AAE and Black Identity: Should Black English Be Taught in US Schools?

This thesis entitled AAE and Black Identity: Should Black English Be Taught in US Schools? will discuss the potential introduction of AAE in the school curriculum by tracing the history and development of the language in the American society and the African American community to explain the relevance of this measure. The first chapter deals with the genesis, grammar, rhetorical structures and identitarian role of the language, to then trace its reception in American society, especially by presenting two educational proposals of the 20th century attempting to introduce AAE in schools. The second chapter describes how the language was represented in literature, from the early racializing depictions of AAE to the reappropriation of the language’s worth and richness by black authors, such as Paul L. Dunbar, Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison. The third and last chapter will discuss how AAE could be introduced in the school curriculum and be studied in its cultural, literary and identitarian connotations as part of American history. This way, all students could recognize its status as a proper language and avoid stigmatization, which still affects the lives of black students.