BM> Frank Topping On (29 Dec 96) was overheard to say to Matt Smith
 FT> highly dedicated teachers trying to improve *their* communication for
 FT> results we all believe in.
 BM>  ... what would those results be in this case Frank?  Further expanding
 BM>  the gap in the name of ethnic identity? 
Nothing less than absolute excellence in academic pursuit and complete 
mastery of the American bastardization of the english language of course.
 BM>  Perhaps you should speak
 BM>  with educators in traditionally Black universities to get a real feel
 BM>  for what those folks think about street dialect and standard English.
Would you insinuate that I believe they are proud of it?
I might, however, remind them further of the origins -- no one has made 
much mention of the "contribution" of Southern plantation owners speaking 
with wads of tobacco in their mouths.  If you ask me the tobacco states 
should shoulder the whole financial burden of improving the linguistic 
skills of Black American inner-city youth.
 BM>  You are correct in saying it's a political issue - this is not,
 BM>  however, an election year so the odds of getting fed bucks to support
 BM>  this bit of madness are very slim.
...like I said above; put the burden where it belongs: the "Southern 
Gentlemen" who denied them education in the first place.
 BM> ... Those who follow like sheep are bound to get fleeced.
...they did and were.
 BM> --- PPoint 2.02
...I don't suppose the better educators of Virginia have wasted much 
time over the years espousing that studying a foreign language is a way 
to achieve the fullest mastery of our own language.  ...slow down, we're 
still not talking about *teaching* Ebonics, rather, more like treating 
english as deserving of ESL specialization for this group in particular.
...kinda like the actor in the AT&T commercials; you leave me totally 
dumbfounded. ...why is this so hard to understand?  Indigenous people 
from around the world (primative hunter/gatherers) have long understood 
that successful hunting often relies on disguising oneself as a member 
of the sought after prey -- using familiar "calls" in the "language" 
of the species to "get close" for ...(today, we like to think it's for 
the purposes of study or photography).
American lore has always included scenerios where we're afraid of 
"Martians" because of imagined looks and mannerisms different from 
ours.  We even have "catch prases" imploring that: "You catch more flies 
with honey than...".   ...can't imagine endearing yourself to the target 
group with a few familiar mannerisms and speech patterns, eh?  Ok.
That's *fundamental* to Jaime Escalante's actual approach which has 
had legendary success as depicted in the movie _Stand and Deliver_.
We're talking _award winning_, endearment, inclusivity -- imparting 
a feeling of *ownership* (see Deming thd) that "This can be YOURS!!!".
What can be theirs?   ...eventually, dignity; success; power.
Everything that the people of the slave states have historically tried 
so very hard to deny them -- and still do.  Again; we're not talking 
about the *teaching* of Ebonics as the language they'll use in business 
and social endeavors -- except maybe enough to understand their "gentleman" 
employee slinging Southern dialect (and other aberrations) through a "chaw".
I think many Northerners would agree that if, historically, you took an 
isolated group and subjected them to individuals speaking as described 
above, calling themselves "gentlemen" and displaying some *really* 
bizarre manifestations of "hospitality" while inserting absurd corruptions 
of the language like "y'all", "y'hear?" (a form of "hear?" attempting to 
be less slovenly in gramatical construction when emulating Yankee "Do 
you hear me[that, this, them, etc.]?)  ...you'd have a rather confused 
population indeed -- quite deserving of a tiny bit of the special care 
in education a more highly trained specialist can deliver.
All too often the quiet dignity they suffer in denies them the ability 
to scream this in your face with the profundity deserved, sad to say.
Thanks for the opportunity to help erase some confusion here, Bob.
-frank:)
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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