is "ebonics" holding us back from success??
okay, we all know someone who does it...."wha'choo finna do?, i aint got no mo', she be doing dat all da time",etc...i'm talking about ebonics.ebonics is this "broken english" spoken by the majority of blacks. every race and culture has those that do it to some extent,but black people are the main ones who demonstrate this 'lingo'.
i understamd that we are taught to speak this way as kids due to hearing it all around us in our families,our friends,and even at school.!! however,we need to start teaching our kids to speak proper english,as it will have a great bearing on their ability to gain employment when they are older.
i think 'ebonics" is acceptable if you're hanging out with friends or just kicking back and being silly,but in the real world i do believe that speaking this way is a great hinderance for those who wish to excel in life. unfortunately,people do tend to stereotype people who speak this way. im not saying that it's right,im just saying that it's reality. you'd think people would have enough sense not to speak this way in front of potential employers and people in high places,but some actually do it anyway!! ...then they wonder what happened,why they didnt get the job. everyone has a right to speak the way that they feel. i'm of the opinion that this "ebonics" is not good and is indeed holding us back.does anyone else feel the same?
i understamd that we are taught to speak this way as kids due to hearing it all around us in our families,our friends,and even at school.!! however,we need to start teaching our kids to speak proper english,as it will have a great bearing on their ability to gain employment when they are older.
i think 'ebonics" is acceptable if you're hanging out with friends or just kicking back and being silly,but in the real world i do believe that speaking this way is a great hinderance for those who wish to excel in life. unfortunately,people do tend to stereotype people who speak this way. im not saying that it's right,im just saying that it's reality. you'd think people would have enough sense not to speak this way in front of potential employers and people in high places,but some actually do it anyway!! ...then they wonder what happened,why they didnt get the job. everyone has a right to speak the way that they feel. i'm of the opinion that this "ebonics" is not good and is indeed holding us back.does anyone else feel the same?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ady on -
The majority of black people speak ebonics? Are you quite sure about that!? :S
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Permalink Reply by afrodite on -
from what i've seen and known in my years,yes. i don't know how old you are or where you're from(i viewed your profile but forget where you reside) but in the state of florida where im from almost everyone who's black speaks this way. i see this daily,even on television. i would never be so naive as to think that ALL blacks speak this way.i will hold to what i said earlirer though,MOST do. i'm sorry if my opinion is offensive to you in any way. god knows my intent is not to insult you.i'm just very disturbed by the fact that a lot of our young children speak this way and have no idea that it's not gonna be acceptable in the future where employment is concerned. please dont take offense. there's no harm intended here. thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Ady on
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I don't know why you think I'd be personally offended that you believe most black people speak ebonics. What you have to realise though is that the US is not the world. There are black people all over the world (Africa, Caribbean, Europe etc) that do not speak that way (again, it's an American thing).
I'm from the UK, BTW. :)
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Permalink Reply by Sue-Ellen Chohan-Thompson on -
Speaking from a personal perspective of anyone all over this world. We come to conclusions based on what we personally experinace, this is not a fault but we all create assumptions of the whole world depending on what we experinace. It's not anyone ones fault, but we have to realise it is simply a open door for us to educate one another better.
So I typed in ebomics into google. though I knew it was American slang and this is what I got.
"Ebonics - a nonstandard form of American English characteristically spoken by African Americans in the United States"
What's key about the above definition it is American English. So as Ady stated it's something we here in the UK assosicate with the Americans, in the same way respect that patois is assosictaed with the Carribean.
However I can see you feeding into a greater issue regarding this subject and I completely understand where your coming from.
You mentioned about youts speaking ebonics and not realising that it will not be useful where employment is concerned. We have slang etc here and though it might be street and urban to chat that way, (damn I must be getting old), and it's not the words themselves, it's the way these youts say the words and talk.
I figure it's a age thing over here, I used to chat like the rest of them, but now it's not so much. I think when you grown up you work in a environment that demands you speak more assertivy and because you spend a lot of hours in your work environment it eventually influences your personal life. However this is a prspective from my experinaces, maybe someone could show us something different.
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Permalink Reply by Sue-Ellen Chohan-Thompson on
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A likkle bit of jokes!!!! lol
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Permalink Reply by Ady on
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What I don't get about this whole ebonics thing is that, for the most part it's little more than slang, or at the very most, a dialect. That being the case, why is it treated as if it's an entirely separate language? Is America so divided that it has to even segregate dialects in terms of colour!?
Over here, we have many regional dialects, but no-one would claim any to be an off-shoot of English. I personally think the entire concept of ebonics is patronising in the extreme.
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Permalink Reply by ricky on -
Language never acts as obstacle in development.
People should communicate in language they feel more comfortable.
More fomalization of cultural aspects like language would lead 2 more degradation of human relationships.
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Permalink Reply by afrodite on
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obviously i've offended you.i apologize for that,seriously. i guess it is a matter of where you're from. in the united states it is "the norm" to hear black people speaking in this 'dialect', as you call it. i never said it was necassarily a bad thing,just that it wouldn't be acceptable when seeking employment. i will be careful to say "most blacks in the united states" from now on. thanks for clearing that up for me.
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Permalink Reply by afrodite on
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maybe im reading you wrong,but i thought i sensed a little resentment in your previous statement. i'm glad you're not offended because my intent was not to offend ANYONE. i'm just glad that you did respond.i now know that this is just an "american thing",as you say. wow!! i learn something new everyday.
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Permalink Reply by afrodite on
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i hear ya, and i agree with just about everything you've said,except the part about texting being considered as 'ebonics'. yes, this also involves a 'breaking down' of whole words,but this is where the similarities between texting and 'ebonics', end.
'ebonics' can be seen as an dialect,as was suggested earlier by another poster. texting is simply shortening a word,a form of abbreviation,if you will,in order to make sending a message faster.you only have so much room when texting.
so you see,though some may view the 2 as being similar in concept,they are two very different things. i do agree with most of what you said,though. it was a good post.
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Permalink Reply by Ady on
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"White people have a form of dialect, but they do not have a name for it. Blacks do not do anything different than white ppl, but everything is always in the spotlight when you are colored! Media and TV is always misportraying black ppl."
Precisely my point. Slang is not something exclusive to black people alone. The emphasis on ebonics, I feel is to perpetuate the myth that all black people are ignorant and backward. Every little thing black people do is analysed under a microscope, blown out of proportion and used to stereotype or generalise us in a negative manner. Everything.
In the UK, we don't have ebonics, but "street slang" does exist, as does patois, which is derived from the caribbean, and as you say, educated people known how to turn slang on and off. Again, this has nothing to do with race either, it's about upbringing.
Don't some white Americans talk using "surfer dude" slang? What about the way ignorant southern rednecks speak? I see no-one trying to class this as a separate language. Maybe we should start calling that way of speaking "Ivonics".
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