Proposition 227 (was Re: NP Ebonics)

[David Gentle]

> No offense, Jbor. I'm right with you on the Ebonics debate.  It's just the
> term  "African-American." It's so stiff, so PC.  And sometimes its usage is
> absurd.
> I wish it were just a simple black or white again. Or black AND white,
> whatever the case may be : )
"Black" and "White" are pretty stupid words for describing a whole range of pigments from
pinky-white through to ebony-brown. In fact all words are similarly stupid if you take thetime to
really think about where the derivation comes from. But language is a process of abstraction. As
long as we both understand what "African-American" means it doesn't matter where the term comes
from. Of course it could be that we have different definitions of it. I don't tend to call English
people who have brown skin "African American" because it /would/ be stupid unless they actually have
some American heritage.

David Gentle