By Gayle Jones
Contributing Writer

Long before the December 19, 1996 unanimous vote by the Oakland, Calif. school district to recognize Ebonics as the primary language of its African-American students, and the controversy continues. Since January of this year, associations, individuals and the like have come out with statements and positions, damning or affirming Black folks' right to have Ebonics legitimized. All because of the debate center: Is Ebonics a language, dialect, slang or what? Many who characterize Ebonics as slang, argue that if it is taught, we are teaching our children improper English. Others argue that Ebonics communicates, therefore it is a language.

"Legitimizing Ebonics is legitimizing the people. If you say it's not legitimate, you say the people aren't legitimate," says Robert L. William, a clinical psychologist and linguist.

Williams coined the term "Ebonics" in his 1975 book: The True Language of Black Folks. He combined the term ebony and phonics. Williams argues that Black English is a legitimate language with grammar and syntax that are highly complex. However, many in higher education, believe that Ebonics is slang, and they oppose the idea of using it to teach students in their schools.

"The rules that Ebonics speakers have are every bit as legitimate as the rules of what is considered to be the basis of a standard English. To diminish something that has linguistic base, to issues of slang tries to take Ebonics out of a language code, and put it into jargon," says Tom Stroik, linguist and MU professor of English.

Other linguistic scholars research suggest that Ebonics usage has appeared only recently, with the increase of gangs and ghettos, those individuals isolated from mainstream America. Proponents of Ebonics believe that much of Black speech patterns are influenced by African roots. They also say Ebonics evolves from the structures of Niger-Congo African languages, and represents the persistent legacy of slavery. These speech patterns were constructed by the slaves who felt that they had to create a means of communication.

Supporters of Ebonics say those who oppose Ebonics don't understand and are not sensitive to the fact that this language is a part of African American history. The non-supporters argue that since all reality is socially constructed, it is fair to say that Ebonics is not proper language, and that it's teaching down to our children. Others argue, there's evidence to prove that Ebonics is a language, and not just a social construct.

"Language is genetic, there is very little about language that is social. Our language seems to be of a certain sort, build on some interesting cognitive and linguistic principles, that social constructs seem to have nothing to do with it," says Stroik.

"In this country, you can find African language in religion, music, and many other areas. Besides, we are not going to teach Ebonics, it is just being used as a bridge to reach our children," said Williams.

Given the fact that Blacks account for 71 percent of the children from Oakland in "special" education, and 61 percent of the children who are required to repeat a grade, some believe that Ebonics, might just be the answer to helping our children learn. However, in order for Ebonics to be accepted, teachers need to be trained to recognize when students are using it, and be able to translate it into so called "standard English" as they do with foreign students, for whom English is a second language.

During a recent panel about Ebonics at Hickman High School here in Columbia, students were torn on this issue. Some expressed that it would be great if their teachers could talk to them; others felt Ebonics would be an intrusion to them. Ebonics is a very complex social issue for our children. A concern for some educators, is that African American children may feel as if the social network is being disturbed when teachers try to speak a language that they sense as being their own.

"Ebonics is not a cure, but it's a great start, and an ambitious endeavor," Stroik said.

"Training teachers about African-American heritage is a great start. The fundamental problem is the lack of knowledge about African-American history among educators," Williams said.

The one thing that parents and educators all over the country agree about, is that something has to be done; but not everyone believes that Ebonics is the answer.

(Editor's Note: Gayle Jones, of Florrisant, Mo., graduated with from MU with a BSJ, May 1997.)