EBONICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE In December of 1996 a national controversy erupted when the Oakland school district suggested that "ebonics," which is also known as Black English, was a genetically based second language. Since Oakland California's decision to allow the teaching of ebonics in its school system, ebonics has become a national issue and has sparked a heated debate form coast to coast. A large part of the ebonics controversy is the fact that many …showed first 75 words of 1103 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1103 total…I think approaching ebonics as a tool or a method to teach people English is acceptable. On the other hand, if were trying to create some romantic notion that this is a new language . . . we are somewhat deluding ourselves. Whatever category the issue of ebonics as a second language falls under, each leaves no question that it is not a dead topic. For the simple fact that it will be debated for a long time.