Oh, the excitement. Since we can't talk about religion anymore, why not make small talk about linguistic discrepancies that are hardly of any consequence to many of the people who discuss them? Walt Wolfram, in my opinion, offers the most insightful explanation not as to what Ebonics is, but rather what this whole Oakland controversy was about in the first place and who it affects.

According to Wolfram, the resolution's point was to officially acknowledge that African American Vernacular English is a legitimate language system. Whether it is a separate language or a dialect is not important, as it has been made clear that the intention of the Oakland Resolution was not to declare African Americans 'bilingual' in order to gain federal funding.

My question is this: So what if this whole resolution was just a ploy to gain federal financial support? Would this be a bad thing? Would it be so shocking to the nation if *gasp* the Oakland schools splurged on some new textbooks, or invested in materials/training to increase the standardized test scores of a significant percentage of students? What next-bathrooms with a constant supply of toilet paper?

I have come to appreciate that the recognition of Ebonics being used in the homes of many African American students is meant to lead these very students toward improving their use and understanding of Standard English.