DEA 'Ebonics' Plan Sparks Controversy

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A controversial plan by a federal agency is re-igniting an old argument over the use of the term 'Ebonics.' a leaked DEA memo says the agency wants to hire translators to "interpret" wire tapped conversations among drug dealers.

But while the DEA wants to improve its lines of communication, once again the question arises if the federal government actually listens to what they themselves are saying.

Just mention the word to University of Memphis Professor Larry Moore and get set to watch the volcanic steam rise as if he were transformed into Mount St. Helens.

"There is no such thing as 'Ebonics' as a language," Moore stated.

After creating a firestorm of controversy 14 years ago when a California psychologist promoted it as a new genetically based second language created by African Americans, the "E-word" is back. Only this time it's at the focus of a Drug Enforcement Administration memo, first reported by the website known as "The Smoking Gun," which asks companies to help the federal agency find "translators" fluent in Ebonics. They'd be hired to interpret wiretapped conversations involving targets of undercover drug investigations.

"I mean if it's necessary. I mean if it's really an issue like they are really having difficulty understanding. They do need specialists to figure out what they are saying there...maybe," commented U of M student Alex Bernal.

"Specific neighborhoods they do words and things that other people have never heard of. That they use on a regular basis. There's definitely a different dialect," added student Alexandria Carter.

However, Moore asserts the very fact the agency at the forefront of this country's "War on Drugs" should ask for aide in this fashion should send up at least one immediate red flag.

"We've entered a period in this country in which people with degrees have a total lack of common sense," observed Moore. "If they don't have some undercover agent, you know, maybe black, inner city, that can't speak inner city hip-hop language for them to advertise is very scary. It means how you busting people right now?"

But, the DEA's alleged foray, if carried out, would undoubtedly re-open the whole argument over the questionable merit of promoting "Black English" as a second language. Moore points out blacks creating trends in modern pop language can be traced back in history, whether defining the style as Funk, Cool, or Jazz.

"If you want to know how they spoke in Mississippi in the Delta in 1930, you'd go into inner city Memphis or Chicago and a lot of what we call 'gangsta rap' is nothing but old fashioned country speak," Moore said.

"If you had someone speaking 'Ebonics' it can mean anything. What might mean something to me might mean something different to you depending on where you're from," said U of M student Eastman Turner.

"Not all black people use the same language. I don't know a lot of the lingo people use and I am African American. It is an insult." Added student Velencia Wooten.

"For the DEA to say to speak 'Ebonics' it would be like somebody in 1910 saying we're looking for somebody to speak minstrel," concluded Moore.

Do you think the DEA's plan is sound, or insulting? Let us know what you think and join in our online conversation below.