Activists Push for Legal Recognition of Black English in Preschool Education
Activists are urging for the acknowledgment of Black English in preschool settings as a means to enhance literacy rates among children in California.
The initiative, led by Black Californians United for Early Care and Education (BlackECE), aims to “challenge damaging language hierarchies and affirm Black English as a genuine, rule-governed language that is deeply rooted in Black culture, history, and community.”
Interestingly, the movement is also focused on identifying how language bias appears in early education and finding ways to address it effectively.
“I want my son to enter any space feeling that his voice matters, to be heard without the need to change the way he speaks,” expressed Ashley Williams, a co-founder of BlackECE, during an interview with PBS.
Williams reflected on her own experiences, recalling that speaking Black English often felt filled with slang and, well, some grammatical confusion. It can be quite disorienting at times.
BlackECE operates as a non-profit organization and has put together a 10-point policy plan aimed at securing reparations and providing support for Black children, families, and workers.
Citing a California plan announced recently, activists believe that the state’s educational framework should advocate for early bilingual education and foster the growth of bilingual youth by 2020, stressing that Black native languages deserve inclusion as well.
“We often talk about multilingualism, yet we overlook Black children who may speak African American English,” pointed out Sigrid Soto-Boykin, the director of the Child Equity Project.
Williams also recounted how she sometimes felt pressured to “speak white” in order to fit in, a sentiment that can create significant anxiety.
According to research from the National Library of Medicine in 2020, about 20% of children in the U.S. and 44% of children in California between the ages of 5 and 17 are considered bilingual.
However, it’s noteworthy that only 89% of African Americans speak solely English at home.
