About 20 students and faculty members met last night in the Cutter-Shabazz lounge for an open discussion about the controversial decision made recently by Oakland, California's Unified School District to recognize Ebonics, popularly called "Black English," as a second language.
The discussion was held by Concerned Black Students and led by English Department Chair William Cook.
Deborah Green '99, acting chair for CBS on campus, began the discussion by saying the Oakland School Board did not intend to teach Ebonics to African-American students.
She said the school district's main goal was for teachers to recognize and interact with students speaking "Black English," while still expecting students to learn Standard American English.
However, many students participating in the CBS discussion said they did not agree with the idea of a universal "black" language.
One student said he questioned the use of the word Ebonics -- which literally means "black sounds" -- to refer to a dialect used by only some African-Americans.
Damali Rhett '99 said she disagreed with some interpretations of "Black English," and referred to an example of a "black" phrase, "We be at the store," used by an African-American student on a news program.
"My friends and I may speak like that, but it's a joke," Rhett said, and said she thinks Oakland's resolution perpetuates the stereotype that African-Americans cannot speak English.
The biggest differences in spoken language are geographical, not racial, Rhett said.
Cook, who has spoken on national public radio on the subject, said there is "a definite problem of perception" in Oakland's policy of Black English as a second language.
"Speakers of different dialects can understand each other. Speakers of different languages cannot," Cook said. "Black English is more accurately a dialect."
Cook said the English spoken by many African-American students is "very much a separate dialect of English" and teachers must know this dialect in order to teach students the "power dialect" of Standard American English.
If a teacher does not know about the dialect of a student, Cook said, the teacher will think the child is using incorrect English and "will assume the student is dumb."
Jessica Lacson '98 said the Oakland policy could make teachers realize where the dialect of many African-American students comes from.
"It's not that they can't speak Standard English," she said. "They face peer pressures to talk in a different dialect."
But Lacson said teachers still should not teach Ebonics or use it when talking to their students.
Taja-Nia Henderson '97 said she thinks Black English is not so different from Standard English that teachers should treat it as a separate language.
"I had a problem with the assumption that teachers don't understand their students, that the teachers are idiots," Henderson said.
If teachers communicate with their students in Ebonics, Henderson said, incorrect English will only continue.
