The Oakland School Board Resolution on Ebonics was quite interesting indeed. I had never looked at Ebonics, black sounds, as anything more than bad grammar. It blew my mind to see that the resolution said the African Language Systems were genetically based and not a dialect of English. That makes me wonder, so no matter what culture you’re born into, if you’re black, you’ll speak Ebonics? And besides, not all blacks speak Ebonics. How did science get involved with linguistics?
In my opinion, Ebonics is rooted in the English language with some changes in pronunciation; it is not its own language. Concerning recognizing the language variety spoken by many black students and taking that into account in teaching Standard English, this is understandable. I do agree that this was worth studying to understand the principles, laws and structures of Ebonics for the benefit of black students. It makes sense that “if the children’s cultural and social backgrounds are valued, their self-respect and self-confidence are affirmed and new learning is facilitated.”
I also agree that language is critical in talking about the education of a people because it represents a people’s theory of reality; it explains, interprets, constructs, and reproduces that reality.
It seems true to me that in order to change the linguistics of African Americans you need to change their culture, language being a big part of culture. Because not all blacks speak Ebonics, it must be a cultural trait. Ebonics may derive in certain parts of the country, particular parts of town, and within a particular social class.