Black students learn to speak correctly and with authority as Orators, reports Opinion Journal.
The Orators were established in 1985 by five black professionals–all employees of Johnson & Johnson or AT&T–who were concerned about the poor interviewing skills they saw among young black job candidates. The five call themselves “traditionalists” and say that they have no use for either Ebonics or gangsta rap. “To be successful, you must be well-spoken,” says founder and board member Eloise Samuels, who also reminds students that more is at stake than the impression they leave as individuals: “You are representing your race when you speak.” Her co-founder Lanetta Lyons, who coaches kids from a New Brunswick, N.J., public housing project once a week, warns her charges: “Without subject-verb agreement, what you say will be discounted.”
The group provides “a safe place for kids to be smart.” Volunteers keep the costs low.
If an enemy did to Blacks what their “friends” have done these past 25 years or so, they would rightly go to war in retribution.
It makes me sad that it’s necessary for kids to have a “safe place to be smart.”
If everywhere was “safe” to be smart - if safety while being smart was not an issue - I suspect there’d be a lot fewer problems in the community than there are now.
“You are representing your race when you speak.”
Only if you assume that all the white folks you speak to are racist.
Only if you assume that all the white folks you speak to are racist.
They are. Racism is the Original Sin of melanin-deficient demons.
Seriously, I wonder if the Orators would allow non-black students to join.
‘Seriously, I wonder if the Orators would allow non-black students to join.’
I think we already know the answer to that question.
Seriously, I wonder if the Orators would allow non-black students to join.
Apparently so. Their history page says the kids are “primarily of African-American descent,” implying some are not, and the bottom picture shows a group of girls one of whom appears to be white.
The Orators evidently emphasize teaching standard English to kids whose native dialect is African American Vernacular English (Ebonics). They also “focus[] on … an appreciation of African-American literature.” Those missions will appeal to black parents more than non-black parents. That’s not racial discrimination; it’s appropriate specialization.
I know many white working-class slums that may speak English instead of Ebonics, but whose attitude towards intellect is exactly the same.