DEA Seeking Ebonics Experts

The Justice Department's Drug Enforcement Administration is looking to to hire contract linguists to help provide transcripts of intercepted conversations involving suspected criminals. In total, the agency is seeking experts in 114 different languages.

Nothing unusual there, except The Smoking Gun reveals that among the languages is "Ebonics" -- the vernacular form of English spoken by some African-Americans. In DEA contract records, Ebonics is listed as a "common language" spoken in the United States.

DEA's search for linguists is spelled out in documents related to a request for proposals issued in May for a contract to provide up to 2,100 language experts for the agency's field offices.

(Hat tip: Slashdot)