The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children - Softcover

Perry, Theresa; Delpit, Lisa

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807031453 ISBN 13: 9780807031452

Publisher: Beacon Press, 1998

Synopsis

In the winter of 1996, the Oakland school board's resolution recognizing Ebonics as a valid linguistic system generated a brief firestorm of hostile criticism and misinformation, then faded from public consciousness. But in the classrooms of America, the question of how to engage the distinctive language of many African-American children remains urgent. In The Real Ebonics Debate some of our most important educators, linguists, and writers, as well as teachers and students reporting from the field, examine the lessons of the Ebonics controversy and unravel the complex issues at the heart of how America educates its children.

About this title

About the Author

Theresa Perry is associate professor and vice president for community relations at Wheelock College in Boston. Lisa Delpit is the Benjamin E. Mays Professor of Urban Educational Leadership at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

From the Back Cover

In The Real Ebonics Debate some of our most important educators, linguists, and writers, as well as teachers and students reporting from the field, examine the lessons of the Ebonics controversy and unravel complexities of the issue that have never been acknowledged. An insightful look at the political nature of language and its inseparability from race and class in America, The Real Ebonics Debate cuts to the heart of how America educates its children.

Reviews

YA-Perry and Delpit invited a dozen scholars and practicing classroom teachers to contribute essays on the topic of "Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children." In addition to these contributors, the editors include pieces by James Baldwin and Paul Laurence Dunbar; relevant full-text resolutions and policies from the Oakland, CA, school board, whose Ebonics Resolution in 1996 opened a national debate; and interviews. After setting the scene, the book is divided into sections that examine the role language plays in a developing student's life and in the power structure of the society; how teachers have used their own language skills (which include listening and understanding as well as speaking and correcting) to enfranchise their students; the ways white America has interpreted the use of Ebonics among African-American children and in adult culture; and when, where, how, and perhaps why journalists across the country misrepresented the Oakland Ebonics Resolution. This is a powerful, accessible and valuable volume not only for teachers and those who hold themselves to the duty of providing educational opportunity for all American children, but also for teens who are looking to understand their own language experiences and those of their classmates.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Beacon Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807031453
• ISBN 13: 9780807031452
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 242