I need to begin with the irrational anger I felt reading the last quote in Zachary Martin’s article. That was not Pac; that was Lauryn Hill on the first album by The Fugees, The Score. The song in question is “Zealots,” by the way. That shit had me so upset. I still ain’t over it. I’ve corrected a wrong, but it don’t matter! T_T
That being said, it’s crazy to think that despite the amount of work and craftsmanship that goes into writing, composing, and delivering that verse, Wein would dismiss that individual because, in his mind, their lack of “mastery” over the English language shows a lack of work ethic or care. When in reality, it’s the mastery of standard AMERICAN English, in tandem with AAVE, that allows a rapper to craft some of the most intricate lyrics and execute them with speed.
While I understand what Wein is saying in his article, I don’t agree with it. Your ability to distinguish between to, too, and two has no bearing on your ability to stock shelves, and even less on your ability to code. Coding itself is a form of language and is not inherently dependent on the use of grammar in the English language.
Consider the many children who are alive today and learning how to code online through YouTube videos because they want to make their own video games. Consider how many of them come from underserved communities and lower socioeconomic classes. Kids who come from school systems that are as corrupt as any government body, mishandling their education in order to boost numbers and get money from the state. They have teachers who are underpaid and tend to be either jaded, disillusioned, and apathetic, or care so much that it’s to their detriment. These kids have to navigate all that, and the effect it has on their self-esteem and view of self-worth. And that’s just at school. That’s not even considering their home lives, family dynamics, or the safety or closeness of their neighborhood.
Imagine being one of those kids and making it to the place you’ve dreamt of working for as long as you can remember. Your ability to code is as good as any graduate from a college—or, if you’re lucky, even better, because you had the opportunity to attend one to bolster your already considerable foundation. You send in your resume, and you’re turned down—not based on your actual work or the requirements of the position you are aiming for, but because you slipped up and accidentally wrote ain’t instead of isn’t.
It’s enough to make someone go postal.
I’m not saying Wein is racist. The experience above can apply just as much to white children in those same communities. But it is a classist stance to have. A stance of privilege. Boldly stated, despite the grammatical faux pas in his own work.
Judgement should be placed on the content of ones character and the standard that their work ethic produces. If your writing is shit, but your mathematical equations give a solid answer to the question of life and everything, does it matter if in your paper you write , “It ain’t even like it was hard.”
P.S. The answer is 42 by the way.
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