Ebonics and ESL?

     I just read an article called "Watch Your Language" in the most recent edition of Sarah Lawrence College's magazine entitled The Will to Live. Because the college emphasizes and practices teaching through small group lectures, the magazine often features an article based on a partial transcript of the roundtable discussion that takes place between students and professor. This one particularly interested me because it takes on the issue of the Oakland, CA school board's decision to recognize Ebonics, or in linguistic terms African American Vernacular English, as a language, making speakers of Ebonics ESL students in that district.
     Since many of you out there who read my blog are fellow Sarah Lawrence graduates for whom this type of dialogue is natural and/or linguists, translators, and language instructors who thrive on matters of the tongue, I thought that it would be brain candy to get a discussion going. I have posted the short two-page article here for you to read, as well as links to the Sarah Lawrence magazine website. Read up if you're interested. Then, post your ideas here. Are Ebonics and English distinct languages? Is it appropriate to educate Ebonics speakers as ESL students?