My opinion changed when I read the article about her retirement. Allow me to provide you with the crucial quote:
"I'm just trying to get a few more things done," she said. "I've never made no bones about the fact that five years is a long time to be in this job."
Now, I realize I'm opening myself up for all sorts of criticism here, ranging from outrage over wasting a blog post over such a minor matter to irritation that I still haven't come to grips with Oakland's historic fascination with Ebonics.
Having worked at a newspaper, I can tell you that reporters generally check direct quotes with sources to verify their accuracy. It's also commonplace to fix minor grammatical errors using brackets or parentheses "[] or ()" where appropriate.
Evidently, neither the reporter nor Edgerly saw the need here. Apparently no one cares that "I've never made no bones" is an obliteration of the English language. They probably thought it was cute and charming.
I do not. These sorts of quotes represent the subtle ways in which our communities devalue themselves.
If our use of language is our greeting card to the world, then this quote says: "Welcome to Oakland! The people who live here are morons!"
So, I guess I now know two things about Deborah Edgerly.
