Let's Flip the Script: An African American Discourse on Language, Literature, and Learning

144 Pages·1996·9.937 MB·

by  Keith Gilyard

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LET'S
FLIP
THE
SCRIPT
African American Life Series
A complete listing of the books
in this series
can be found at
the back of this volume.
L E T 'S
F L IP
T HE
S C R I PT
AN AFRICAN AMERICAN
DISCOURSE
ON LANGUAGE,
LITERATURE,
AND LEARNING
KEITH GILYARD
WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
DETROIT
Copyright © 1996 by Wayne State University Press,
Detroit, Michigan 48202. All rights are reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gilyard, Keith, 1952-
Let's flip the script: an African American discourse on language,
literature, and learning / Keith Gilyard.
p. cm. — (African American life series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Language and education—United States. 2. Language and languages—Politica
ISBN 0-8143-2645-5 (pbk.: alk.
ISBN 0-8143-2645-5 (pbk.: alk. paper)
.
y and criticism. I. Title. II.
9 98 97 96 5 4 3 2 1
P40.8.G55 1996
4O7'.O73— dc20 96-16292
CONTENTS
Introduction 7
LANGUAGE AND POLITICS
A Heightened Sense of Language as Educational
and Social Critique 13
The Social Responsibility That Writing Is—
and Writing Instruction Too 21
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Genopsycholinguisticide and the Language Theme in
African American Fiction 31
Tucept Highjohn and the Limits of Language Programming:
A Coda 45
Julius and Jesse in 003 51
LANGUAGE AND LEARNING
One More Time for Professor Nuruddin 63
Language Learning and Democratic Development 73
African American in Process 87
LANGUAGE, RACISM, AND RESISTANCE
A Legacy of Healing:
Words, African Americans, and Power 99
Getting Off the Hook—I Mean Curve 113
A FINAL WORD
Playing with the Patterns 125
Index 137

INTRODUCTION
MUCH TO MY BENEFIT, I have friends and colleagues who encourage
me to say things about language and education, particularly with
respect to African Americans. They solicit writing, invite me to
forums, and prop me up at podiums. They generally seek insight,
decisiveness, and controversy, though I wonder sometimes which
they most prefer. Notwithstanding, I am thankful for the oppor-
tunities to influence discussion and, possibly, to shape actual ma-
neuvers. The eleven essays in this book, each written upon request,
indicate the major themes with which I have been concerned dur-
ing the past five years. They furthermore represent my overall at-
tempt to shift discourses and activities, to turn the tide or flip the
script.
The first two essays, "A Heightened Sense of Language" and
"The Social Responsibility That Writing Is," deal pointedly with
confluences of language and politics. Within the context of consid-
ering diversity issues, I demonstrate how language resonates politi-
cally and how value-laden writing pedagogy is. Although I
admittedly digress a bit, my specific purpose is to spark resistance
to counterproductive language arts instruction.
The next three essays comprise a sort of unit on literature and
teaching. When my 1980s research in sociolinguistics made me
conscious of the frequency with which musings about linguistic
strength and weakness constituted motifs in African American
INTRODUCTION
literary works, I began to write a series of pieces reflecting this un-
derstanding. "Genopsycholinguisticide and the Language Theme
in African American Fiction" is the most expansive. "Tucept
Highjohn and the Limits of Language Programming" carries the
argument and way of reading a step further, and "Julius and Jesse in
003" shows how the critical agenda I pursued can meaningfully in-
form writing classrooms.
The remaining essays can profitably stand alone. "One More
Time for Professor Nuruddin" is a "knowledge loan" to Yusuf Nu-
ruddin, the resident scholar of Bedford-Stuyvesant. I have tried to
lay out in concise and accessible fashion the origin, development,
and educational implications of Africanized forms of English. It is a
pleasure to do so, but Yusuf still has to pay me back.
"Language Learning and Democratic Development" is in
many ways a homage to the "NYU crew." In consulting and learn-
ing with people affiliated with New York University's Program in
English Education, some of whom I'll name later, I was pressed to
consider seriously, always with the intent of shaking things up, no-
tions of democracy and their relationship to various educational
practices.
"African American in Process" investigates the claim, to
which Lisa Delpit's work is central, that writing-process methodol-
ogy is inappropriate for African American students. I argue, con-
versely, that process instruction is indeed fitting instruction for
such students and that teachers can more fruitfully challenge the
abuse of process methods than the process paradigm itself.
"A Legacy of Healing" largely examines the generative power
of African American folkloric, literary, and educational traditions
with the idea of harnessing some of that power to revamp school-
ing. In addition, recounting my role in one contentious discussion
of education, I aim to illustrate briefly how language theorists can
contribute to practical debates.
"Getting Off the Hook" encodes my obligation to respond to
The Bell Curve. There is hardly need for further prefatory comment
on this score. On its own, the essay won't win an intellectual tug of
war with the Herrnstein and Murray book, but I know there's
plenty of help out there, with more coming.
Writing the closing essay, "Playing with the Patterns," was
perhaps the most fun. I have tried to account for the early influ-
ences on my present teaching beliefs and style. Such an autobiogra-
phical attempt inevitably falls somewhat shy of the mark, but I
Introduction
think it reveals valuable perspectives on (dis)connections between
curricular and extracurricular activity.
This book should especially please those who put me up to it.
I was not always an eager participant, and I am even tempted to
abandon protocol at this point and take sole credit for whatever
good parts there may be and blame them for the faults. Most of
them would appreciate that bit of mischief, but I'll refrain and give
propers in the usual way. All kidding aside, they have my utmost
gratitude:
Lillian Bridwell-Bowles, former president of the Conference
on College Composition and Communication; Geneva Smither-
man, solid sista force throughout; Claire Wood and the members
of the City University of New York Writing Centers Association;
Kenneth Peeples, editor of Community Review; James Raymond,
Nancy Johnson, and Reginald Martin, editors of the special African
American literature issue of College English; Edison O. Jackson,
president of Medgar Evers College, CUNY; Frances Degan Ho-
rowitz, president of the CUNY Graduate School; Ira Shor and the
faculty of CUNY's Ph.D. program in English; Brenda Greene,
who pulled me into her NCTE panel on cultural and critical liter-
acy; the students of Medgar Evers College, especially the data pro-
ducers who have consented to assist; John Garvey of the CUNY
Office of Academic Affairs; Rita Brause, Nancy Lester, John May-
her, and Cynthia Onore, that NYU connection; Ruth Vins and
Clifford Hill, Teachers College, Columbia University; Yusuf Nu-
ruddin once again, who keeps me on my toes; Clinton Crawford, a
positive force as well; Steve Cannon, who forced me into the Curve,
not to mention many previous ventures; and Richard Larson and
Tom McCracken, who sought narrative. I'll even add a tad more.
"Education, education," the youthful man would repeat as his
health failed beneath the Georgia sun. "Make sure to educate the
boys," he would scribble in the diary to be left for his wife. He in
fact had been promised by a friend, a school official, that the friend
would see the man's two sons through college. The man also had
two daughters, but he had a different vision for them. Quite pre-
dictably. It was 1936. But we also know that the twist, the flip, is
often the most important part of the tale. One of the man's daugh-
ters, nine years old at the time of his death, grew up remembering
her father's words. "Education, education," she would stress re-
peatedly, decades later, to her son, who, most days, is looking for
some educational action.