With the recent controversy in the Oakland, California school district
about Ebonics--or as it is referred to in sociolinguistic circles,
African American Vernacular English or Black English Vernacular--much
attention has been paid to the patterns of speech prevalent among
African Americans in the inner city.
In January 1997, at the height of the Ebonics debate, author and
prominent sociolinguist William Labov testified before a Senate
subcommittee that for most inner city African American children, the
relation of sound to spelling is different, and more complicated than
for speakers of other dialects. He suggested that it was time to apply
this knowledge to the teaching of reading.
The testimony harkened back to research contained in his groundbreaking
book Language in the Inner City, originally published in 1972. In it,
Labov probed the question Does 'Black English' exist? and emerged with
an answer that was well ahead of his time, and that remains essential to
our contemporary understanding of the subject.
Language in the Inner City firmly establishes African American
Vernacular English not simply as slang but as a well-formed set of rules
of pronunciation and grammar capable of conveying complex logic and
reasoning. Studying not only the normal processes of communication in
the inner city but such art forms as the ritual insult and ritualized
narrative, Labov confirms the Black vernacular as a separate and
independent dialect of English. His analysis goes on to clarify the
nature and processes of linguistic change in the context of a changing
society.
Perhaps even more today than two decades ago, Labov's conclusions are
mandatory reading for anyone concerned with education and social change,
with African American culture, and with the future of race relations in
this country.
