This article was published by the Association of Black Psychologists, the citation is listed below.

Rush, L. (1997). The ebonics debate. Psych Discourse, 28(2&3), 6.

It has become apparent that the debate over Black English/Ebonics has finally come to a head. In December, 1996, the Oakland Unified School District brought the debate to the forefront by taking a stand on the issue, and perhaps it is time for Black Psychologists to move toward taking a stand as well. While I propose only to speak for myself, I hope my doing so will inspire others to enter into the debate, and perhaps help to clarify the importance of an understanding of Ebonics.

What is Ebonics? Ebonics, translated literally, means "Black Sounds". Historically in psychology we have referred to Ebonics by the name Black English. By whatever name, Ebonics is a way of communicating used primarily by African Americans.

Where did Ebonics Come From? I don't propose to know the definite answer to this question, however, a look at Smitherman (1991) reveals some possible explanation. Smitherman states that Black English contains elements of Standard English, elements of West African languages, and elements unique to African-Americans. The structure of speech in Ebonics can be analyzed and related to African language structures as well as to the black experience in America (for a detailed analysis, see Spears, 1984; Smitherman, 1991). The research on Ebonics suggests that it is not slang, but that it has a distinct structure all its own.

Why is Ebonics Important? As pointed out by the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) in their policy on Standard American English Language Development, language skills are directly related to success in academics. Furthermore, African-American students are lagging behind in measures of academic success. The OUSD reported the following statistics: 53% of the total OUSD enrollment of 51,706 is African American 71% of the students enrolled in Special Education were African American. 37% of the students enrolled in Gifted and Talented programs were African American 80% of all suspended students were African American 1.80 average GPA of African American students represents the lowest GPA in the district.

Clearly there is a problem with these children that may be addressed by looking at language. The role that Ebonics may play in changing the above statistics is an empirical question. Only the implementation of a program including Ebonics, and time, will reveal the answer. Whatever the underlying agenda in Oakland California, it is important to look at the question of Ebonics from the standpoint of doing what is best for children. Acknowledging the validity of Ebonics in no way suggests teaching Ebonics in place of standard English. Acknowledging the validity of Ebonics can and should serve to facilitate the teaching of Standard English. One need only go to the World Wide Web and conduct a search using Ebonics as a keyword to discover that there are many strong attitudes and opinions concerning this issue. Many people see Ebonics as "gutter language", and "slang", and are quite outspoken about it. These beliefs are deeply rooted in society. Resistance to the acknowledgment that Blacks who use Ebonics may be speaking a unique language is very strong, but I believe it is important to challenge the belief that Ebonics is "slang". Some people have stated that the movement to recognize Ebonics is Afro-Centrism at its worst. I would argue that the attempts to squelch Ebonics are Euro-Centrism at its worst and most vehement.

Teachers should be given every possible tool to reach our children. Ebonics may be the additional tool they need. Many good teachers of English already teach Standard English by telling students that their way of speaking is valuable, but the language of the work place, and the language of academics, is Standard English. The systematic de-valuation of Ebonics in American society is consistent with the de-valuation of African-Americans in general, and must be addressed. Whether or not the OUSD intends to receive federal funding based on teaching English as a second language to African American students is really irrelevant. Global issues of who we (Americans) think of as valuable members of society are much more important. We must put money issues aside and look at how to best facilitate the education of African American children.

References:

Smitherman, G. (1991). Talking and testifyin: Black English and the Black experience. In Reginald Jones (Ed.) Black Psychology.(3rd ed., pp. 249-268). Berkeley, CA: Cobb & Henry

Spears, A. K. (1984). Towards a new view of Black English. The Journal, 1, 94-103.