Week
Sixteen The
Tragic Black Superstar in a White World
“We should
heed (George) Orwell’s words in the discussions
of
Black English. The grim naysayers of black potential
are
the
ones whose language is most opprobrious. Those folk who
denigrate
Black English without trying to understand it speak
in
bad faith. Those political critics who obfuscate their role
in
the economic suffering of the black ghetto with political
chicanery
are the real trouble. And those financially secure
black
folk who demean the users of Black English without
working
to get them better jobs, or to make sure that the
future
of the country’s poorest black children is as bright
as
their own children’s, speak a language of moral hypocrisy.
If all of
this is standard, then perhaps we should give
Non-standard
a try.”
-- Michael Eric
Dyson
-- From Race
Rules: Navigating the Color Line, 1997
·
Word Up! – “The Fire This Time”
(reprinted from The Stanford Magazine, 1994 CASE Silver Medal Award
for “Best Feature Story”)
·
Reading: “Perfecting Our Democracy for
the Benefit of the Black World” by Randall Robinson, pgs. 291-311 from Black
Genius.
·
Contemporary Issues Exit Essay Examination
(Large Blue Book Required)
·
Contemporary Issues Case Study Due
(Hard copy due in Pan African Studies Main Office, Faculty Office Building Room
221, postmarked by or before Friday,
