Wat up yo? Many of you are sitting there wondering what in the world I just said, while on the other hand part of you accept what I just said as every day speech. What am I talking about? Ebonics. The debate over Ebonics produces one of the biggest paradoxes of our time. There are many different parts of this paradox. These include the opposition from the African American community toward legitimizing Ebonics as a language, the effects of a supposedly beneficial educational program, and the effects Ebonics has on segregation.
             The Ebonics debate has brought forth many opinions from the nation. A large majority of theses have been negative. Surprisingly, a large portion of the objections have not just come from the Caucasian community but from the African-American community. James Hill, a staff writer for the Chicago Tribune, discusses his feelings in his article "Say What? Watch Your Language". He states, "I must admit, the recent decision by the school board in Oakland left me in quite a quandary at first. I didn't know whether I should be excited as an American of African descent that the language I had heard and used on the streets in Detroit was being held up as legitimate. Or if I should be mad as hell at the fact that a language I was told was 'improper', was being viewed as 'unique' and 'important'. Now, I'm just insulted." He continues by saying, "And it's not that I don't still occasionally use Ebonics. I can't tell you how many times I have 'axed' the question 'Where he at?' But that doesn't make me bilingual. Ebonics is a dialect, not a language. Webster's defines dialect as 'popularly, any form of speech considered as deviating from a real or imaginary standard speech. The form or variety of a spoken language peculiar to a region, community, social group, occupational group, etc. (in this sense, dia...