re Re: SLSL language

[Abdiel OAbdiel]

--- Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 2003-03-18 at 09:18, Abdiel OAbdiel wrote:
> 
> > 
> > That does seem to be one of his points. He's
> wrong. 
> > Ebonics is the same language in Chicago and LA and
> > Oakland and NYC and from neighborhood to
> neighborhood
> > and everyplace it is spoken.  
> 
> 
> Yes, it's all English and all English speakers
> understand it.
> 
> P.

Yes! There is mutual understanding between Blacks and
Whites in America. The idea that Ebonics speakers in
NYC can't understand Ebonics speakers in Oakland is
absurd. Again, there is mutual comprehension between
Blacks and Whites in America. However, there are also
areas of significant linguistic differentiation
between the two speech communities, which can lead to
a lack of understanding and confusion, and can
contribute to the conceptualization of Black English
as a language. 


The Equal Education Opportunity Act initiated by Nixon
and passed by Congress at the height of the
anti-busing crusade was an attempt to reconcile two
forces in America. On the one side was White racism
and fear (what Pynchon presents in his short story
"The Secret Integration") and on the other side was
Black aspiration--Black Power & Civil Rights. EEOA
shifted the policy emphasis from desegregation to
"quality education." What we got was separate and
savage inequality. It was a racist reply to the fear
of the PTA. It was the Princess Telephone call to the
Nixon Administration that got EEOA passed.  

But a little secret was in that Act. 

1703(f)

The courts did not settle the "it's a
dialect/language" question. 






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