Or an indirect legitimization of substandard English by categorizing it with other recognized languages?

There is no such thing as standard English from a lingustic standpoint. Languages change over time. What’s regarded as standard today is the product of people speaking a “sub-standard” manner in yesteryears.

Is Black English, or African-American Vernacular English, a real language? I would say yes, as there are definitely distinct morphological and syntactical rules that native-speakers consistently observe. A “brother” knows immediately whether a person he’s speaking with is from his community or not. If Black English were simply bad English, then blacks would mistaken foreigners speaking broken English as one of their own. This is clearly not the case.

The distinction between “language” and “dialect” is entirely a socio-political construct. Absent all other variants of spoken English, an outside observer would certainly see Black English as a real language.

I just saw that your comments were inexplicably held as spam/moderation. Very sorry about that…fixed!

Education and/or Experience:
Degree or Graduate Education: – the appropriate foreign language from an English-speaking college or university, specialized experience: in translating, interpreting, or other work requiring the use of English or a combination of work (that required English and Ebonics) and training at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Service Institute, or comparable training.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:
A proficiency rating of 3 or above in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and congruity judgment in Ebonics and a proficiency rating of 3 or above in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and congruity judgment in English is required.

Well, as long as the government is diligent in ensuring these minimum qualifications are met.

Or an indirect legitimization of substandard English by categorizing it with other recognized languages?

This has nothing to do with whether the government “categorizes” or “recognizes” anything. Ebonics is neither a proper language nor an improper language. It is not a language at all. It’s just a bunch of uneducated morons who are familiar enough with each other to (sometimes) guess the approximate meanings of their mostly incoherent babbling.

The only way someone can be an “expert” in the version of Ebonics being spoken by any individual is if he happens to come from the same neighborhood. And if that’s the case, letting him in on the surveillance is the same as sending a certified letter to the suspects telling them everything you’re doing.

Otherwise, all you have is either another under-educated moron whose personal version of Ebonics comes from a different area, who’ll do nothing but add a whole new layer of incorrect associations to what was already a mess. Or you’ll have an over-educated moron who will do the exact same thing, but be a whole lot snootier about it.