“ to capture the unique and singular way many Blacks speak—was regarded by many as a means of also protecting the dignity of Black self-expression.”
You have got to be kidding me.
“Black self expression” is the reason so many blacks are/were in prison.
I have a friend who is an English professor at a local university, and he teaches a very popular course that teaches about the many English languages we use. Ebonics is part of that curriculum, and he is heavily interested in this. So they aren’t kidding when they talk or write about this. It is being taught.