John Rickford, Ph. D.
John Rickford, Ph.D., is Chairman of the African American Department at
Stanford University and has been Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University for 18
years. He is considered the world’s foremost authority on the ebonics issue and
is a consultant to the American Heritage Dictionary, and the author, editor and co-author
of many authoritative books on African-American Vernacular English, with such presses as
Cambridge University and Routledge. When the issue hit, Mr. Rickford was at the center of
the media storm, interviewed by such publications as The New York Times, The Washington
Post, Atlantic Monthly, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Jet, USA Today, on TV by ABC
News, Nickelodeon’s TV and others, and on radio by National Public Radio’s
"Talk of the Nation," "Forum" and "To the Best of Our
Knowledge." Jesse Jackson was initially against ebonics, but after he met with John
Rickford and a few Oakland administrators behind closed doors and had a chance to hear
what they had to say, he publicly changed his stance. John Rickford has been asked by the
Oakland School district to help evaluate their Ebonics/Standard English Proficiency
program, starting in November 1997. He is co-author of SPOKEN
SOUL: THE STORY OF BLACK ENGLISH (Wiley), which will be the
definitive book on the controversial issue.
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