I Be Likin' What You Be Saying, Part 1

Save for in a few African-American Studies departments still grasping for legitimacy, the debate over whether or not Ebonics should be taught in schools is over.

But is there a new debate on the horizon, and it depends solely on the issue of whether or not one views Black English Vernacular as a verifiable and legitimate foreign language: should political candidates engage in "Black Talk" when addressing black voters?

The following clip presents such a case:



If BEV is a foreign language, then such a strategy is sensical and in principle no different than when a politician records campaign commercials in espanol.

If BEV is NOT a foreign language, then such an act is blatantly racist.

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That said, hypocrisy is in the air.

One cannot imagine Mitt Romney addressing a black crowd in BEV and not be called a racist by black leaders or the media, even though supporters of BEV-education, who would probably be the first to decry such an act, would be logically trapped by doing so. Of course, logic never seems to matter in cases of race these days.

Why, then, does Hillary earn a pass on this? It seems too simple: because she is a Democrat which somehow is synonymous with black issues, because she is a woman (read: fellow minority), and because she probably supports BEV-education.

"I'ma gonna be work'n real hard fo' y'all up der at dat whyte 'ouse."

It's pandering. It's racism. It's unconscionable. And it's unacceptable for Hilary, for Romney, for Barak, and for the rest.

Somebody - black or white - needs to stand up and put an end to this.