Justice Department Seeks Ebonics Experts

[alienlovechild 75]

AUGUST 23--The Department of Justice is seeking to hire linguists fluent in Ebonics to help monitor, translate, and transcribe the secretly recorded conversations of subjects of narcotics investigations, according to federal records.

A maximum of nine Ebonics experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division, where the linguists, after obtaining a “DEA Sensitive” security clearance, will help investigators decipher the results of “telephonic monitoring of court ordered nonconsensual intercepts, consensual listening devices, and other media”

In contract documents, which are excerpted here, Ebonics is listed among 114 languages for which prospective contractors must be able to provide linguists. The 114 languages are divided between “common languages” and “exotic languages.” Ebonics is listed as a “common language” spoken solely in the United States.

Ebonics has widely been described as a nonstandard variant of English spoken largely by African Americans. John R. Rickford, a Stanford University professor of linguistics, has described it as “Black English” and noted that “Ebonics pronunciation includes features like the omission of the final consonant in words like ‘past’ (pas’ ) and ‘hand’ (han’), the pronunciation of the th in ‘bath’ as t (bat) or f (baf), and the pronunciation of the vowel in words like ‘my’ and ‘ride’ as a long ah (mah, rahd).”

Detractors reject the notion that Ebonics is a dialect, instead considering it a bastardization of the English language.

The Department of Justice RFP does not, of course, address questions of vernacular, dialect, or linguistic merit. It simply sought proposals covering the award of separate linguist contracts for seven DEA regions. The agency spends about $70 million annually on linguistic service programs, according to contract records.

In addition to the nine Ebonics experts, the DEA’s Atlanta office also requires linguists for eight other languages, including Spanish (144 linguists needed); Vietnamese (12); Korean (9); Farsi (9); and Jamaican patois (4). The Atlanta field division, one of the DEA’s busiest, is the only office seeking linguists well-versed in Ebonics. Overall, the “majority of DEA’s language requirements will be for Spanish originating in Central and South America and the Caribbean,” according to one contract document.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/justice-department-seeks-ebonics-experts

[HAL 9000 96]

Don't know about the Ebonics... but understanding some things on the street by some folks (independent of race) is an uphill struggle at times.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

ATLANTA (AP) - Federal agents are seeking to hire Ebonics translators to help interpret wiretapped conversations involving targets of undercover drug investigations.

The Drug Enforcement Agency recently sent memos asking companies that provide translation services to help it find nine translators in the Southeast who are fluent in Ebonics, Special Agent Michael Sanders said Monday.

Ebonics, which is also known as African American Vernacular English, has been described by the psychologist who coined the term as the combination of English vocabulary with African language structure.

Some DEA agents already help translate Ebonics, Sanders said. But he said wasn't sure if the agency has ever hired outside Ebonics experts as contractors.

"They saw a need for this in a couple of their investigations," he said. "And when you see a need—it may not be needed now—but we want the contractors to provide us with nine people just in case."

Critics worry that the DEA's actions could set a precedent.

"Hiring translators for languages that are of questionable merit to begin with is just going in the wrong direction," said Aloysius Hogan, the government relations director of English First, a national lobbying group that promotes the use of English.

"I'm not aware of Ebonics training schools or tests. I don't know how they'd establish that someone speaks Ebonics," he said. "I support the concept of pursuing drug dealers if they're using code words, but this is definitely going in the wrong direction."

H. Samy Alim, a Stanford linguistics professor who specializes in black language and hip-hop culture, said he thought the hiring effort was a joke when he first heard about it, but that it highlights a serious issue.

"It seems ironic that schools that are serving and educating black children have not recognized the legitimacy of this language. Yet the authorities and the police are recognizing that this is a language that they don't understand," he said. "It really tells us a lot about where we are socially in terms of recognizing African-American speech."

Rickford said that hiring Ebonics experts could come in handy for the DEA, but he said it's hard to determine whether a prospective employee can speak it well enough to translate since there are no standardized tests. He said the ideal candidate would be a native speaker who also has had some linguistics training.

Finding the right translators could be the difference between a successful investigation or a failed one, said Sanders. While he said many listeners can get the gist of what Ebonics speakers are saying, it could take an expert to define it in court.

"You can maybe get a general idea of what they're saying, but you have to understand that this has to hold up in court," he said. "You need someone to say, 'I know what they mean when they say 'ballin' or 'pinching pennies.'"

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9HPGOI00&show_article=1

[Heracles 417]

I could have sworn that some on here said ya'll the same.

Wha wha Racism racism. wha Report the DEA... And BY for the sake of it.

Edited August 24, 2010 by Heracles

[Heracles 417]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMBEwtRZOg&

Edited August 24, 2010 by Heracles

[Peikko 1,575]

I could have sworn that some on here said ya'll the same.

Wha wha Racism racism. wha Report the DEA... And BY for the sake of it.

Another example of reasoned debate BY?

[^_^ 5,021]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMBEwtRZOg&

thats pretty funny

[Heracles 417]

Another example of reasoned debate BY?

You guys cannot even grasp simple examples. Henceforth, I'll post in a style you do grasp.

Edited August 24, 2010 by Heracles

[alienlovechild 75]

This thread looks familiar.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/270979-justice-department-seeks-ebonics-experts/

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I wonder what Harry Reid thinks of this.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

This thread looks familiar.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/270979-justice-department-seeks-ebonics-experts/

It's all about timing..

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Are they saying African language structure is genetic?

[^_^ 5,021]

Are they saying African language structure is genetic?

Notice the word "vernacular"?

[slim 1,530]

I wonder who they're going to contract for this since there are no "experts."

[Peikko 1,575]

How is this even controversial? If those who are trying to bust drug gangs/rings need accurate information then they need to be able to understand exactly what is being said - if that requires people to translate vernacular, then that's what it requires.