The Shot Heard from Ann Arbor: Language Research and Public Policy in African America

Abstract

This article is an overview of the research and educational public policy implications of work done on African American Language (also known as Black English, Black language, African American Vernacular English, Ebonics, and African American English). We begin with the Martin Luther King Junior Elementary School Children v. Ann Arbor School District Board case in Ann Arbor, Michigan, because Judge Charles Joiner's 1979 ruling in that case served as an educational catalyst, resounding as loudly throughout the United States as ''the shot heard around the world.'' From the time of King through the end of the twentieth century, and on into the new millennium, there has been a voluminous body of research on the speech of Africans in America. This work has come not just from the field of linguistics, but also from speech pathology, education, psychology, literature, and African American Studies. We summarize the most critical research conducted during this period, including African-centered studies, as well as research efforts to resurrect the Anglicist paradigm. We conclude this article with a call for scholarly responsibility on the language question and a bold agenda for future research and public policy on language and the African American community.