John R. Rickford Quote

That mainstream English is essential to our self-preservation is indisputable... but it is not necessary to abandon Spoken Soul to master Standard English, any more than it is necessary to abandon English to learn French or to deprecate jazz to appreciate classical music.


Spoken soul: the story of Black English (ed. 2000)


That mainstream English is essential to our self-preservation is indisputable... but it is not necessary to abandon Spoken Soul to master Standard...

That mainstream English is essential to our self-preservation is indisputable... but it is not necessary to abandon Spoken Soul to master Standard...

That mainstream English is essential to our self-preservation is indisputable... but it is not necessary to abandon Spoken Soul to master Standard...

That mainstream English is essential to our self-preservation is indisputable... but it is not necessary to abandon Spoken Soul to master Standard...