Analyzes outgroup linguistic racism in parodies of Ebonics that appeared on the Internet in the wake of the Oakland School Board resolution on improving the African-American students English skills. Shows that Mock Ebonics is a system of graphemic, phonetic, grammatical, semantic, and pragmatic strategies for representing an outgroup's belief in…

The "Ebonics Resolution" was passed by the Oakland, California, school board in 1996. The proposal called for "imparting instruction to African-American students for the combined purposes of maintaining legitimacy and richness of such language...and to facilitate their acquisition and mastery of English language skills." The…

Reviews significant research into child Black English, describes some of the controversies raised by that research, and offers some implications for teaching suggested by the research. (FL)

This paper examines the importance of teaching about non-standard dialect awareness in English departments, focusing on African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The paper asserts that it is the job of teachers to present students with appropriate knowledge about language and to raise awareness of nonstandard dialects, rather than perpetuate…

The rhetoric of black writers and speakers asserts that (1) attitudes and practices toward black language are politically based to keep blacks subordinate to the dominant culture, and (2) African American scholars have a right to determine the meaning and implications of black language. Black rhetors contend that even those blacks who speak…

In a beginning level creative writing class called "Narration and Description," two student-written stories were collectively peer edited during each session. The class was required to read the student texts before class, critique them, and, with the guidance of four assigned student facilitators, discuss the texts with the author and…

Argues that the belief that black English is bad English or ungrammatical is inconsistent with empirical linguistic evidence to the contrary and discusses some of the sociolinguistic, educational, and political aspects of the debate over the role of black English in educational settings. (34 references) (MDM)

This paper, the personal recollections of an experienced New York City public school teacher and emeritus professor of education, makes some points about "ebonics" and Black students. The paper states that when Black students in a district are assigned to special education out of proportion to their numbers, there is a fundamental…

Describes why the Oakland School Board proposed to apply African Language Systems principles to move students closer to English proficiencies. The board's objective--to raise the language skills of African-American students--was interpreted as a proposal to teach substandard English and was used to validate racist dialog. The public furor ignored…

Argues that education's current "deficiency" philosophy supports a negative view of the cultures of people of color, negatively affecting educational policies and the direction of research. Advocates the "vindicationist philosophy," which considers Blacks equally capable of academic achievement. Specifically recommends how to…

In an interview, the former president of the University of Notre Dame, Reverend Theodore M. Hesburgh, discusses prejudice in the Catholic church and Catholic education, Black English, Afrocentricity, school choice, innercity education, progress in civil rights in the United States, and immigration. (MSE)