special education purposes in the b

special education purposes in the best interest of these students? We argue that
labeling African-American students in special education is not advantageous and
can even be counter-productive.
We contend thatwhatever good intentions, once students are labeled, especially
African-American students, the extra “baggage” that comes with that label may
be a burden too heavy to carry. The very term “disability” suggests a deficit mode
of thinking about the labeled students. Since the prefix “dis” is derived from Latin
meaning“not”or “without,” the termdisabilitycanbe literallydefinedas “nothaving
ability.” To illustrate the sociolinguistic implications of this term, when combined
with the word “learning” (i.e., learning disability), the term suggests not having
the ability to learn. An educational system that operates on the premise that some
students do not have the ability to perform at a prescribed level can promote not
only deficit thinking but also discrimination—a treatment endured too frequently
by African Americans