Ebonics and the Politics of English

Ebonics and the Politics African-American students in Oakland’s schools. The resolution further declared of English Ebonics to be a language in its own right, not a dialect of English, and proclaimed Dennis Baron that students be taught in ways that would maintain Ebonics as well as introduce Abstract: them to standard English. In 1996 the Oakland Unified School The Oakland resolution and the District passed a resolution declaring responses to it that I shall explore in this Ebonics to be the primary language of the essay offer a lesson in language politics African-American students in its schools. and language pedagogy. Initially the The resolution further declared Ebonics Oakland resolution was received by the to be a language in its own right, not a American media, and the American dialect of English. In the face of massive public, as a declaration of linguistic national opposition to the Oakland independence, and as such it proved Ebonics resolution, this radical, separatist highly controversial. The media circus that move shifted to a conservative, instantly surrounded the Oakland assimilationist one: Oakland retracted its resolution continued for several weeks as declaration of linguistic independence and the School Board, its critics, and its reaffirmed the traditional pedagogical goal supporters tried to deal with the issues of of teaching students standard English. But language, pedagogy, and school success the Oakland Ebonics controversy reminds that the controversy raised. In the face of us that, although the English of former massive opposition, Oakland quickly British colonies has come into its own in retracted its declaration of linguistic the literary, cultural, and political scene, to independence and remodeled it into the point where we speak of World something more like a request for Englishes, the English varieties of what continued linguistic colonization. The may be regarded as internal colonies, inner Oakland School Board replaced its initial cities and the socially disenfranchised, radical stance on language with a continues to be stigmatized by speakers of conservative one, assuring the public that more esteemed varieties. its goal had never been to teach Ebonics—after all, students already knew that language. Instead, the intent of the Introduction resolution was to teach teachers about the language their students brought to school, Anyway, what was the use of my and to teach standard English to students having come from Oakland? It was who were not fluent in it, employing a not natural to have come from there methodology with a bilingual flavor that . There is no there there. would direct students to translate from their home language into the standard. Gertrude Stein, Everybody’s Now that some time has passed, Autobiography, 1937 scholars have begun to look at what happened in Oakland, this present volume of World Englishes being but one example. In December, 1996, the School Board of Since 1998 at least three books on the Oakland Unified School District, in Ebonics have appeared (Baugh 1999, California, passed a resolution declaring Mufwene et al 1998, and Perry and Delpit Ebonics to be the primary language of the 1998), and more studies may be in the World Englishes, 19 (March, 2000): 5-19. Ebonics, 2 works. But even as we recollect what blend of ‘ebony’ and ‘phonics’ referring to happened in Oakland in tranquility, there what is commonly known as ‘black is little agreement on how, or even English’, was coined by psychologist whether linguistic intervention of the kind Robert Williams in 1973. Ebonics is a proposed by the Oakland resolution can term not generally used by linguists, who be useful in improving school currently prefer the term African-American performance. Moreover, looking closely at Vernacular English (AAVE) and use it to the methods of language instruction refer to the inner-city speech form in advocated by the Oakland schools, we can question. In its initial resolution, the see that teachers are not the radicals that Oakland School Board ordered the their critics at first took them to be. superintendent of schools to implement a Instead, most teachers have reconfirmed program ‘for imparting instruction to their mission as linguistic engineers and African-American students in their primary language guardians. Convinced that their language for the combined purposes of role is to stamp out error so their students maintaining the legitimacy and richness of can gain access to the middle class, they such language … and to facilitate their remain committed to a traditional acquisition and mastery of English pedagogy of drill and correction as they language skills’ (OUSD 1996a, emphasis work toward the elusive if not illusory added). The Oakland resolution called for goal of standard English for everyone. federal bilingual education funds to Perhaps most important, the support its Ebonics program, despite the Ebonics controversy reminds us too that fact that the Ebonics program called for as we extol the diversity of English language maintenance, whereas federal around the world to the point of bilingual education funds are earmarked pluralizing it as ‘World Englishes,’ only for transitional, not maintenance, language diversity at home can be another programs. The Oakland resolution cited matter altogether. The English of former the Federal Bilingual Education Act as British colonies has come into its own on mandating programs for children of the literary, cultural, and political scene. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and But at the same time, despite the attention argued that ‘educational programs paid to nonstandard English in literature recognizing the English-language and film, the ‘real-world’ or day-to-day acquisition and improvement skills of English varieties of internal colonies, that African-American students are as is to say the English of the inner cities and fundamental as is application of bilingual of the socially disenfranchised, continues education principles for others whose to be stigmatized by speakers of more primary languages are other than English.’ prestige varieties. The resolution reiterated that African- American pupils were on the same footing What Happened in Oakland? as Asian-American, Latino-American, Native American, and other pupils ‘who On December 18, 1996, the Oakland come from backgrounds or environments Unified School District unanimously where a language other than English is resolved that Ebonics was not only the dominant,’ and instructed the language of Oakland’s African-American superintendent of schools to secure state students, it was also ‘genetically-based and and federal title VIII bilingual education not a dialect of English’ (OUSD 1996a, and ESL funding to address the needs of emphasis added). The term Ebonics, a LEP African-American students. Ebonics, 3 The Oakland resolution was the independence. As word of the Oakland School Board’s response to the report of Ebonics resolution spread—the period the Task Force on the Education of from just before Christmas until New African American Students (OUSD Year’s Day is often slow in the news 1996b). That thirty-seven member Task media, so the story was quickly picked up Force had been appointed by the Board by the wire services and reprinted earlier that year to address serious everywhere—the protests began. Ebonics educational problems arising from the fact soon became the subject of heated that African-American students, who debates around the nation’s dinner tables. comprised 53% of students in the district, Newspapers across the country were over-represented in special education editorialized against Ebonics. The New classes and under-represented in gifted York Times called it a ‘blunder’ to give and talented classes. 64% of students ‘black slang’ a place of honor in the retained, or made to repeat a grade, were classroom. The Times objected that, ‘by African American. 67% of students labeling them as linguistic foreigners in classified as truants were African their own country, the new policy will American. 80% of suspended students actually stigmatize African-American were African American. 19% of African children—while validating habits of American high school seniors failed to speech that bar them from the cultural graduate. And African American students mainstream and decent jobs’ (Linguistic had an overall grade point average of 1.80 Confusion 1996). The San Francisco on a 4.0 scale, the lowest grade point Chronicle editorialized that Oakland was average for any ethnic or racial group in ‘doing its students a disservice’ (Oakland the district. The Task Force produced a Schools Err 1996), and followed this with twenty-four page report, focusing on a an objection that Oakland ‘chose a variety of issues, including improvement dangerous and academically unproven in family and community relations with path toward achieving [their] goal’ the schools; new conflict resolution (Compounding Ebonics Error 1996). programs for students; improved nutrition Journalists scoffed at the counterintuitive with a focus on vegetarian alternatives to notion that Ebonics was closer to African burgers and fries; new community health languages than it was to English. They services; recruitment of African-American quoted Africans who confirmed that teachers; career and college counseling; Ebonics didn’t sound like any African and neighborhood development. But the language they knew. And a Nigerian one issue that occupied the School Board journalist writing in the Detroit News said, as it discussed the

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