This book relates the story of the 1974 Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) resolution on Students' Right to Their Own Language (SRTOL), and sets this up against the story of how Composition Studies developed as a professional field and sets both against the larger history of 1960s movements, the liberal welfare state, and…

Argues that too little attention to the history of learning and literacy among African Americans has led to the perpetuation of distortions and misconceptions about their value in the Black community. Misunderstanding of Black children's educational problems is a consequence of ignoring historical evidence and the effects of caste membership. (AF)