Bad Jokes & Ebonics--Long contemplation

[Bill Burns]

Henry writes:

>
>No, Joe. You'r no more a racist than I am.
>

I think HM's statement here pretty much gets right to the crux of the 
matter for me. 

When I first read Gary's post (and I'm not picking on you, Gary, if you're 
still there. Please don't stop posting), I thought, "Well, it's not all that 
funny, but it's not what I'd consider inflammatory."

Of course, what I consider offensive isn't really the point. When Bonnie 
responded, I rethought my position. Does this unfairly characterize a group 
or class of people? Yeah, it does at that. It points out the disparity between 
what is "standard" or accepted (read expected) and what isn't and marginalizes 
a group that doesn't fall into the "standard" class. (In retrospect, in a
course 
on comedy I described in disparity as a defining feature of comedy when I 
first started grad school.) 

I've studied language and linguistics for a while, and I'm aware of the
political 
and social issues involved wth standard dialects. When the issue of Ebonics
first 
arose, I was amazed at the misinformation about dialects that abounded (as I
still 
am). I have attempted to debunk these misperceptions, but prejudice often 
proliferates in the face of reason and fact.

This last sentence brings me to my point.

I have always been taught (explicitly) that a person's color, sex, or religion 
has no bearing on his/her intelligence, worth, moral stature, or personality 
(sorry, my parents weren't very progressive, but I picked up the rest on my
own). 
Consciously, I hold to these beliefs steadfastly. In fact, as an adolescent, I 
went to extremes (identifying to the point of mimicry). Perhaps it was out of a 
sense of guilt (male/white/Catholic/straight). Perhaps it was a desire to
rebel. That 
doesn't matter. 

So I've had friends from many cultures and from many backgrounds. How much more 
influence does my experience have over me than the experience that is handed
to me, 
day after day, over the airwaves? How different, in fact, is my direct
experience 
from the mediated experience I receive every day when I read a newspaper or
switch on
the local news?  I grew up believing in equality and disavowing prejudice,
but sometime--sometimes...I catch a small piece of misinformation trying to
embed itself 
in my mental/social/cultural constructs. It frightens me. 

So I'm aware of how insidious bias can be. Hopefully, my filters catch it
when it 
tries to strain through. Denying it's there, however, is the least effective
means 
of finding it and weeding it out.

When I try to explain the distinction between Ebonics and standard English for 
folks who don't have a few years of linguistics under their belts, I try to
keep 
that disparity in mind. (The same goes for when I try to explain the
linguistic and philosophical differences between Foucault, Derrida, and
Lacan to my father--a 
psychiatrist with 16 years of academic training and over 30 years of experience 
under his belt). 

Sometimes, foax don't realize the underlying influences of their actions or
thoughts. 
Soundly blasting those foax for offending (or crossing a designated line)
DOES NOT 
promote the correct message. Instead of automatically launching into
tirades, we might 
be more instrumental in promoting progressive thought if we led the
opposition to the 
logical end of their reasoning than if we forced a confrontation. Then
again, sometimes confrontaion is necessary. Let's make sure we know when to
make the distinction.

That's all I've got to say. 

[sadly pulling on his asbestos undergarments...]


--
*Bill Burns           wdburns at micron.net*
*---------------------------------------*
* Your advertisement could appear here! *