[Mary-A22178]

In college I did some research on Ebonics and learned some very interesting things. According to what I read, slaves developed the language in order to have private conversations that could not be understood by the slaveholders. As for why black children today still speak in Ebonics, we all learn our speech patterns from our parents, starting at birth. That’s why people from Wisconsin, for instance, have a distinctive accent that can be discerned by people from other states. Once a person has established those patterns, it is very difficult to overcome them. Black children speak like their parents, who speak like their parents, and so on. To go to school and be told that the speech they hear at home every day is ‘wrong’ or ‘inferior’ is something I can’t even imagine. As a former English teacher, I think children do need to learn standard English, precisely because they will be judged by the majority on the way they speak. But I think it can be done in a culturally sensitive manner that does not place a judgment on their parents, their home or them.

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Name : Mary-A22178, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Presbyterian, Age : 45, City : Traverse City, State : MI, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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