So according to the lovely folks at Fox news, the Atlanta office of the Drug Enforcement Administration has been looking to hire 9 fluent ebonics speakers since May of this year. For those of you that are not aware, the word 'ebonics', according to the online Merriam Webster dictionary, is defined as 'black english'. Urban dictionary defines 'ebonics' as 'A version of english made up of a variety of slang words. Stands for ebony and phonics. Widely spoken among the african american culture'.
Side note: Why is the urban dictionary definition more credible than that from Merriam Webster? Check the pages yourself, I didn't believe it at first either.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ebonics
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ebonics definition 6.
Contrary to the definitions of the word 'ebonics', Fox reported that the DEA claimed the position, in fact, isn't influenced by race. They even made a point to cover the fact that caucasian rapper, Eminem, is one of the Best speakers of the exotic language of ebonics.
Now what exactly was the reason that Fox decided to cover this tidbit of 'news'? Leave it to Fox to make the DEA look bad, right? Although the source made sure that Eminem was mentioned to ease the mind of those that may be offended, they forgot the rest of the story. Why is the DEA hiring a team of slang spitters? Is it to decipher the speech of the guy who's phone is being tapped? Are there going to be undercover ebonicans stationed at street corners to translate the "language"? Guess we won't know 'til one of our homies gets the job.
But thanks, Fox, for letting me know that the Drug Enforcement Administration is not a racist.
Yeah I don't know what to think of this either...it kinda left me with a questions mark? Kind of like," ummmm...thanks Fox news...I think"? Like you said, that little tidbit on Eminem was great. As if that is going to make the story a whole lot better...Sure no one is gonna take offense to it cuz we added a white guy in the mix. I guess this is also where the lack of historical context in the media comes into play. They mention nothing of the need for there translators and why.
ReplyDeleteEminem is the best candidate? he cant even rap much less do something that might involve having to wear something more that a sleeveless shirt and basketball shorts. i remember seeing something a long time ago on like VH1's i love the 90's or something though where they talked about how you could get a degree in Ebonics from colleges for a while. maybe i can get a degree and go work for the DEA. lol
ReplyDelete