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Fluent in Ebonics? Then the DEA wants you
Hmmmmmm...wonder how many Benjamins workin for the five-o bring?The U.S. Department of Justice is looking for fluent Ebonics speakers to fill nine drug enforcement jobs, giving merit to a dialect that experts say is often mimicked and little understood. John Braugh, a leading expert on African-American English, and chairman of the Linguistic Society of America's public relations committee, said having trained translators on staff with the DEA could provide an invaluable service. Such experts, he said, would likely be used -- as with many federal linguists -- to assist with wiretaps and linguistic profiling, when a person's accent or dialect can help lead investigators to the criminal. Though Braugh applauded the Justice Department for recognizing the relevance of Ebonics in society, he questioned whether it may be unwittingly throwing itself back into a political debate by using the term "Ebonics." Is Mrs. Cleaver is still alive? Posted by: tu3031 2010-08-24 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=304087 |