Rules of Gramar: Insterments of White Opresion?
"After spending four depressing days this month at a meeting of 3,000 writing teachers in Atlanta, I can tell you that their parent group, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, is not really interested in teaching students to write and communicate clearly. The group’s agenda, clear to me after sampling as many of the meeting’s 500 panels as I could, is devoted to disparaging grammar, logic, reason, evidence and fairness as instruments of white oppression. They believe rules of grammar discriminate against “marginalized” groups and restrict self-expression."
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George W. Bush jr. asked, "Is our children learning?"
I guess the answer yes--just not English.
When George Bush jr. can become President, maybe the days of proper English are numbered, if not already over.
Like George Bush Jr. said, "There is no French word for 'entrepreneur.'"
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is"
- excerpts from Bill Clinton in his grand jury testimony
The ability to express oneself clearly, concisely, and correctly is basic to communicating understandable thoughts and intentions.
Clearly, obfuscation is the goal of those who propose that the rules of grammar discriminate against those who have chosen not to cultivate the ability to express themselves intelligibly.
I be hopin' dat be changin'.
Two words…
Cultural Marxism
No surprises here. Keeping people ignorant and dependent are always the goals of Marxists. These people aren't concerned about free expression, they're concerned about making sure people continue to look to them for direction thereby maintaining their own power and control.
End federal intervention into education...
Get rid of public education...
Make education accountable like any other 'purchased' good or service...
pseudo benny's fellow travelers have a hissy fit everytime its suggested though...
it never ceases to amaze me what a crab pot many of these minority organizations seek to create.
(if you put one crab in a pot, you need a lid because it will climb out. if you put 6 crabs in a pot, you don't need to cover it. they will pull each other back in when they try to climb)
to encourage a child to "axe quessions' will marginalize him/her from the mainstream economy.
sure, everyone has a right to express themselves, but by that same token, everyone else has the right to find your expression foolish and undesirable.
no number of self righteous arguments about monopsony on meaning are going to sway actual business people into hiring those who do not speak proper english.
i am routinely stunned at the lengths to which some minority leaders will go to keep their "people" marginalized.
perhaps that's because successful, upwardly mobile people don't need "community organizers"?
The DEA is seeking Ebonics translators to interpret wiretap recordings.
"they're concerned about making sure people continue to look to them for direction thereby maintaining their own power and control."
i think it goes even a step beyond this.
one of the chief marxist dogmas is that the proletariat may not even be aware of its own class interests until they are "freed" from western culture. this seems like ideological carte blanche to ram your position down the throat of the "ignorant masses" whether or not they want you to.
that's a VERY dangerous kind of absolutism.
worryingly, this attitude seems pervasive throughout even the center left. they believe that individuals are too stupid and shortsighted to make their own decisions about healthcare, safety, investment, education, and a dozen other things. they are convinced of their rightness and feel as perfectly justified in forcing their ideas onto an unwilling public "for their own good".
it's paternalistic and fascist.
It remains amazing how everything always goes back to W isn't it?
As an empiricist working in language analysis, I know that the academic literature suggests that even people with PhDs regularly fail to follow traditional grammatical rules in their communication. The evidence suggests that language usage is constantly changing and expectations for the use of grammatical rules are just that -- expectations.
Spinning this evidence as an instrument of white oppression seems a little extreme. But, from my perspective, if you want to sell to someone you had better learn to effectively communicate with them. Regardless of whether they speak the Queen's English, Arabic, or American Celebutante.
"The DEA is seeking Ebonics translators to interpret wiretap recordings."
Sadly, one of the best is no longer with us. Royal Marshall, an associate producer of the Neal Boortz show, died earlier this year.
His tremendous bi-lingual talent can be seen - or, at least heard - in this example of his work.
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