Houston school police officer releases “Ghetto Handbook” to learn to speak Ebonics
Categories: African-American, Education, Justice/Law Enforcement
Written By: Shawn Williams
I came across an interesting piece in the Austin American-Statesman about a Ghetto Handbook that was distributed among Houston school employees. According to the Statesman, the eight-page booklet, subtitled "Wucha dun did now?", was handed out to about 15 Houston Independent School District police officers at a May roll call meeting.
The Statesman goes on to say that the booklet billed itself as a guide to Ebonics, teaching the reader to speak "as if you just came out of the hood." It included definitions such as:
foty: a 40-ounce bottle of beer
aks: to ask a question
hoodrat: scummy girl
This "publication" went out in May, but it was supposedly three months before Houston ISD officials became aware of the incident. The officer who distributed the booklet has been suspended pending an investigation.
See Houston Chronicle coverage of the incident here.
September 3rd, 2007 at 6:23 pm
It is really sad that our school law enforcement personnel need a book so they can understand what students are saying. Those kids need to grow up and learn to speak English if they ever want to amount to anything. Get over the ghetto-hood-gang mentality and become a person with pride and intelligence. This is only funny when a stand-up comedian uses this language! Like any other language or dialect (ie: southern or Bostonian) it’s fine to use at home and with friends and neighbors, but if you want to be a part of the great USA grow up and speak ENGLISH, our countries language!
July 30th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
since being “dumb” is the new “cool”, these morons think that educated people are all “white”. great logic! to be fair….there are many more intelligent students filling the ranks of colleges around the US. but the news likes covering all the f*** ups more. the media always has an unbalanced view of reality. back to the point: whats racists about the “Ghetto handbook”? its not a joke. its a REALITY and a neccessary tool for a teacher trying to communicate with kids that are raised in sub- par families and living conditions.