THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 27, 1997 TAG: 9701250005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 44 lines
The recent decision by the Oakland, Calif., School Board to teach Ebonics, or black English in its public schools is at best misguided, and at worst a deliberate attempt to resegregate our American society by keeping blacks mired in poverty and self-defeating behaviors.
Teaching Ebonics sends the message that one can gain self-esteem by being proud of dysfunctional behavior and social mores that are nonconformist and inappropriate with the expected and necessary levels of competence and education it takes to succeed in our society. Ebonics is the wedge that will drive black and white America further apart, for it will fool our young people into thinking that the language of the street, the prison and the ghetto will well serve someone who is upwardly mobile.
Validation of Ebonics by the public school system means devaluing and denigrating the experience of every immigrant who ever came to these shores in the hope of making a better life. The majority of these immigrants felt their native language was not inferior to American English. However, they recognized the need to learn proper English so they could make a place for themselves in the society and economy of this great nation.
William Raspberry, in the Jan. 4 Perspectives, writes: ``What gets lost in all the hoopla (about Ebonics) is the fact that Oakland's black children - like inner-city children across America - are not doing very well in school and, according to recent reports, they are slipping further behind. We need to do whatever we can to reverse that trend. If that means smaller classes, special teachers and the money to pay for them, by all means let's demand it - including a reasonable share from the federal government. . . .''
Mr. Raspberry has an excellent idea. Let's remember that few employers are interested in a job candidate who speaks and writes Ebonics; jobs are won by those who speak and write good English.
The reality is that the ticket out of poverty and crime is education, self-motivation, solid job skills and some munificent philanthropy by the rest of us. Teaching a child something that will not help him find success in the general community is an insult and disservice to every citizen of America.
LAWRENCE ARTHUR FORMAN
Rabbi
Ohef Sholom Temple
Norfolk, Jan. 13, 1997