The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children

In the winter of 1996, the Oakland school board’s resolution recognizing Ebonics as a valid linguistic system generated a brief firestorm of hostile criticism and misinformation, 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 educators, linguists, and writers — as well as teachers and students reporting from the field — examine the lessons of the Ebonics controversy and unravel complexities of the issue that have never been acknowledged. [Publisher’s description.]

ISBN: 9780807031452 | Rethinking Schools, in collaboration with Beacon Press