Our first thought when we read that the Justice Department wants to hire ebonics translators? It’s gotta be another one of Eric Holder’s wacky social justice schemes. But we were wrong.
The Smoking Gun has the story:
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”.
The DEA’s need for full-time linguists specializing in Ebonics is detailed in bid documents related to the agency’s mid-May issuance of a request for proposal (RFP) covering the provision of as many as 2100 linguists for the drug agency’s various field offices. Answers to the proposal were due from contractors on July 29.
Is the Justice Department trying to imply that blacks are drug dealers? Sounds like Eric Holder is a self-loathing black racist to us.
Nevertheless, polish up your resume and send it in, homeboy. (Damn it. Is there anything sadder than an old white guy using a term like “homeboy”?)
Source: The Smoking Gun
This post was last modified on August 23, 2010
View Comments (13)
Moderated? - reb
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In "Airplane!" it was the June Cleaver that did the translation, wasn't it? The language was 'Jive'. The modernized 'Ebonics' is perpetually evolving to keep the code fresh, pretty much the same thing that has been going on since people of a group worked to differentiate themselves from another. Whatever it takes to avoid assimilation into a culture and to keep outsiders easily identifiable, with their use of out-dated syntax. All this makes me think the Ebonists are gonna need undercover support to keep them on top of the current linguistic developments. The dialects of various locales will complicate things as well. The gangs have people moving around the country for bag ops; drugs, guns and cash moving from city to city and all around the country. Good luck with the logistics. Seems like a good way for the bad guys to keep tabs on who has bugs. Oh, and a boon for that job stimulus thing, too.
Actually this is a very necessary task. The DOJ wants to be certain that the people they aren't going to prosecute have been pre-screened and verified as authentic persons of colour and not just some cracker wanna-be trying to sound cool. Don't wanna inconvenience their homeys or waste money on a needless investigation. ;-)
" (Damn it. Is there anything sadder than an old white guy using a term like “homeboy”?) "
You could use the short form - homey, or opt for cuz or bro, as in "yo, bro" or "whut up, cuz".
Homey is also useful around the house when you arrive home after a tough day at the day-job - "Hi homey, I'm hun." ( Callahan's Key - Spider Robinson <-- he said it.)
I have seen Airplane many times and I saw that clip three times and I still have no clue what they are saying without reading the "translation" on the bottom.
Well I don't know it is a bit weird, but if they (DOJ, CIA, FBI, state law enforcement, etc) do get sufficient amounts of chatter that could be about illegal activities and it comes like this and there is no one to decipher it, I guess it makes sense to hire people that could help. They do that for latin american gangs and chinese gangs as well.
Translators? These folks only know about 50 words. How hard can that be to learn? And, I wonder how many of the drug dealers friends/relatives applied for these jobs. Republicans, here's another sound bite if you have the onions to use it.
When is the administration going to get experts in bullshit to explain themselves to the rest of us
ahhhh, another sign of the strength of the Teacher's Unions!
Good work teachers....Good work parents too for failing your children!
Good work kids for failing to learn how to speak....
Someone please tell me why I should listen to the Race Baiters in the Congressional Black Caucus?
A Snake Hunter Sez,
Say There, All You Mutha-Jumpers Out Theya - ya'll ain't got no gripe; real soon all yo chillin be talkin' Eee-Booonn-icks...Whewee! - reb
Since we are talking courts, etc-check out the better "jive" clip from Airplane 2, in which Al White's character testifies.......I love the stenographer typing like he is ray charles http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=GfzHjoRBbVA&feature=related
Free Tutorial at MTV, VH1 and BET channels
BET is the most horrid channel in the world and MTV and VH1 trail close behind.