OK. I admit it. When I’m around certain black people (family, certain friends) I sometimes speak “Ebonics.” Blacks in the audience know what I’m talking about. It’s natural. We all speak a different way in our comfort zones. As much as I don’t like to be lumped into a group, there are certain aspects of the black American subculture that are a part of me.
I laughed when I read this op-ed, especially the first paragraph. Sylvester Brown, Jr., recognizes that there is a time and place for Ebonics, but he has a problem with anti-Bush ads that are heavy on black slang. He writes:
Radio spots available on the site follow the same script. One ad, “Get’s Paid,” talks about the president’s ties to Halliburton, saying “Bush, his father and his boys can use the government to get paid.” In another, after accusing Bush’s “Daddy” of keeping his son out of the Vietnam War, the announcer asks, “Why shouldn’t he and other wealthy white boys be treated like everyone else?”“Gettin’ played? Wealthy white boys? Break ‘em off?” Is this political advertising or barbershop banter?
A link to the Media Fund is provided on the Web site. Current radio and TV ads aimed at the general public are provided there as well. Those ads have no slang, no ebonics and speak to specific issues. Links to news articles are provided to back up criticisms of Bush’s relationship with the Saudi government, big oil and prescription drug companies.
But the radio ads targeting black audiences implore listeners “don’t be bamboozled by Bush’s slick a**.”
I’ve never understood why marketers feel they have to over-urbanize messages to reach African-Americans. I recall an automobile commercial a few years ago that really got my goat. It showed a group of young, professional blacks dancing the “Electric Slide” while the new car tooled around town by itself.
Here’s the web site Brown is referring to. He notes that the ads were developed by a black-owned advertising firm. If that’s the case, can’t we shout “Racism!”, can we?
This is key: Those ads have no slang, no ebonics and speak to specific issues. Links to news articles are provided to back up criticisms of Bush’s relationship with the Saudi government, big oil and prescription drug companies.
Anti-Bush advertisements for the general population assume an intelligent and inquisitive audience. The “black ads” don’t.
My opinion on this? I think the use of “black English”, or whatever it’s called, in the media targeting blacks is demeaning. But obviously most blacks either aren’t upset about it or don’t care. I suppose Madison Avenue and all the others portray blacks as perennial slang-speakers for the same reason John Kerry can get away with pushing increased government dependency and subsidized housing to a crowd of blacks.
Addendum: You know, I almost feel sorry for liberals who can’t seem to stay away from my blog. While they call me a self-hater and other epithets (I’m usually quick enough to delete their comments before anyone else sees them.), I can’t figure out why they aren’t making noise and building a readership on their own sites. Instead, they’re buzzing around my head like gnats. Go away! Somebody find the spray…
Update: Sort of related: “You can’t rise as a class. You have to rise individually. It’s what many of the civil rights-era people don’t understand. They want us to rise together, they keep telling us that we are victims. If they keep telling us they are victims, then there is a role for them to play.” — Alphonso Jackson, HUD Sec’y
See more on Jackson. Very bloggable stuff. (Hat tip: Blogbrother Michael Bowen)
Interesting post by my other blogbrother, Michael King.
