Posted by GTJDorris at nat-gateway-1.top.biltmorecommunications.net on December 10, 2003 at 00:32:25:
In Reply to: Is it just me... posted by Deltron on December 09, 2003 at 22:23:42:
You're way way off base. First off, to say Ebonics started in 1995? Perhaps the term "ebonics" was coined in or around that date, but slang (and in this case slang primarily used/associated by/with a particular racial demographic) has been around since the dawn of time. Comedy Centrals' running a tribute to Richard Pryor on and off right now, and check it out. And tell me that in 1977 Richard didn't use what can be called "ebonics."
Secondly, no I don't see it as "tap dancing for massah" as you put it. If anything they're some of the best salesmen I've seen. They've taken something seemingly silly and in some cases "socially unacceptable" and have made millions off of selling it, NOT JUST TO TWEENS as you say, to America and more. "Minuzzle" is an extension of using the "iz" sound as the second letter grouping in a word used early early in this century by jazz and beatnik musicians.
But don't you think if this culture has so pervasively crept into white suburbia, isn't it also white culture? If its something that "all kids go through" then its not just "black" now is it? I see it as an open, if not defiant, representation of themselves instead of "tap dancing for massah." Wouldn't "massah" had to have demanded Snoop perform on AOL commercials instead of gnashing his teeth at it like you did, for it to be a performance by a black person for his "massah"?