ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 13, 1997 TAG: 9701130141
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: OAKLAND, CALIF.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
An Oakland schools task force that proposed recognizing ebonics as a second language clarified its policy Sunday, dropping any suggestion that black English is ``genetically based.''
Instead, the policy now states that ebonics - a combination of the words ebony and phonics - is traceable to African languages that slaves brought to the United States.
``No matter how many times we explained that genetically based means `having its origins in,' it was taken to mean something else,'' said Oakland school Superintendent Carolyn Getridge.
The board also eliminated several references to ebonics being the predominant primary language of black students, although members said the policy's mission is unchanged.
The Oakland school board triggered national debate last month by unanimously approving a policy to ``recognize and understand'' ebonics in its curriculum, and recognizing black English as a legitimate language.
It also voted to train teachers to understand it so they can teach standard English to youngsters who come to school speaking mainly ebonics.
The seven-member board will vote again Wednesday, this time on the new wording, a change aimed at putting the controversy to rest.
District educators say standard English is a second language for some black students who make up 53 percent of its enrollment. They say recognizing black English is a way to reach out to students who feel their spoken language is being ignored.
The American Speech, Language and Hearing Association has classified black English as a social dialect. Its speakers, for example, don't conjugate the verb ``to be,'' saying instead, ``She be at the store.'' Speakers also use double and triple negatives, as in: ``He ain't got no money.''
Critics, including NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, said the recognition of black English as a legitimate language would only hurt black students.
U.S. Rep. Pete King, a New York Republican, has introduced a bill to bar federal money from school programs based on black English. And state lawmakers in South Carolina and Virginia have drafted bills that would prohibit teaching ebonics.
However, task force chairman Sylvester Hodges insisted the Oakland group is not backing down from its plan to use ebonics to teach standard English.
``We have not changed the intent of the resolution,'' Hodges said Sunday. ``We stand firm that we will not compromise the education of our children for the sake of politics.''
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