority of
African-Americans, to varying degrees, speak in a tongue that is all
their own - and they should not be demonized or ridiculed because of
this. After all, lest we forget, African-Americans are the only
immigrants in this country who were forcibly stripped of their mother
tongue. Thus, many view this retention of African language as an amazing
testament to the resilience of the African-American spirit, and as a
form of resistance to outright deculturation.

 

Moreover, it is important to realize that language is an integral part
of the cultural mosaic and, as such, must always be factored into the
study of the African-American experience - and in diversity training, at
HISD and in the teaching of African-American children. This is what the
Oakland School Board had in mind before the media took hold of the story
and advanced the ludicrous and spurious idea that they were planning to
teach Ebonics to the students, when they really intended to use Ebonics
as a bridge in teaching and learning formal English, much like in
bilingual education programs.

 

When all is said and done, HISD School Board member Larry Marshall was
right in pointing out that "these are very racially sensitive times."
This is the period of the Jena Six, when excessive criminal charges
against six young African-American young men for a school fight that was
sparked because Black students dared sit under the "White tree" in Jena,
La. prompted thousands to converge on the small in an historic march
reminiscent of those of the Civil Rights Movement. This is a period when
the Hurricane Katrina aftermath is still fresh in the minds of many. In
these times, the HISD must move swiftly to diffuse this potentially
long-term problem.

 

Finally, diversity training is a wonderful tool, but it must not be
trivialized. The bottom line is that such racism and poor judgment
cannot be tolerated in America or on the HISD Police force, whose
officers are sworn to protect and serve the students - most of whom are
brown and black - in addition to the faculty and staff of the school
district. This is a test that HISD simply cannot afford to fail. And the
nation is watching.

 

Dr. Pamela D. Reed is a diversity consultant and assistant professor of
English and African-American literature at Virginia State University.

 

There are currently 5 comments
<http://diversepodium.com/?p=363#comments> on this story. 
Click here <http://diversepodium.com/?p=363#respond>  to post a comment 



(c) Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com

 

We sometimes have problems with our server rejecting incoming email. If
your reply to this email is returned to you, PLEASE call me at the
number below.   Apologies...We are working on it. Sincerely,

 

Rev. Dr. E-K. Daufin, Professor

Department of Communications

Alabama State University

915 South Jackson St.

Montgomery, AL 36101-0271

334.229.6885

Thank you in advance for your 

Scholarly & Creative Activity Referrals - 

Lectures, Performances, Workshops, Consultation Related Info: 
http://home.earthlink.net/~ekdaufin/
<http://home.earthlink.net/~ekdaufin/>