Staff Editorial: DEA Ebonics Translator

OUR VIEW: Helping people is fine. Offending the very people you seek to help, however, is questionable.

"Wuz hannein' patna? Me & dude finna meet you at the spot."

You get that? If asked, would you be able to translate street slang into proper English? In the opinion of the Atlanta DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), this would make you an asset to the agency, as an Ebonics…specialist?

When news broke late August that the DEA considers Ebonics an entire separate language, derived from English, yet incomprehensible to the average American, controversy understandably sparked.

Who decided an Ebonics specialist would be necessary? Since when is Ebonics different from informal English? How do you even become formally trained in Ebonics?

Though we may shake our heads in disapproval at first, a CNN article revealed that DEA workers actually find it difficult to transcribe quotes over wiretaps spoken in slang. This lead to problems during the investigation and accusation process.

It seems the DEA's mistake was in choosing the word "Ebonics," a word that has been parodied over the years and is negatively associated with low-income, uneducated African Americans.

Comedians like Bill Maher have based their routines off the word, coming up with puns such as "The Ebonic Plague" or doing "Ebonics to English" lyric translations for Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and other rap artists.

Frankly, if we're looking for a laugh, there's no harm in that. Drugs on our streets, however, are a matter that should be approached seriously. In choosing the word Ebonics, the DEA is possibly offending the very people it seeks to help.

Among the other 114 languages listed for specialist translation, Ebonics was the only one that received nationwide publicity. Had the DEA chosen the politically correct term, Black English Vernacular, the stereotypes associated with the people who speak it wouldn't be as glaring.

After all, understanding Ebonics and having the ability to code switch doesn't make you impoverished or uneducated. Many of us at Howard can do it easily. To insult a group of people by using a word with negative stigma was a poor choice on the part of the Drug Enforcement Agency.