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Culture question
I have not seen this posted elsewhere in the many discussions about culture, so I'll introduce it here. My son and I live in a very culturally diverse area, and I am grateful that he has the opportunity to attend a primarily AA daycare. About a month ago he was looking for something under his crib and he said, "Where's it at?" I absentmindedly corrected him and said, "Where is it, not 'where's it at?'" when I suddenly realized that he was addressing the question in the AA vernacular English. Of course he looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about (and of course he didn't, he's only 2 1/2!), but it got me thinking about the whole linguistic debate a few years back and the legitimacy of ebonics. I realize that he will adopt my speech patterns and lexicon since I am who he's living with, but I am curious as to what other experience caucasion parents have had with this. I tend to think that this level of enculturation would help him to be more accepted by black kids who are suspicious of other black children who sound "too white" or who are otherwise unable to "code-switch" due to a lack of exposure in an AA community. Thoughts?
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