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Analysis Of If Black English Isn T A Language By Jame James Baldwin

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Language, Identity, and Power: Why African American Vernacular English Matters
The once awe-inspiring phrase “all men are created equal” is empty and meaningless. Its once patriotic and equitable message has been lost to the horrific history of slavery in the United States. This sentiment has been echoed by many African Americans who have long felt the weight of the country's history on their shoulders. One aspect of African American culture that has been shaped by this history is African American Vernacular English (AAVE). AAVE is a dialect of English that is spoken primarily by African Americans in the United States. While some people view AAVE as a hindrance to success, others see it as an important part of African American culture that should be celebrated and appreciated. …show more content…

Baldwin goes on to explain that denying the legitimacy of AAVE as a language perpetuates damaging errors in the study of language, such as conflating language with social status and treating children as miniature adults. Baldwin argues that AAVE is not simply a variation of English but a distinct language with its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. He emphasizes the political and social implications of language, and argues that language is not only a means of communication but also a tool for asserting power and identity. AAVE is not simply a variation of English but a distinct language with its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. It is a means for African Americans to express their identity and connect with their cultural

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In discussing Black English, John McWhorter talks about the theories of the origin of the language. McWhorter talks about how people have made claims that Black English is related and comes from African languages. He also tells how their research on this subject is unreliable and “sketchy.” These people making these claims are outside of linguistics, meaning they practice things such as education and speech pathology. People like Dr. Smith, a teacher at a medical college, suggested that Black English is a mixture of African languages with English, where these African languages have altered English into a new language.

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In James Baldwin’s essay titled “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me What Is?” Baldwin highlights his major argument by capitalizing the words in the title so that it can stand out to the readers. His main idea is that all languages are equal, and there is an inequality in society where one is judged by the way they speak. Baldwin wanted the readers to understand that all languages do serve a purpose no matter how a person articulates it. Baldwin also wanted to convey that there is racism that is placed upon a black person just because of the way they speak.

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If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is? By James Baldwin explains to the reader what black English is and where black English comes from. Baldwin writes about how humans use language as a means of controlling the world around them. Baldwin explains that people may speak the same language in one area of the world, but then people who speak the same language elsewhere are no longer speaking the same language. Baldwin using French as an exampling, Baldwin compares french-speaking people from Quebec to people who live in Paris.

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What does it mean to be a writer? Who or what defines a writer? Is it up to the critics, the readers, or the author’s original intentions? For Richard Wright and James Baldwin, their own authorial intentions define their work. Baldwin identified with Wright through his literature as he was growing up.

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The essay, "If Black English Isn’t a language, Then Tell Me, What Is It?" by James Baldwin tell us how the English language has become a system of marginalization for Afro-descendant society in the United States. According to Baldwin, the role of black English is associated with American history, since language reveals and defines the speaker. In addition, the author affirms that the existence of a common language among the inhabitants of a country does not prevent the pronunciation of this varied from one region to another. Besides, this essay indicates that the necessity to confront life and its eagerness not to disappear join all languages.

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Language Vs. Power There are 2,700 languages with over 7,000 individual dialects spoken around the world today. Children who come to the U.S come from all over the world bring these languages and dialects with them to their classrooms. The use of language in different settings play a big part in determining who has power, especially within classrooms.

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Language and cultural discourse can make a lot of changes. America is a good country where you can explore different cultures and start to understand their jargon. There are a lot of discourse styles, and when we use them we have to be careful to not hurt the person in front of us. Going back to the Charlie Hebdo magazine story, where they used profanity and sarcastic language, caused problems and killed people. In the readings “Palestine: Reffugeeland” by Joe Sacco, “Not Human Beings” by Etgar Keret and “Language and Literature from a Pueblo Indian Perspective” by Leslie Marmon Silko we see examples of how even one word can make changes, how language and gestures can make changes.

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. The first quote by James Baldwin, I believe is talking about how the concept of racism fills many books and is constantly being debated or reflected on by different people everywhere. What Baldwin is trying to point out to the reader, is that this questioning of color is used to cover up who people really are deep down. I think he’s hinting at the idea that racism is used to cover up certain insecurities or fears people may have hidden inside of them. The second quote by Trey Ellis, goes down the list and displays all the different degrading names dark-skinned people have been called throughout history.

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When linguistics want to mention the AAVE they refer to it either as “Black English” or as African American English (AAE) ,or as AAVE that is more polite. Theoretically scholars who prefer to emphasize the nationality of the black Americans and correlate their speech with countries such as Nigeria, Jamaica etc. Nevertheless, the most common term to use is the Ebonics. (Rickford, 2012)

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“If Black English Isn’t a Language Then Tell Me What Is” In the essay “If Black Isn’t a Language Then Tell Me What Is” (The New York Times, 1979) written by James Baldwin, the author asserts that the African American community has altered the English language into a new language during the last five centuries to accommodate the black experience in American history despite the white’s attempt to submerge it. To begin the essay he makes his argument clear by referencing the alterations the French made to their native language to describe how people will eventually “...evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances…”; furthermore he continues to analyze how the caucasian people of America have only accepted the black language when it came out of a white mouth; he ends the essay by reinforcing his position, elaborating on the racism black’s have faced when they were denied the right to an education unless it was for the white benefit. His liberal purpose is to bring light to the subtle racism that African Americans experience even after the Civil Rights movement and to acknowledge the cultural influence they have in America. His writing appears very personal and intimate like he’s voluntarily opening up to his audience by letting them know of his own struggles as an African American, targeting mostly minorities and people who feel oppressed by white America.

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Baldwin uses an advanced vocabulary throughout the essay, but only uses slang terms when referring to African Americans. By using phrases like “But if I was a "nigger" in your eyes”, he shows the audience what the words culturally imply such as stupidity and ignorance. Since this is

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It was once believed that the languages that the Africans spoke varied drastically from region to region but in reality they were “local variations of a deeper-lying structural similarity” (Herkovits 79). This similarity allowed communicating in the New World to be easier than if the languages were all completely linguistically independent, “whether Negro speech employs English or French or Spanish or Portuguese vocabulary, the identical constructions found over all the New World can only be regarded as a reflection of the underlying similarities in grammar and idiom, which, in turn, are common to the West African Sudanese tongues” (80). Language then became an important part of African American culture, whether it be a “secret” language used to help slaves escape, or to tell stories and folklore to children to encourage and motivate them, or express African proverbs from generation to generation. There has been many times when other races seem not to understand what African Americans are saying because of the slang terms we create that then become popular terms, most recently has been the phrases “on fleek” and “twerking”, to name a few examples. Being proficient in verbal arts was prized in Africa and now a value has been placed on verbal expression in today’s culture through riddles and through preaching and teaching (Williams

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African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is often being stigmatized negatively, especially in the workplace, speaking AAVE alleviates one’s chance in finding a job (Green 223). The reasons why people see AAVE as inferior are discussed as follows. From the linguistic field, people regard AAVE as different from the Standard English. According to Green, the American believe that speakers of AAVE cannot speak mainstream English and so they need to use AAVE instead (221). They also believe that AAVE is an incorrect use of Standard English which contains a lot of grammatical and phonological mistakes (Green 221).

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The Harlem Renaissance was a development period that took place in Harlem, New York. The Renaissance lasted from 1910 to about the mid-1930s, this period is considered a golden age in African American culture. This Renaissance brought about masterful pieces of music, literature, art, and stage performance. The Harlem Renaissance brought about many prominent black writers such as Richard Wright. Richard Wright is a highly acclaimed writer, who stressed the importance of reading, writing, and words.

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