did they say "dat be raysis?"
I am semi-retired, teaching as a substitute in the public school system. I have a long-term job in special education as a substitute aide. The teacher, 34 years experience in special ed, was speaking to the class, four black, six white students. I was one on one with a severly disabled student while she spoke.
I did not react to her ebonics laced presentation other than to glance up from time to time as she murdered, grammar, tense, and usage, she stopped and looked at me and said “this is how I talk to my peoples, so dat dey unnerstan what I be telling them”.
I said nothing and continued on with my student.
I need the extra income so I will be unlikely to ask why, after 34 years as a professional educator, she would elect to perpetuate ebonics, accepting the degradation of the English language and accepting the barrier of functional illiteracy she is maintaining. For crippling students to aspire to anything more than “Do you want to supersize dat?”