Young’s insistence that dialects should be taught and appreciated in schools (70-71) stirred my curiosity. I simple searched “black english in schools” on Google, and copious articles appeared with titles like “Oakland Schools Adopt ‘Black English’ Policy,” (CNN), “School District Elevates Status of Black English” (NYTimes), and “African American English” (PBS).
At first, these titles seemed positive to me, as if Black English was receiving credibility in the professional world. However, after reading closely, I discovered just the opposite.
“The decision, in effect, describes black English as not merely a dialect of standard English, but a separate language with roots in Africa, which the district and some linguists call Ebonics, from the combination of the words ‘ebony’ and ‘phonics’'' (Applebome, Peter).
This article depicts a policy from 1996 in Oakland, California schools to brand Black English as a separate language. They decided to regard black children as bilingual, speaking Black English at home but required to learn Standard English at school.
There are many reasons why this disturbs me, but the main one is the stigma and discrimination associated with calling one dialect inferior to another; in this case, labeling Black English as an entire different language. As Young states, this kind of language hierarchy can lead to stereotypes that blacks are dumb (64). For a nation that is still fighting social inequity, this seems like a step backwards.
Although this policy was initiated almost twenty years ago and has been revoked, it uncovers a crucial point - that the way English is being taught across the U.S. is largely ineffective for children of diverse backgrounds. I would love to do further research to see if this policy brought awareness, and if we are moving in the right direction as a multilingual nation.
Applebome, Peter. "School District Elevates Status of Black English." The New York Times 20 Dec.
1996: n. pag. Print.
Young, Vershawn Ashanti. Should Writers Use They Own English? N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.