The current state of knowledge of African American language is examined from a broad, multidisciplinary perspective that includes its structure, history, social role and educational implications, as well as the linguistic scholarship from which it derives, as a case study of language planning. Diverse including hip-hop culture, the African American church, and the Ebonics controversy are unified by a pervasive theme of latent conflict between academic knowledge of African American language and "real world" knowledge of the same.

The current state of knowledge of African American language is examined from a broad, multidisciplinary perspective that includes its structure, history, social role and educational implications, as well as the linguistic scholarship from which it derives, as a case study of language planning. A diverse array of topics including Hip-Hop culture, the Black Church and the Ebonics controversy are unified by a pervasive theme of latent conflict between academic knowledge and 'real world' knowledge of Black language.