The Symbolism of Ebonics

Abstract

Ebonics is a variety of English spoken by a majority of Americans. It dates from preslavery to the present while undergoing many linguistic changes along the way. Not until the 1960s had Ebonics become a topic of educational and social significance. The emergence of Ebonics as a prominent issue and ensuing controversy is a product of a period during which people were in the midst of great consciousness raising and self-approbation. It was during this time that Ebonics assumed its highest stature, symbolizing a peoples' pride in its language. Few will deny the importance of symbols to the civil rights efforts during the sixties and early seventies. Such slogans and symbols as Black is Beautiful, Black power, Black handshake, colorful dashikies, large Afro-hair styles, to name a few, were indeed powerful symbolic affectations, in that they helped unite and solidify people in their efforts to differentiate themselves from and intimidate those who opposed their plight. Just as symbolic of ethnic identity, cultural distinctness, and rejection of behavioral values of white America was the spoken English of people. Indeed, some