How long has the “ebonics” accent been around?
Ebonics is a term that was originally intended and sometimes used for the language of all people of African ancestry, or for that of Black North American people; since 1996 it has been largely used to refer to African American Vernacular English (distinctively nonstandard Black United States English), asserting the independence of this from (standard) English. The term became widely known in the U.S. in 1996 due to a controversy over its use by the Oakland School Board.
