Anybody Remember Ebonics?

I remember Ebonics extremely well. For those of you who don't know, Ebonics was a movement in the early-to-mid 90s that encouraged African Americans to use their "native language," i.e. the language of rap and "the street." It was briefly studied in universities, and some school curriculums were changed to reflect the non-standard use of English in the name of freedom or something like that. I was teaching at a historically black college at the time, and we had many discussions about Ebonics. Some of my students, who already spoke this way, championed their right of refusal to use proper grammar, syntax or any other facet of the language. A few faculty members thought it was a decent idea, but most were horrified (and I was the only white male at the school at the time). Why? Because language is about MAKING YOURSELF UNDERSTOOD.

As someone who grew up in the south, I remember both blacks and whites who butchered the language on a regular basis. They were all very difficult to understand, and they didn't get very far in life. Communication is one of the most important gifts we have as humans; we are able to make ourselves understood and share ideas and dreams and information. I believed then, as I believe now, that deliberately teaching to a faddish proto-language that very few people speak and that has no relation to communicating with others is a mistake. Yes, it might have been empowering for a while, but if I'm right, Ebonics died because nobody had any idea what these people were saying.

It's not a racial thing, at its core; it's a social thing. Some people are trying very hard to make the over-abbreviated, barely coherent mess that constitutes text messaging and twittering an "official language." I've had students who use net abbreviations (and even smileys!) in their papers. The honestly think that's acceptable language when you're trying to communicate with a broader segment of society. I'm hardly a conservative (for the record, since I get asked, I'm best described as a left-leaning Libertarian who sometimes thinks anarchy might not be a bad idea), but I do believe in proper English. Our teachers should be skilled in using the language (including writing, of course), and they should convey a love for our native language to their students. It's not about tradition; it's about communication. Our children should be prepared for the world they're going to go into, and a large part of that preparation is being able to present themselves intelligently in both spoken and written language. I read letters to my local newspaper online that are barely intelligible, and these are the people who ask why kids today don't get "the great educashun they done got."

Ignorance is never an excuse; it's sad, and it's preventable. I have a quote I attribute to myself, because I can't find anybody who's said it (please let me know if I'm stealing): "The minute you claim you know everything you need to know is the moment in which you know nothing." It's truly sad to me that today's kids are more concerned with choosing the right verb tense on a standardized test multiple-guess question than in writing an effective, logical paragraph. I see those kids every semester, and they struggle, not because they don't have writers in them, but because they have been taught to fill in little circles with number two pencils instead of USE the language. You don't learn to throw a baseball by taking a test on the way a baseball is made; you don't learn to cook by reading a cookbook. You don't learn to play a musical instrument by listening to music (and don't get me started on Guitar Hero). You learn these things by doing them, over and over again until you get them right. Writing is the same way. A grammar worksheet doesn't teach you how to write a grammatically correct sentence; at best, it shows you what to look for. But in my experience, very few students make that connection.

Speaking of movements, there was/is a movement in kindergartens called "Whole Language." It involves/d (among other things) letting the children write stories on big sheets of paper using whatever they want – some scribble, some draw pictures, some just sort of do whatever…but what they "write" is their story. When prompted, most children will "read" the same story virtually verbatim every single time. They are, for all intents and purposes, reading. The idea is to get them ready for the mental operation of writing, of creating, before they're ready to form letters and words and sentences. Then they can build upon that foundation by learning those very things, including (yes, critics…you're WRONG) phonics. The "Whole Language" classrooms I've observed were fascinating; the kids were so into their own little "writing styles," and they were exercising their creativity in a variety of ways. But as I think I've said before, creativity is a dirty word in today's America. We don't want our children to be "creative"; we want them to "practical." Look at any wealthy or famous person and you'll see somebody who did something creative that paid off. Nobody wins by being "practical." That just makes us sheep. We should be encouraged to be creative within reason, within the rules that have been set forth for us, and we should look for ways to bend those rules. Bend them, not break them…Ebonics, and other "movements" like it, sought to change the rules by ignoring them. The only way to change the system is from within, and if we encourage our children to be creative and think critically and question the world around them rather than letting others do their thinking for them, they'll be successful. I believe that passionately.