Ebonics lecture defines the dialect

During his lecture on Ebonics, Howard Mimms, professor of African-American Studies at Cleveland State University, enacted an imaginary interview with the mainstream media.

"Does Ebonics exist ?" he asked, mimicking a reporter. "I heard it!" He answered. "That's like asking, `Do Black people exist?' I saw them!"

Mimms was brought to Oberlin by ABUSUA, the black student union, the African American Studies Department and the Multicultural Resource Center. His speech Tuesday in Afrikan Heritage House radiated good will as he spoke informally but intelligently about Ebonics, or Black Vernacular English, as a legitimate dialect and a cultural perception.

Mimms explained some basic facts about human language as a foundation for his discussion of Ebonics. He explained that all languages are rule-based systems with consistent and predictable rules. If they were not these standards, he added, languages would not be effective as means of communication.

Ebonics, said Mimms, is like any other dialect or language in this way. He observed many examples of how these rules exist in the phonetics, grammar, syntaxes and pitch of any given dialect. For example, in Ebonics, the phenome "th" consistently becomes "d" or "v" in the middle of a word. For example "mother" becomes "mudder." Another rule is that "th" becomes "t" at the end of a word ("with" becomes "wit").

Mimms said that contrary to the perception held by many Americans, both black and white, that these differences are haphazard attempts at "Proper English," they result from both clearly definable and consistent rules. Furthermore, he made the point that no one language or dialect is any better than any other. Many people find German to be uglier than French, for instance, but only because they have learned that it is.

Similarly, Ebonics sounds less intelligent to many Americans, than, for example, a Michigan dialect, because of racist perceptions that have been enforced pervasively in American culture, Mimms said. By the same token, "Standard English" is perceived as more correct because it is the dialect spoken by those in power.

"Kennedy could say `Cuber,' because he had the money to back it up, and as they say in my neighborhood, `It bees that way,'" Mimms said.

Mimms also expressed frustration at the sensationalism of the public debate on Ebonics. Many of the opinions being expressed were inane, he said, and many of the questions being asked were irrelevant.

Mimms stressed the importance of educators being explicitly educated about this dialect so that they can better understand the needs of their students who speak it.

The issue for teachers, according to Mimms, is not to teach these students Ebonics, as has been suggested, because they already know it. Rather, teachers who are teaching Standard English to these children need to understand the points of mismatch between the two dialects. Furthermore, teachers need to understand these children are not stupid, but have learned successfully the language of the adults of their community.

Adrienne Lash-Jones, associate professor of African American Studies, was glad Mimms could come because she thinks Ebonics is a serious topic with which Oberlin should be engaged. "In an environment like ours we need to have informed discussion," she said.

She expressed frustration that the media has been "going to people who didn't know what they were talking about when people have been engaged in this topic for years." Lash-Jones said Mimms' presentation was important because it represented years of serious research in this field.