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 of today's students do not get a good enough grasps of standard written and spoken English to compete successfully in the job market later. In this essay, I will discuss the issue of whether ebonics should be considered a second language.
The argument of ebonics advocates is that their unique programs will permit black children to excel at what critics of ebonics say they want black children to learn: regular English.
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