The purpose of this study is: (1) to document the existence of a population speaking vernacular Black English (VBE) in Waterloo, Iowa, a middle-sized urban community in the Midwest; (2) to examine how Waterloo VBE contrasts with the surrounding majority language, Midland vernacular; (3) to investigate Iowans' language attitudes; and (4) to consider the educational implications of the findings in light of recent controversy over VBE. The first section offers background information about Waterloo, its population and language history. Linguistic evidence of VBE in the community is then outlined, and the grammatical, morphological, and phonological characteristics of it and the Midland vernacular are compared. Survey and some anecdotal evidence of negative attitudes toward VBE are then presented. The survey administered to 61 non-black university students, native speakers of the Midland vernacular, involved evaluating four guises, one of which was VBE, to determine the characteristics of the speaker (sex, nationality, religion, race, age, educational level, and ten personality traits or attributions). Results support the theory that listeners were making assumptions about the relationship between intelligence, race, and language. Areas for future related research are outlined. A 22-item bibliography, transcripts of the speech guises, and the survey form are appended. (MSE)