The Real Ebonics Debate

The Real Ebonics Debate details the history of Ebonics (a name combining the words "ebony" and "phonics") since 1973, including the Eurocentric bias in determining what language is and the American racism and coded media phrases that mark the debate. The book will be crucial to the understanding of this controversial issue for years to come. Along with famous essays and poetry by Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Paul Laurence Dunbar, the most important documents in this collection are copies of the actual Oakland Ebonics Resolution and the Ebonics Resolution Revision, which stated, "The superintendent ... shall immediately devise and implement the best possible academic program for the combining purposes of facilitating the acquisition and mastery of English language while respecting and embracing the legitimacy and the richness of the language patterns." --Eugene Holley Jr.

Product Description
When the Oakland school board issued a resolution calling for schools to acknowledge the reality of black English in the classroom, a huge national outcry and media frenzy arose. The debate about "Ebonics" made national headlines, quickly became politicized and divisive, opened wounds about ra ce, then faded from public consciousness.

But in the classrooms of America, the question of how to engage the distinctive language of many African-American children remains urgent. In The Real Ebonics Debate, some of our most important progressive educators, linguists, and writers, as well as teachers and students reporting from the field, examine the lessons of the Ebonics controversy and unravel the complexities of the issue, covering realities never acknowledged by the media. They discuss the meaning of th e political debate; they think through the detailed dynamics of teacher-student interaction; and they give wonderfully precise linguistic insight into the structure and uses of African-American English?from colloquial speech to the literary voice of Toni Morrison.

The Real Ebonics Debate cuts to the heart of how America educates African-American children. It will have immediate and enduring value for anyone thinking about race and schools.

Contrary to media frenzy and popular belief, the Oakland school board did not pass a resolution in 1996 requiring that Ebonics, or Black English, be taught in place of Standard English. It did, however, pass a resolution recognizing what linguists had known for years: that Ebonics, like Spanish or German, is not defective English but a valid linguistic system following precise rules of grammar.

It also recognized that while students speaking Ebonics need to learn Standard English to attain success in mainstream American society, to do so they must be treated with the same respect as any student who enters the classroom speaking a different language or dialect. (English as a Second Language) Instead, they are often dismissed as lazy or stupid.

This collection is a common-sense look at the the issue, and a must-read for anyone who loves language.


A multifaceted analysis of the Ebonics question   March 26, 2002
Scott Rex (Davis, CA United States)
9 out of 18 found this review helpful

I am writing this review for two reasons. The first is to praise this book for approaching the question of Ebonics and education from so many different perspectives. The second is to refute the racist diatribe in one of the previous reviews in which the reviewer criticizes Ebonics as being substandard. As a Ph.D. in linguistics, I can assure you that Ebonics is as rich and creative as any other language on earth. It is a language with a structure and a history going back centuries. The reviewer who criticized Ebonics does not understand how human language functions. It is not a question for debate. Ebonics is a language that is not inherently better or worse than any other human language. To allow speakers of Ebonics to discover this fact and to take pride in the rich history of their language can only be seen in a positive light, as far as I can tell. This book allows the reader to hear from teachers, linguists, and administrators who are experts in their fields. It should be required reading for everyone, but sadly it alone cannot overcome the prejudices held by some less enlightened members of society, as shown by one of the previous reviews.


Telling the Truth About Urban Schools   February 11, 2000
scholar-activist (California United States)
10 out of 20 found this review helpful

As an Oakland, California teacher educator, parent, and former teacher, I am convinced that when Oakland is trashed in the media it has usually done something on the side of justice. The "ebonics debate" is just one recent example. This excellent book captures how path-breaking and righteous the Oakland school board was in defending the rights of African-American students to maintain the language they bring to school at the same time they learn the conventions of "Standard English." The interview with teacher Carrie Secret is excellent. If you teach or go to school, buy the book!


Trying to legitamize ignorance, ZERO stars.   October 10, 2001
Justin Ratcliff (S.Pasadena, Ca.)
17 out of 45 found this review helpful

It is ridiculous to me that there even is a debate on this subject, yet here we are. What was once amusing, I now find quite appalling, in that educated people are actually attempting to add legitimacy to this abomination. Operating under the guise that 'ebonics' should be treated much the same ways that say Spanish-speaking students are taught is folly. If a community chooses not to speak the proper language, which is English, then that is a choice they are making. If they choose to accept 'ebonics' as some sort of pride issue, then that again is their choice. But if they expect the rest of this country to accept 'ebonics' as anything other than the lowest denominator of the English language, then they are simply out of their minds. It used to be, if there was a problem, then you fixed it your self. But in contemporary society, we're expected to suffer for the shortcomings of others. Is that fair?

Then there is the other question of teaching African-American (another aphorism that is pointless) children. Or as I like to call them, children. As if they require a different education from any other children, which to me sounds dangerously like segregation. It amuses me to think back to my travels through Africa, specifically Ghana. I was particularly amazed at how native children there were able to speak the English language far better than most children in the United States. Seems to me that this 'ebonics' rubbish is the fault of the American education system, which in turn is all our faults, because we have not given educators the tools they require to complete what has to be the most important task in this country. Education.
NO STARS for this lump of rhetorical excrement. It is an exercise in exclusionist politics, and is best left ignored, much as it has been already. If by chance you have trouble reading this, I suggest picking up a thesaurus.