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The Justice Department Needs Ebonics Translators for DEA
August 24, 2010 03:52 PM EDT
© 2010 by Tamika Williams
2 people recommend this Tags: news, ebonics translators dea, ebonics, standard english, african american english
The Justice Department is looking for Ebonics translators for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Investigators are having trouble understanding wiretaps and need experts in the field of African American English to help make out what’s being said during operations. They are looking for about nine linguists to serve in the Southeast region that includes Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans and the Caribbean.
The term Ebonics has been fodder for jokes since it came about in the 90s when a school district in California proposed to use it to help teach black children. Now the word itself is pretty much a big joke. This is evident by the many web sites already out there that are dedicated to translating ridiculously stereotypical speech. However, in the case of the DEA, it seems to be no laughing matter. Drug dealers are able to evade the police by using codes and language the police can’t understand. Therefore, the police had better find a way to understand it if they are going to do their jobs effectively.
This announcement from the DEA just brings up the whole Ebonics argument again. There are those out there who call African American English just a lazy, ignorant substandard form of English. They say black people just need to learn how to speak the language correctly. They say the Justice Department, school system and Americans in general shouldn’t lower standards to meet the demands of lazy, uneducated black people.
We must remember, however, that there are many dialects and forms of English. Almost no one actually speaks "proper English." The language changes from one region to another, from one city to another, sometimes from one neighborhood to another. Someone form Appalachia may have trouble understanding someone from the Jersey Shore. But the way a person speaks does not reflect his or her intelligence. To the contrary, if a person is communicating effectively with those he or she wants to reach, he or she is quite capable and adept. And if he or she is able to elude federal investigators in the process, that person is quite cunning.
It is true that all people in America should learn to speak English correctly if they want to succeed in the mainstream culture. However, the problem is that many of the people in question here have completely given up hope of succeeding in mainstream American culture. Perhaps if our school system would figure out how to teach boys and girls from the towns of Appalachia, the hoods and barrios of Miami and the parishes of New Orleans how to speak Standard English, these boys and girls wouldn’t end up dealing drugs and committing crimes to succeed in the American subculture. Perhaps instead we would find that these boys and girls have the intelligence and ability do great things in our nation.
August 24, 2010 03:52 PM EDT
© 2010 by Tamika Williams
2 people recommend this Tags: news, ebonics translators dea, ebonics, standard english, african american english
The Justice Department is looking for Ebonics translators for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Investigators are having trouble understanding wiretaps and need experts in the field of African American English to help make out what’s being said during operations. They are looking for about nine linguists to serve in the Southeast region that includes Atlanta, Miami, New Orleans and the Caribbean.
The term Ebonics has been fodder for jokes since it came about in the 90s when a school district in California proposed to use it to help teach black children. Now the word itself is pretty much a big joke. This is evident by the many web sites already out there that are dedicated to translating ridiculously stereotypical speech. However, in the case of the DEA, it seems to be no laughing matter. Drug dealers are able to evade the police by using codes and language the police can’t understand. Therefore, the police had better find a way to understand it if they are going to do their jobs effectively.
This announcement from the DEA just brings up the whole Ebonics argument again. There are those out there who call African American English just a lazy, ignorant substandard form of English. They say black people just need to learn how to speak the language correctly. They say the Justice Department, school system and Americans in general shouldn’t lower standards to meet the demands of lazy, uneducated black people.
We must remember, however, that there are many dialects and forms of English. Almost no one actually speaks "proper English." The language changes from one region to another, from one city to another, sometimes from one neighborhood to another. Someone form Appalachia may have trouble understanding someone from the Jersey Shore. But the way a person speaks does not reflect his or her intelligence. To the contrary, if a person is communicating effectively with those he or she wants to reach, he or she is quite capable and adept. And if he or she is able to elude federal investigators in the process, that person is quite cunning.
It is true that all people in America should learn to speak English correctly if they want to succeed in the mainstream culture. However, the problem is that many of the people in question here have completely given up hope of succeeding in mainstream American culture. Perhaps if our school system would figure out how to teach boys and girls from the towns of Appalachia, the hoods and barrios of Miami and the parishes of New Orleans how to speak Standard English, these boys and girls wouldn’t end up dealing drugs and committing crimes to succeed in the American subculture. Perhaps instead we would find that these boys and girls have the intelligence and ability do great things in our nation.
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