Controversy has sparked over the way Blacks handle the "King's English." Even now, one of our own has publicly proclaimed the shortcomings of urban teens and some adults and how they talk. This criticism should not be surprising to anyone seeing how white America will use any tactic they can to demoralize Blacks.

Recently, on the Fox News channel during the O'Reilly Factor, Black dialect was under fire. The guest was a Black man - educator - who came on to discuss this phenomenon with O'Reilly but he ended up defending the efforts of urban Blacks, and all Blacks. The interview was originally about how Black kids are influenced by Rap lyrics, which supposedly influences the way they talk.

However, O'Reilly swung the topic to an all out attack on how Blacks talk overall. With 25 million people watching, O'Reilly literally humiliated Blacks (and his own intelligence) by criticizing the way any of us talk. It is this kind of publicity that keeps whites and others suspicious against any Blacks that apply for anything; if they cannot talk right, they are not worthy of anything.

This is just another excuse to be racist. Why care less about the "King's English?" If you can understand what is being said why should the way I say it matter? Blacks are not naturally European so why expect us to talk like Europeans? Ironically, many white youth and even more mainstream dialog are stolen from the Black dialect. There is nothing wrong with the way we talk; it is the whites who criticize us that make it seem appalling.

Talk like you want and walk like you want and to hell with people who believe otherwise.

© 2004 by AfroStaff