Ebonics is a serious problem that has affected the education and work of millions of young Blacks in America. Ebonics is a predominant language pattern spoken by most urban Blacks. They acquire this language by age four and build on it because of their culture (Templeton A1). Not all African Americans speak Ebonics. It is not used in professional or business settings or schools, but informally at home, among friends and in their own communities. For some people it is easy to switch back and forth from Ebonics to Standard English, but other students do not know Standard English so they only speak Ebonics. Ebonics is different from Standard English and often teachers cannot understand what students are saying. Some Blacks may feel isolated or ashamed when others don't understand them. Ebonics for some lead to serious reading comprehension and communication problems. These students perform badly in school and fail to acquire the ways of speaking that are needed to be successful in the world outside their neighborhood. A lot of Americans would not like to believe that some Black Americans cannot speak or write Standard English. .
According to the Oakland, California school board: .
"In Oakland's majority-Black school districts, Blacks have a combined grade-point average of 1.8 on a scale of 4.0, compared with 2.12 for Whites and more than 3.0 for Chinese students. Blacks also accounted for far more than their share of students who flunked a grade, skipped school, or required remedial classes, and nearly one-fifth of the black 12th graders did not graduate." (Lamb 1E).
Another interesting fact to know is that 71% of Black Americans are enrolled in special education because they cannot speak clearly. Ebonics negatively affects Blacks. The use of Ebonics does not help Blacks. Ebonics cannot help someone get an interview for a job, get admitted to a college, or get the exposure in technology and training they need to compete.
