Ebonics and Black School Achievement: The Language Difference Hypothesis

Abstract

The subject matter of this chapter connects with the Ebonics phenomenon on two different levels. At the most concrete level, it is about a research project that grew out of the politics surrounding the Ebonics controversy. At a deeper level it is a fascinating case study of the current state of national policy toward the education of African American children, and the contributions of the various academic disciplines represented by the research team to the ongoing debate. At the concrete level, the only way of making sense of how the project came to be structured in the particular manner that eventually emerged, and involve the particular personalities that it brought together, is with reference to its highly-charged political context.