Should We Continue Studying Black English...?

Like Brandon, I can't say that I'm either in favor of or against further study of Black English. I do think that it is a relevant topic of study because it has emerged as a mainstream variation of English and is something that we should be familiar with. I also find the etymology of Black English interesting because the origin of this particular variation of English is with individuals (slaves) brought to America against their will and forced to learn an entirely different language very frequently without any formal education. They learned to communicate with the native English speakers by picking up phrases, but not neccessarily correct grammar and eventually, as their native African was lost from regular usage, they used these phrases with their invented grammar to communicate with one another. I'm reminded of the tap code used by the Vietnam War POWs while they were incarcerated and that may make an interesting topic of discussion for class; methods of communication that were invented out of neccessity.



My primary point is, I think we should continue with the Black English readings on the curriculum, unless the majority of the class says otherwise.