ABSTRACT
The furor and confusion in the United States over the role of “Ebonics” in education is but a skirmish in a long-running struggle. For the reasons and because the role of language in education is but one of several examples of the critical nexus of language and state power, the Ebonics issue is a vital one for working people everywhere. Some familiarity with the basic linguistic concepts involved and with research findings on solutions is required for an informed and appropriately targeted response and also in order to initiate a long overdue discussion of libertarian approaches to language education and language in education. Racism and underfunding may be more important overall than language issues in public education in the United States, there is ample independent evidence of the importance of linguistic discrimination in education for African-American and many white children, too. The importance of the home-to-school language switch has long been documented in numerous countries.
