The Drug Enforcement Agency now has 9 openings for Ebonics translators...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...kers-dea-jobs/

Why are we not spending this money on more teachers? Obviously they are needed. OR we could try hiring younger agents who are more up to date on slang. This just seems ridiculous to me.

Teachers aren't going to have any influence on the speaking style / language of dyed in the wool drug dealers and drug runners. Right now the DEA is simply trying to understand the intel, which they can't, so it makes it hard to crack down, find the bad guys, disrupt the flow of the drugs, etc.

That said - I hear you - it does seem like another silly chapter in a ridiculous 'war on drugs' ....especially considering Americans (even the otherwise law-abiding citizens) have such an appetite for illegal substances. Seems there's got to be a better way.

sigh.

but what are the job qualifications for such a position? I mean how do you test to see who is better? It's not like street/drug slang is a college course! but, I do understand the need. My 16 yr old nephew texts me and I have to have a translator because I have NO IDEA what he is trying to say.

Oh, but I do find it amusing that rapping sensation Eminem is the new posterboy for this project...especially considering you have to have a clean criminal record and pass a drug test... therefor he is not qualified for this job, and I am not sure he would want to walk away from millions of dollars a year to be a drug enforcement agent...?

Maybe they're paying Eminem in weed or giving him immunity for any future drug charges he may encounter in exchange for his "language" skills?

Becca has it right on the money, "Ebonics" is the government's p.c. way of saying "jive/smack/gang/slang". Think of that scene in the movie Airplane! and you'll get a whiff of it.

"Ideal candidate will possess excellent verbal and written communication skills in the spray paint medium...

...Tattoos accepted in lieu of resume pending authentication...

...Excellent eye-hand coordination must be demonstrated in field tests using switch blades, nunchucks, brass knuckles and a full array of automatic assault weapons...

...Personal knowledge of narcotics abuse helpful..."

LOL. I'm hopeless. I'd probably need a translater, too.

OMG, you're hilarious. I'm picturing buttoned up beurocrats conducting the interview, masking their befuddlement, seriously assessing a candidate who might really only just wanna boost their cars...

tattoos pending authentication... spray paint medium.... I mean really?

So in other words, they want a wanna be gang banger, an ex con, or a current gang banger to come in and snitch on a rival gang while he knows every move by the agency before it is made and therefor his guys get to reep the profits? OR... they just want a snitch. But times are tight so instead of a lump sum for ratting out his homies he gets a meager income and health/dental benefits? This is how I rationalize that article.

And yes, my nephew is having an identity crisis because he is mixed, and he is a teenager, and his parents are going through an ugly divorce... so he has gone from geeky science loving kid who plays football and basketball to that wanna be gang banger I mentioned in the last paragraph. He and his friends seem to think its cool to cuss and they use the most random ways of trying to talk... which is why we text... and it takes me a few minutes to figure out. Its like a really bad rebus puzzle.

Or whose posse is busy doing just that during the interview!


LOL, there may be a little more to it. I'd guess they need people to "translate" surveillance audio and interpret "code" gestures seen on surveillance video.