From: "Mark Rosen" <mrosen@peganet.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 14:14:57 -0800 (PST)
To: "Omegaman" <omega@bigeasy.com>
Subject: Re: Ebonics
Message-ID: <199612222158.QAA10211@mercury.peganet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> > 	No. Speaking in Ebonics is the same as speaking with an accent. You
can't
> > control their expression; you learned to speak with a Southern accent
as a
> > child, while other people learned to speak with an Ebonic accent (?).
By
> > condoning speaking in a Southern accent, you condone speaking in
Ebonics.
> 
> Whatever rational basis your arguments may have had were eradicated by
the
> ludicrous logical conclusion drawn above. 
	Hehe. What I mean to say is that since both Ebonics and a Southern accent
are learned during early childhood, you have no control over how you talk.
You can't penalize someone for speaking the way they were taught.

> > 	I can't understand thick Southern accents. No matter how smart you
are,
> > I'm not going to hire you because I can't understand you. How do you
feel?
> 
> Oh so sad.  Let me make this clear, an accent is far different from
> grammatically incorrect speech.  I can speak with grammatic perfection
and a
> drawl so heavy it'll make your eyeballs hurt. 
	Yeah. I thought the issue was understanding in the workplace; no matter
how gramatically correct your are, I can't understand you and so I won't
hire you.