Left-wing organizations have come together to push “Black english” within California schools.
The collection of groups, Black Californians United for Early Care and Education (BlackECE), is a “collaborative partnership of organizations committed to advancing language justice for Black children in early childhood education,” its website says. It seeks to “challenge harmful language hierarchies and affirm Black English as a legitimate, rule-governed language rooted in Black history, culture, and community.”
Ashley Williams, a co-founder of the BlackECE, told KQED, “I don’t want my son to walk into any room and feel like his voice is not valued or his perspective can’t be heard because he’s not saying it in one way or the other.” She added, “But with that comes a lot of shame and embarrassment because you’re being constantly corrected when you’re still in a moment when you’re just learning language.”
The group described the importance of the “Black English Knowledge brief,” which it said explores “a key aspect of Black English—what it is, its historical and cultural significance, and why language affirmation matters for children’s identity, belonging, and learning.”
California previously implemented a language program in 2020 called “Promoting Equitable Early Learning and Care For Dual Language Learners,” which declared “biliteracy as a state goal and strongly promotes multilingual proficiency for all children, beginning in early childhood.” Policies in the program “reflect a dramatic shift in public sentiment away from a focus on English only and to a focus that values bilingualism as an asset and a strength,” a brief on the program reads.
