A civil society organization operating in California has called for Black English, also known as African American Vernacular English, to be included in the state's official multilingual education program.
The group, called Black Californians United for Early Care and Education (BlackECE), is raising this demand together with a series of partners promoting multilingualism among Californians. The organization emphasizes that Black English is not slang or a broken language, but rather a legitimate language with its own grammatical rules, born from the historical context of the Black community.
The group wants AAVE to be included in California's 'Promoting Equitable Early Learning and Care for Dual Language Learners' program, launched in 2020. This program sets bilingualism as a state goal and supports multilingual proficiency from early childhood.
Ashley Williams, co-founder of BlackECE, recounted that as a child she was teased by family members for 'talking white' and that her teachers' insistence on 'proper English' made her feel insecure. Williams said she does not want her son to experience the same shame because of his way of speaking, stating, 'I don't want him to feel that his voice is not valued or his perspective is not heard when he walks into any room.'
Xigrid Soto-Boykin, an early childhood language expert from Arizona State University, said in her assessment, 'We talk about multilingualism but we are not including Black children who speak African American English. We are completely overlooking that these children could benefit from having their language backgrounds sustained and used for their learning.'
On BlackECE's website, examples of AAVE's linguistic features include phrases like 'She be working' (She is always working), 'They happy' (They are happy), and 'bes' friend' (best friend). The group states that these usages have systematic rules and are part of the cultural heritage of the Black community.
It is known that more than half of children under five in California speak a language other than English at home. The state's multilingual education program aims to increase the value placed on languages other than English and to preserve them.
