Ebonics

[¿Que?]

It seems that Ebonics no longer comes up in discussions anymore. Back in the 90's there was a lot of talk about it. What exactly is the story of Ebonics, from a socialist, communist, or anarchist point of view? Do you think it was a reactionary idea? Or do you think it helped the struggle against racism?

[Jalapeno Enema]

Due to sociological barriers, African American vernacular English (AAVE) developed slightly different as an offshoot of "mainstream" American English.

The most noteworthy aspect of "Ebonics" I see is whereas other variants of language (such as creoles, pidgins, or regional dialects) are regionally based, AAVE covers a huge area relatively uniformly, and alongside standard American English and other regional dialects.

The uniformity may be due to relatively recent American population migrations.

The two different vernaculars spoken side by side is evidence between (some voluntary, most involuntary) social segregation.

In a completely hypothetical non-segregated, non-racist society, the different vernaculars living side by side would take on aspects of each other (as members on either side of the divide would interact more socially), and after a generation or two, create a new creole encompassing both (and in many areas other vernaculars and even languages.)

So in answer to the post, the concept of "Ebonics" is a byproduct of racist attitudes, but neither "good" nor "bad"; simply a quirk in sociology and language.

The talk in the 90's you refer to was over the Oakland school board, which had declared "Ebonics" a separate language from American English.

The school board at the time was made up of ignorant bigots who thought they were being open-minded. Their ignorance was defining "language" with no concept of linguistic terminology, and their bigotry was evident by their misconception that black children were somehow alien, even though their families had been in the country for generations.

[Agnapostate]

I don't identify as Black/African-American, but speak semi-ebonics, apparently. A certain type of people tend to classify ebonics as "bad English" despite the fact that many aspects of it are essentially indistinguishable from "southern English," which is apparently just "an accent" as opposed to "bad English." (I've been asked if I'm from the South based on how I speak). I would say it's a dialect. There is a good book by a black linguist, John McWhorter, that provides a popular history of the evolution of English through lexical-grammatical corruption of its more Germanic ancestor (called Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue (http://www.amazon.com/Our-Magnificent-Bastard-Tongue-History/dp/B0040RMFFC/)), shedding light on the folly of calling something "bad English." This speech by the Reverend Jeremiah Wright also points out the inconsistencies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uuQLeK95Jw&feature=player_embedded