names, “black English” is now being called “Ebonics.” San
Jose Mercury News, 12/23/1996.Individuals or institutions step forward to serve as moral
entrepreneurs:
1. A decision by the school district in Oakland in California has
touched a nerve across the nation ... But state and federal
educators are distancing themselves from the proposal. And
many Oakland parents are outraged over the decision. All
Things Considered, NPR, 12/20/1996.
2. Reverend Jesse Jackson urged the Oakland, California, school
district today to reverse its decision recognizing Ebonics, or
Black English, as a second language. Jackson called the
decision, quote, “an unacceptable surrender borderlining on
disgrace,” end quote. CBS Sunday Night News, 12/26/1996.
3. ... the reactions range from amazement to interest to the view
of black poet Maya Angelou, who considers it “an awful
idea,” in plain English. CBS Evening News, 12/23/1996.
4. The hearings began on a combative note. Sen. Lauch Faircloth
(R-N.C.) denounced Ebonics as “absurd” and said that the
Oakland school board’s decision to have teachers recognize it
in classes struck him as “political correctness gone out of
control.” The Washington Post, 1/24/1997.Definers are identified primarily by their credentials as a claim to
authority:
1. Not surprisingly, the decision by school officials in Oakland,
Calif., to declare black English – so-called Ebonics – to be a
separate language has prompted controversy. Many black
leaders denounced the move; Education Secretary Richard
Riley says Ebonics is not a foreign language but non-standard
English, a form of slang. “This is not an issue and I do not
want it to become an issue. African American students are
very capable of using standard English in the form it is now
being taught.” – Sen. Ralph David Abernathy, D-Atlanta, who
is sponsoring a bill that would ban Georgia’s school systems