California Group Asks State to Recognize Black English in Preschool

Black Californians United for Early Care & Education is urging California to recognize black English in preschool classrooms, ZeroHedge reported. The nonprofit says the change would strengthen literacy development and affirm the language spoken by many black children.

The group describes its campaign as an effort to challenge harmful language hierarchies and affirm black English as a legitimate, rule-governed language rooted in black history, culture, and community.

It also seeks to address how language bias appears in early learning spaces and how it can be dismantled. Ashley Williams, a co-founder of the organization, said the initiative aims to ensure children feel their voices are respected regardless of how they speak.

“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 one way or the other,” Williams told PBS.

Williams added that speaking black English had brought her embarrassment because of its slang and grammatical differences, and that she had often felt pressure to talk white instead of using the form that felt most natural. BlackECE has developed a 10-point policy agenda focused on black children, families and educators that includes proposals on reparations and early childhood education.

The campaign follows California’s 2020 plan that encouraged early dual-language learning and support for bilingual children.

Xigrid Soto-Boykin, director of the Children’s Equity Project, said the effort seeks to include black children who may be African-American English speakers in discussions of multilingualism. Research cited from the National Library of Medicine states that about 20 percent of American children and 44 percent of California children ages 5 to 17 are bilingual, while 89 percent of African Americans speak only English at home.