FT>  The other night Nightline had a PhD on who made the point that the
FT>  linguistics academicians differ amongst themselves as to what is a
FT>  "language" and what is a "dialect".  ...the "last word" on that,
FT>  according to my understanding of the gentleman, was that it was
FT>  often a political decision.  ...it'd be a good time for me to ask
FT>  the referee for an amnesty period before commenting further since
FT>  she's decided that my first ammendment rights don't extend to
FT>  cover discussion of political maters here. :(
Frank,
As you well know, first amendment "rights" do not give you the "right"
to discuss off-topic concerns in this forum.
Certainly, as a forum dedicated to Educators and concerns of interest
to them, the current issue of Ebonics is on-topic in this forum. Of
course, as it has to do with school boards and federal funding, it is
not possible to completely divorce politics from a discussion of this
issue.
Political remarks which are directly tied to the issue of Ebonics, and
are not intended to promote or belittle certain political views or
personalities, are appropriate. Using the issue of Ebonics as a starting
point and then digressing or going off on a political tangent is not
acceptable.
Sheila King
Moderator, EDUCATOR
1:218/804
cking@cyberg8t.com
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