The booklet, officially named “Ghetto Handbook”, a guide to ‘Ebonics’ and subtitled “Wucha Dun Did Now?”, is a dictionary for Ebonics, a collection of African-American slang.
In 1996, the term became widely known in the
The eight-page handout, which includes a few grainy photographs, purports to offer definitions that will enable the reader to speak Ebonics "as if you just came out of the hood."
Some Ebonics definitions in the handbook include: "foty: a 40-ounce bottle of beer", "aks: to ask a question", and "hoodrat: scummy girl".
The identity of the officer who distributed this booklet has been suspended one week without pay. Although the
Although the booklet was first distributed in May, the HISD officials were unaware of its existence until an oral complaint was made to the district's Equal Employment Opportunity Office on Aug. 13.
School board President Manuel Rodriguez Jr. said, "I'm completely surprised and overwhelmed that it took us so long to find out about it. In today's age and time, there should be no room for that type."
Carol Mims Galloway, president of
"It was really a slap in the African-American community's face," she said, adding that she believes black students in the district already are being shortchanged academically.
Last year, almost 30% of the district's 202,000 students were black and almost 60% were Hispanic.