Ebonics and the Black Community: Help or Hindrance?
By Kaywana S. Dickson, NJCU Student (Communiversity)
“You ain’t finna go to the party with me tonight”
“Nah girl I be workin all the time, I’m be tired”
“You wrong. After what you had said last week. Man, forget you! I aint messin wit you nomore”
This conversation is an example of Black English or Ebonics. Ebonics is a word used to refer to African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The word Ebonics started to make its appearance in the early 1970’s. Prior to the 1970’s Black English or jive were the more commonly used terms for African American Vernacular English. The word Ebonics was first mentioned by a psychologist named Robert Williams during a conference on “Cognitive and Language Development of the Black Child” in 1973. In 1975 it appeared in the title of a book co-written by Robert Williams “Ebonics: The True Language of Black Folks.” In this book Williams explains that Ebonics is a two-year-old term created by a group of black scholars. It can be defined as “the linguistic and paralinguistic features which in concentric continuum represent the communicative competence of the West African, Caribbean, and United States slave descendant of African origin. It includes various idioms, patois, argots, idiolects, and social dialects of black people” especially those who have adapted to colonial circumstances. The word Ebonics is a combination of the terms ebony (black) and phonics (sound, the study of the sound) and it refers to the study of the language of Black Americans in all their cultural individuality.
Although “Black English” is a more common term Ebonics became more popular in 1996. The term became widely known in the US because of its use by the Oakland School Board to indicate and acknowledge the primary language or ethnolect of African American children attending school. Ethnolect is a variety of a language spoken by a certain ethic or cultural subgroup. The word combines the concepts of an ethnic group and a dialect. The Oakland School Board felt that they should encourage the teaching of Standard English to these children in order to give them a better understanding of the curriculum, but they would be taught in Ebonics. Basically these children would have to take a class like ESL in order to understand what was being taught in the schools. However, after a “storm of criticism,” the School Board had to amend its policies regarding ebonics, but as a result of this controversy, the word has become an alternative to the term African American Vernacular English. The controversy lies in claims regarding the origins of Black English, whereby the original resolution from the Oakland School Board stated that Ebonics was a “genetically based” African language and not a dialect of English. Most linguists have rejected this claim.
AAVE’s refusal to go along with the integration into Standard American English or other more standard dialects is the result of cultural and historical differences between African Americans and those who speak of traditional English. This is common for any language that is used by isolated groups of people, which is likely to split into a variety of dialects. That is why language becomes a form of self-differentiation that helps form group uniqueness, unity and dignity.
AAVE has survived through the centuries also as a result of varying degrees of isolation from Southern American English and Standard English, through marginalization by the conventional society. Although there are many arguments surrounding the use of Ebonics some people view it as a negative term and other think of it as a positive term. It has been said that it is socially negative to speak in Ebonics. It is also hard for children to learn in school because they do not understand the wording or the words have different meaning in their neighborhoods.
I feel that when someone uses Ebonics it shows a lack of education especially when it is used with people who don’t have a natural understanding for African American culture. I feel that the use of Ebonics in the household will act as a barrier to the child when they are in school. This is because Ebonics is not used in the educational system. How will black people as a whole prosper and grow if they isolate themselves with their language? Even though Ebonics is mostly made up of English words, some of them carry a different meaning for different individuals. I do not feel that this form of speech should be promoted at all; it is another obstacle that black people as a whole need to overcome.
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Living Language 
April 10, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Kay, an insightful post. But, there few points to consider: First, what do you mean by a “natural understanding for African American culture”? Wouldn’t understanding the dialect and its origins be a part of this? And, why does a particular dialect mean someone necessarily lacks an education? Is it just the Black dialect that suggests this? In that case, aren’t their racist implications? Do some dialects, say a London accent indicate something else, education or wealth? In other words, aren’t our impressions of dialect connected to stereotypes, class, prejudice, race, and ethnicity? Although you are probably correct that speaking outside or differently than mainstream American culture (if such a speech exists) might make it difficult for kids (especially African American kids) to get ahead in school (or adults in their careers), do keep in mind that this is more a result of unfortunate linguistic prejudice and bias, not an inherent problem with the dialect itself or those who speak it.
April 15, 2009 at 11:53 pm
I agree with your comments and your position on the term “ebonics.” I sometimes that maybe there might be a legitimate side to the term but overall I feel that if the English language is modified, the way many people in urban areas modify the language, then it really does not fall into a category of its own like a dialect would.
I guess what I am trying to say is that if language is modified by a dialect,then ebonics would be considered a dialect and I do not really believe that ebonics is a dialect. Ain’t was always considred improper English and “he be going” is also improper in the English language. What is Ebonics again?
June 9, 2009 at 12:05 pm
You northern scholars and your terms. Allow me to start by saying that you can transfer any speaker of so called Ebonics to the bowels of Kentucky and they will be easily understood. Why because Eboncis is nothing more than a southern dialect of English. During the great migration, blacks left the south in search of work in the North. Because, the northern cities tend to be segregated until this day, you will find blacks who still have this dialect.
You also have to consider that pop culture has pretty much dominated black culture to the point of blurring lines between the two. If this is such a phenomenon, then why is it that you can look at a youtube clip of Eartha Kitt, Diana Ross, Diahann Carole and see a dramatic difference between Beyonce, or Alicia Keys? If you really would like to hear a diffence, then compare the sitcom Whats happenin’ with Martin.
I can understand if you pointed to examples of people speaking the Gullah dialect as a form of Ebonics. However,this whole notion of “black English” needs to stop. It is a hindrance. My grandmother wasn’t the most educated person in the world. Yet, like most other black Americans of her generation, she would never use language in the same manner out in public, as in the home. What you are seeing is cultural deterioration, as opposed to black culture in the form of ebonics.
June 12, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Thanks for your comment and interest in our blog. A few quick points in response:
First, please note that the post you are reacting to is from one of my students. Although she is a very bright young woman, I doubt she would qualify as a “northern scholar” (nor do I think she’d refer to herself in that way). Second, you are simply wrong in asserting that African-American Vernacular English is just a dialect. Even the most conservative linguists today have concluded that AAVE is more than a standard dialect of English because it spoken by individuals in spite of regional, class, social and even racial distinctions. This, in itself, makes it a more complex phenomenon than a standard dialect or a vernacular. AAVE also has also had multiple different influences throughout its historical development including different African languages, Caribbean Creoles, and other English dialects (British and Southern USA). Socio-linguist William Labov called it “a subsystem of English with a distinctive set of phonological and syntactical rules.” And, simply because someone in Kentucky can easily understand someone speaking in AAVE from, say, Jersey City, NJ, is very flimsy evidence to suggest that it is “nothing more than a southern dialect of English,” as you put forward in your comment. In fact, this lends support to the very opposite of what you contend: i.e. this shows that it is more than a vernacular or dialect since it is not isolated to a particular geographical region. In other words, you undermine your very argument. One final point…The idea that a dialect is somehow a cultural deterioration that needs to be stopped is, in my estimation, just wrongheaded. At it’s best, it kowtows to the “prescriptive tradition.” At worst, it’s a form linguistic prejudice. Most linguists agree as you’ll see here:
“We are all agreed that all languages and dialects are complex and structured means of expression and perception, and that prejudices based on the way other people speak are akin to racism and sexism. We are agreed that most views about the superiority of one language or dialect over another have social and historical rather than genuinely linguistic origin.”
— Group statement by collective of prominent linguists, 1998, Language Myths, ed. Bauer & Trudgill