Kirsten Smith Professor Hofmann ENGL 1101 September 16, 2013 Writing Draft I was born in San Diego,

California and lived there until I was five years old. My Mother was born and raised in the South and my Father spent most of his childhood in California and North Carolina. We moved to North Carolina to be closer to family, and the two worlds of West and East were so vastly different than anything Id ever experienced. I spent my first year in North Carolina in my grandmothers house. I remember her unusually loud voice greeting us at the door, How yall doin? Did you have a niiice trip? I was to find out later that she was an elementary school teacher of Gastonia for 20 years. I quickly adjusted to the weird accents, buttery, salty food, and the sticky humid weather. At a young age I didnt notice that I sounded different than my Grandma. I just thought my Mom spoke properly because she is very smart. As my family settled in a house of our own and I made relationships with friends at school of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, my Mother was the first to notice small changes in my speech. My mother would often stop me in the middle of a sentence and correct my pronunciation. This would irritate me and it seemed she was more focused on my grammar than my story. She would tell me to pronounce the t in that, it is not tha it is tha-t. If I made several pronunciation mistakes in one speech than she would criticize the school systems lack of emphasis on grammar. It didnt surprise me when I started to make more black friends that my mom had more objections to my speech habits. I knew that African-Americans sounded different

and that it wasnt the correct way to speak in formal settings but I thought, being that my Mom is black, that conversing in this new dialect should be natural for her. I wasnt expecting the harsh sentiment my words were met with. Apparently, speaking what I now know to be Ebonics, is ignorant and disrespectful to the millions of black people who dedicated and gave their lives for our education. I was ashamed but I felt like she was overreacting, most black people I associated with, including people in our family spoke this way and all of them cant be oblivious to her accusations. Being biracial has opened my eyes to the racism that still exists in todays society. I witness the stereotypes created on both sides and I can sometimes be the victim of these judgments. I realize that many biracial children feel the need to identify with only black or only white people because it gives them a sense of belonging. I think that is because its so hard to find a clique thats mixed the same way we are, or because it is increasingly more common for children to be raised by only one parent, exposing them to only one side of their culture. For me, grade school has always been a game of which racial group will be more accepting of my background, usually foreigners. With white friends I was told they considered me to be a white person because of the way I talk, the music I listen to, and the boys I liked, but my black friends considered me black for those same reasons. This is because they did not recognize that I adjust my language and interests to fit my surroundings. I love both black music and white music and both black and white culture. My ability to code switch and has made me who I am today. Code switching has been a part of many foreign cultures in the United States. As I weaned myself off of Ebonics in elementary school I began to observe how it affected the people around me. It is a very uncomfortable topic that creates tension in many public places. It is natural for humans to want to blend with their environment. Attention attracts ridicule and

judgment that can be detrimental to later successes. I have witnessed code switching at school and even in my family. I believe it is useful, but overall harmful to a persons sense of self. Who is to say that Ebonics or a southern drawl is the wrong way of speaking English? Thoughts of that nature harm and disrespect a persons family, culture, and upbringing. Yet, I still cant decide If I support Ebonics or not. Some people would say that Ebonics is not its own language, but simply a slang form of English. Others would propose that Ebonics has been engrained in African American culture since slavery beginning with the lack of equal opportunity in receiving an education.