Caucus Leader Says Ebonics Debate Overshadows Real Problems Facing Poor Blacks
By Amy Branson LEGI-SLATE News Service WASHINGTON (Dec. 31) -- The recent uproar over Ebonics, or black English, in Oakland, Calif., belies more urgent problems many African-American children face while trying to improve their economic status, said outgoing Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Donald Payne, D-N.J. More pressing than the debate over language systems is the "cycle of poverty" that "tend[s] to stymie education" and traps many young African-Americans, Payne said in an interview Tuesday. And poverty issues, he said, are not being adequately addressed. Substandard housing, homelessness and lack of employment opportunities wreak havoc on children's abilities to learn, he said. "When you have a cycle of poverty . . . there are so many other factors that interfere with a student's ability to concentrate" besides the language they speak, Payne said. "Until there is a total approach to upgrading the standards in which people live" then children will continue to fare poorly in the classroom, he added. The congressman, who initially declared he "is opposed to Ebonics," elaborated later to say he supports teaching children standard English skills to help them get ahead. "The obligation of the school is to teach children proper English" so they will be able to excel when given standardized tests or job interviews, he said. Payne, pointing to differences in the way African-Americans across the country talk, also expressed skepticism that a standard black English could be effectively established. He also attacked "miserable" Clinton administration efforts to formulate an urban policy -- despite its goal to improve urban areas -- and predicted race issues will become paramount in the next millennium as the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" widens. Welfare reform is another pressing concern, he added. Payne fears poverty will increase -- rather than decrease, as many Republicans claim -- because people will be quickly moved off the rolls and "institutionalized" into low-paying jobs. His strong views on the Ebonics controversy followed by a day an effort by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, an influential civil rights leader, to soften his criticism of the Oakland school board's decision to recognize Ebonics. Jackson told reporters he did not fully understand the board's intent and was under the impression that Ebonics might be taught when he made his criticisms. A close reading of the resolution adopted by the board reveals language that contradicts statements made by board members. For example, while Oakland officials have emphasized Ebonics will not be taught, language in the resolution appears to contradict that. The resolution calls for the development of an academic program to instruct "African-American students in their primary language" -- their primary language being nonstandard English. After Jackson met with the Oakland school board, he urged Education Secretary Richard Riley to approve bilingual education funds to help teachers in Oakland improve the standard English skills of their students. Last week, Riley declared the Oakland program ineligible for the federal funding. The incoming leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Maxine Waters, D- Calif., was out of the country and was not immediately available for comment.
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