Clark 1Victoria ClarkProfessor CookEnglish 110319 November 2013It is a fact that people of many different cultural backgrounds immigrate to America. It isa fact that often, these immigrants come to America without knowing the English language. It is also a fact that these immigrants tend to encourage their children and their peers to learn standardAmerican English in order to better themselves. Asians, Europeans and Hispanics often push their children to excel in speaking the English language. So picture this: a young African-American girl, about seven years old goes to school. She’s sitting on the rug with the other students as the class reads Little House on the Prairie. The teacher asks a question about the passage they just read. The little black girl raises her hand and answers the question. After she finishes her response, her black classmate looks at her and asks, “Why you talk white?” By “talkwhite,” the girl meant enunciating and knowing the grammar rules of standard American English. But, wait. Was this little black girl really ridiculed by another black student for speaking proper English? Was she criticized for speaking the language that immigrants push so hard for their children to learn? Yes, I was. Which raises the question: why? Why is it that members of other minority groups push their young people to achieve and excel and speak correctly in order to become something great, yet the African-American community does exactly the opposite?Stories, like mine are far too common among successful African-Americans. One of the best examples is President Barack Obama. I vividly remember people ridiculing him in 2008Clark 2when he was running for president. “He ain’t black enough. He might as well be white.” I could not believe it. Here we were, black citizens of the United States, the same black citizens who often criticized the government for “not caring enough about black people.” Now, we finally get an African-American running for the highest position in our nation and we ridicule him because he isn’t enough like us. First Lady, Michelle Obama said in an interview with CNN, “It’s silliness and it’s about part of the silliness of our culture.” She is referring to the ridiculousness of one or more members of a group trying to deem another member as unqualifiedalthough they clearly are. She is referring to the view that many people have of literacy based onMariana Souto-Manning’s definition. She describes literacy as being “defined by members of a group (Souto-Manning, 295).” The problem with this definition is that in the context of organizations and clubs, it is acceptable. When it comes to racial groups though, it divides the group and excludes many people.As stated earlier, parents of other minorities’ youth encourage their children to do well. They read to them. They help them with schoolwork. Concha Delgado Gaitan states that contrary to popular belief, her mother often helped out at her schools growing up (Gaitan, 305). These parents make it clear that they want their children to do their best. Too often though, African-American parents show incredible apathy when it comes to the education of their children. They often avoid volunteering at their child’s school. I have heard about many black parents who would gladly write a check for a donation as long as they do not have to physically show up and volunteer at the school. Studies have shown that students, whose parents help out at their schools and read to them and take an active role in their education, do better academically. Studies also show that when it comes to academic achievement, other minorityClark 3groups including Asian Americans and Indian-Americans surpass African-Americans. It is possible that these two observations are positively correlated.My own parents have always played a very active role in not only my academic activities,but also other extra-curricular activities. My mom was “cookie mom” for my Girl Scout troop for at least three years. My father always willingly used his truck to pull the trailer that carried all of our color guard equipment and props from competition to competition all four years of high school. I remember other parents in the marching band comparing my parents to the parents of the other black kids in the band. They would say, “Oh Victoria, I just love how involved your mom and dad are. I just wish we could get Veronica or Kenny’s parents to be as involved as yours are.” It was as if they were surprised that my parents had an interest in my activities. Honestly though, I could not blame them for being surprised. By my freshman year of high school, I was very used to my parents being the only black parents to help out at school.Another negative characteristic of African-Americans is that they often feel that we are not entitled to more than we have. Many other cultural groups are more than willing to go back to college if they are not happy with their places in life. When black people feel stuck in one place though, they tend to feel like it is permanent. Friends and family too often discourage them. They are told that it is too expensive or that it is a waste of time and money. So usually, African-Americans do not go back to school. They stay in their dead-end job because they feel like as an African-American, they have to continue to be less than their best and speak improper English.In general, it seems that blacks in America discourage each other from doing anything to better themselves. They are discouraged by being ridiculed. They are ridiculed for doing too well in school. They are criticized for being involved in extra-curricular activities. MostlyClark 4though, they are picked on for speaking proper English. So why are blacks so against speaking standard American English? African-Americans are often stereotyped as complaining about “being held down by ‘the man.’” It is a strong possibility that African-Americans see themselvesas a large, important, culturally different part of this country. They may feel that by speaking differently, by refusing to conform to the use of standard American English, they stand strong as a significant pillar of American society. So, if they begin to speak the way the majority of Americans speak, it weakens their foundation and the pillar crumbles in assimilation. In order tokeep the pillar standing, blacks use social