NP Ebonics ( was Pynchon and Dialect ( was NP Ebonics (was It ain't only Rock & Roll, it's Jazz too)))

[davemarc]

From: David Morris <fqmorris at yahoo.com>
>
> I guess you are reacting to my using the term "ghetto-talk."  It's no
different
> than the term "home language," and it was meant to be descriptive, not
> demeaning.   I don't think I ever argued that a teacher should denigrate a
> student, but that teaching SE is crucial for freeing a ghetto youth from
the
> ghetto.  Nobody in the ghetto idalizes the ghetto.  They do form "clubs"
by way
> of their lingo, but given the choice they'd eagerly quit that club for
> financial success.
>
> Have you ever heard of the mega-rich rapper Masta.P? (
> http://www.mastap.istcool.de/ )  He grew up in one of the projects
(horrible
> places - people are shot nearly every day in one of them - "gunshot wound"
it
> says in their obits)  here in New Orleans.  He's one of the few to get out
of
> the ghetto with out having to speak SE.  As soon as he made his millions
he
> moved into a mansion in a "gated community" surrounded by the upper clas
whites
> who fled the City to avoid blacks from the ghetto.  I love it.
>
The only thing in the above that seems to address the subject is "I don't
think I ever argued that a teacher should denigrate a student, but that
teaching SE is crucial for freeing a ghetto youth from the ghetto."

I still get the impression that David thinks that the so-called Ebonics
policy involves teaching Ebonics while not teaching standard English.  If
that's what he thinks, he's mistaken.  It involves accepting Ebonics while
teaching standard English.  Linguists and educators clearly see the
advantages of good training in standard English.  In fact, many of them are
frustrated at how they have been perceived as feeling otherwise.

d.