Modern linguistic research shows that the language of America is that spoken by all residents of the Americas, with many varieties influenced by other national languages (e.g., Spanish, African, American Indian). In addition, linguistic research has resulted in two competing theories about teaching standard English: that teaching standard English to a dialect speaking child enables him to succeed in activities dominated by the white middle class (bidialectalism), and that such insistence on the teaching of standard English is racist. This dilemma indicates the real problem to be ethnocentrism, not racism, which is merely a subcategory of ethnocentrism. The vicious cycle of an ethnocentric society may be broken both through the growing awareness that not only is black beautiful but all ethnic groups are beautiful, and through a learning of the standard form of the language of America. (JM)