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 suraya krishana parikh on -
i think ebonics has much to do w/ socio economic status..and that is w/any group of people dialects change alot with the community you are in...in the inner poorer cities, you will have a higher majority of people that use alot of ebonics..I have been interviewed people in the USA for xfer jobs to TNT and was amazed at how much ebonics was used by some of the prospects event hough many where degreed/educated ..but i had to realize that alot of times a person can leave a certain environment and it may and/or may not change the way they communicate. It dosent mean someone is dumb and/or less deserving of a position but unfortunately appearance matters in the corporate sector and it is based upon a CERTAIN standard that was set by white america. Heck i couldnt get a job when i had a gold tooth in my mouth in the usa, when in tnt, it is standard and not frowned upon.. if i spoke patwa all day i probably wouldnt get a job in USA because i would be seen as not educated. it sucks but thus is life. I personally cant be with someone that can speak properly so that anyone can understand. i have my accent but i can tone down on the patois if need be.There are times when its acceptable and at a job its not.
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Permalink Reply by Derrick on -
@ Ady,
I used to say the same thing too, around the time I graduated from college, "White folks speak slang too, but no one is gonna label it Caucasonics.
Ady said:"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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Permalink Reply by Ady on -
Derrick said:@ Ady,
I used to say the same thing too, around the time I graduated from college, "White folks speak slang too, but no one is gonna label it Caucasonics.
Exactly, Derrick.
However, the laughable thing about all this is that there are so many black people in the US (ebonics being a US thing) quick to embrace it, as evidenced by the comments I've seen in YouTube videos on the subject. I had one guy trying to link "ebonics" to African languages, which is silly; how can you link US slang to one of the many languages spoken throughout an entire continent?
I think some black people need to understand that it's perfectly OK to speak English properly, and doing so doesn't make one "white", so there is no need to elevate some bastardised slang and make it out to be more than it is.
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