As I recall, it was renamed due to the conservative controversy created around Ebonics in education, specifically for testing materials, and AAVE was chosen to specifically link to the impact slavery had in the USA in the creation of it, addressing both the need to "market" the idea a different way to avoid the backlash caused by conservatives and provide a more accurate and impactful definition.

I believe the only ones who ever claimed it was derogatory were the ones fighting against its accepted use in formal testing.

But that's just what I remember.