Southern accents, Eastern accents, Northern accents and Ebonics

[AKA_DEUCE_1908]

I am from "The Midwest" and we traditionally do not have accents i.e. did you notice that all news anchors kinda sound alike-that's a midwest "accent", but there is a lot of slang terms used, mostly because our families are migrants from the south. i.e. you will probably never meet someone from Wisconsin whose family isn't orginally from Tennessee, Georgia, Miss. etc.
Anyway, in addressing Ebonics, I feel that it is nothing to be ashamed of, nor should we try to exchange it for "proper English" Ebonics is a testimony to the fact that as much as slavemasters tried, African-Americans were able to retain some forms of ancestral dialouge. We were stripped of our histories, families, prides and identies, and to be able to maintain some form of historical speech is a blessing to our people.
However, the reality is that there is a time and place for all things in which we are comfortable with. I find it inappropriate to use heavy slang in an academic or work enviornment. Furthermore, being from the midwest, where accents don't really exist, it is hard to take someone seriously with a heavy southern or eastern accent.