As part of this course, I'm told in the book consistently how the white man is to blame for everything. The authors claim to be presenting no agenda and that they're neutral. Bull hockey! Anyway, on to the point of this blog. Our assignment was to choose between two scenarios and give our thoughts; I chose to do both scenarios and give my thoughts. The one on page 217 was of a child not being allowed to talk Ebonics in school and the parent crying racism; the one on 207 was of a child who didn't speak proficient English and needed to go to the restroom; it was plain what she was wanting but the teacher wouldn't allow her to go without speaking proper English. Following is the assignment I turned in:
I chose to do both situations actually.
I'll start with the one on 217. There is such a thing as standard English and it should be spoken in the classroom setting. You don't "axe" a question, you "ask" a question. I tire of hearing in the so-called mainstream media and in the book how that white people are somehow discriminatory against others and at fault for the "plight" of all minorities. I have to believe Martin Luther King, Jr. would be ashamed of this; this is NOT what he sacrificed his life for! MLK spoke proper English and said he dreamed of a society where one wasn't judged by the color of their skin. When people demand special treatment because they refuse to speak or learn proper English, it's not discriminatory and they should assume if they refuse to talk correctly that they will be viewed as less intelligent. I don't care if it is a white or black person talking in a non-standard form, they're going to be viewed as less intelligent. There are plenty of black people who speak proper English, are well-educated and have made something of themselves in politics, government and entertainment, people such as Charley Pride, Allen West, Clarence Thomas, Mia Love, Herman Cain, Bill Cosby and many others. Speaking of Bill Cosby, take some time to research his feelings on the whole Ebonics debacle. Per Bill Cosby (and Snopes has verified this as true):
They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain't, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be... And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.
People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?
People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different'husbands' — or men or whatever you call them now. We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.
We cannot blame the white people any longer.
My thoughts on the incident on page 207? The teacher knew full well what Malia wanted. Perhaps Malia wasn't well-versed in English and an exception should've been made. The teacher was wrong in allowing her to urinate on herself in front of the class and the teacher should face disciplinary action. However, we read on the next page how this left "lasting emotional scars" on Malia. Really? Please! Can I claim that my kindergarten teacher hitting my hand with a ruler because I didn't get a green crayon out fast enough to suit her left emotional scarring or that a high school choir teacher not allowing me to go to the restroom when I needed left emotional scarring? I had a well-known science teacher here at SEMO yell at me last semester because I didn't get string out fast enough to suit her; can I scream emotional scarring? While what Malia's teacher did was not correct and unacceptable it's also time for Malia to move past something that happened as a kid; too many want to blame their lot in life on something that happened in their childhood. At some point you have to move ahead and grow up.
No comments:
Post a Comment