Black English

Black English

African American students bring a language to the classroom that, although accepted in many schools, can be criticized as simply “poor” or “lazy” English. Though belittled and denied, it lives on authentically in homes, schools, churches, and streets. Most black children know this as the language of their family members

Imagine, for a moment, that a child and his friends are casually talking about something exciting that recently happened. Although this is a typical conversation, to anyone outside of the African American community, this dialogue might seem invalid or incorrect. This is because the children are speaking a form of English called Ebonics. Now imagine that after using this form of English all their lives, a teacher tells the children it is wrong. The English they use every day of their lives to communicate with friends and family is simply wrong? Most Linguists strongly disagree.

The term Ebonics combines ebony and phonics. In other word...