Ebonics is vastly different from a real foreign language such as Japanese, Italian, or Russian. Japanese, for example, has a completely different alphabet, sentence structure, words, and sounds than English; while Ebonics basically uses the same alphabet, words and sounds as English. The only difference between Ebonics and English is that some pronunciations of words, spelling, and grammar are slightly different. Ebonics is a dialect. People from all over the United States speak the same language, English, but different dialects, compare the New Yorkan to the Chicagoan, or compare Southerners way of speaking to Bostonians. Ultimately, Ebonics speaking individuals can understand English speaking individuals and vice versa. In the United States, many people of different ethnic groups have a language or dialect spoken at home which was passed down through the generations (Leo 20). Ebonics is one of these dialects. If it were too be taught in the classroom, then the many other dialects have just as much right to be taught too. So just teaching Ebonics would be culturally unfair. .

             The teaching of Ebonics which was intended to reach out to black students, actually holds black youth back. Jesse Jackson said that institutionalization of Ebonics "is an unacceptable surrender borderlining on disgrace.It's teaching down to our children and it must never happen" (Qtd. in Harris 25). Delaine Eastin, California superintendent of public instruction, supports the latter of Jesse Jackson's statement by saying that achieving student comfort by teachers making mistakes in grammar is inappropriate (Qtd in Haynes 6). Talking down to the student is disrespectful in a mocking way whether it is unintentional or not. Jesse Jackson also said that others who have perfected standard English will have the competitive edge over Ebonic speaking black students (Qtd in Harris 25). In the real world, companies will preferably hire individuals who have mastered the standard language of society.