Representative research studies of the interference of Vernacular Black English (VBE) on beginning reading of VBE speakers at the phonological, grammatical, and lexical and content levels are examined. The following conclusions emerge: (1) phonological interference in learning to read has not been established; (2) VBE does not clearly interfere with reading skills acquisition in all situations, and (3) dialect apparently has an effect on comprehension at the lexical level. Methodological research flaws are suspect, as are the hypotheses that ethnic differences in language performance provide evidence of dialect interference, and testlike situations can adequately measure the effects of dialect. (DF)