Baldwin stated that “Language is determined by the person that is speaking it.” The audience is anyone that doesn’t consider “Black English” a language, people that don’t use
Wolfram states that African American children tend to have a different dialect because they usually grow up in urban, blue-collar environments. This leads them to be influenced by how others talk in the
"Nobody means more to me than you and the future life of willie Jordan" is a powerful and moving essay by June Jordan that explores the themes of language, communication, love, family, and community. Through her use of language and imagery, Jordan creates a vivid picture of the importance of human language and the impact that different dialects can have on the lives of those around them. Black English use is very important in America and I agree with the fact that Black English should be more accepted in America. African American Vernacular English (AAVE), is a distinct dialect of English that is spoken by many African Americans in the United States. The use of AAVE has long been a topic of debate and controversy in American society, with some people viewing it as a legitimate form of expression, while others view it as incorrect or inferior to standard English.
In If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?, written by James Baldwin, the author speaks about the importance of common language and how it change to fit the circumstances. As a small example, the author talks about six different location who can all speak the common language of French, but cannot understand each other. This was made to show that language is more than just spoken words, it is also the way those words are spoken. Baldwin then use this idea with the English language and it’s sub-categories Standard and Black English. He suggest that black people are forced into conforming to the white standard of the English language and have their Black English meaning reformed into something completely different.
In the book, Other People’s Children, author Lisa Delpit does and excellent job compiling her experiences as a black educator through various essays and responses. It is though these essays and responses that Delpit tries to educate the American educator on the diversities we see in the classroom. She makes it known throughout the book that we need to make sure all students receive the same educational opportunities regardless of cultural background, race, or ethnicity. One thing that really stood out to me in this book was that she suggests that we appreciate linguistic diversity in the classroom. Stating that some student’s don’t have access to the “politically popular dialect form” also known as “Standard English”, and these particular
(Walser, 157). The issue with this one is that the artists would use the slang in their music, but the fact that it was used a lot in the black population and the fact that they used to replace words made it frowned upon.
James Baldwin’s essay on “Black English” comes from the perspective of a distinguished black man, articulating the idea of “What is English”. Baldwin writes in an eloquent tone that creates an atmosphere supporting his argument on why black english is a language because of his racial background. In Order to further his claim he utilizes antecedent to explain how “black english” evolved over time. He also employs antithesis to compare different languages,African Americans and white people.
“AAVE” is an acronym used for African American Vernacular English. There is a variety of names for the specific term such as “AAE” African American English, or “BE” Black English and also” BEV” Black English Vernacular. In our community they are often interpreted as “bad English” “ebonics” . This is a combination of two words, ebony and phonics actually it is a coinage and it was created back in 1973. Despite being considered already bad, it has now turned into a ghetto talk (slur) and the “blackaccent” the accent of the black people that national public radio tend to prefer to use.
The Harlem Renaissance was a black literary and art movement that began in Harlem, New York. Migrants from the South came to Harlem with new ideas and a new type of music called Jazz. Harlem welcomed many African Americans who were talented. Writers in the Harlem Renaissance had separated themselves from the isolated white writers which made up the “lost generation” The formation of a new African American cultural identity is what made the Harlem Renaissance and the Lost Generation unique in American culture because it influenced white literacy and it was a sense of freedom for African Americans.
“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.
10). In chapter six of The Skin That We Speak, Asa Hilliard explains why it is hard to separate the historically oppressed status of African American children and the educational assessments used to measure their language abilities. Hillard also explains how teaching and learning are a direct link between shared language between teacher and student and the environment they are in. Hilliard also acknowledges that “African American children are not achieving at optimal levels in the schools of the nation” (Delpit, L., & Dowdy, K., 2002, p.91).
White people tend to start speaking black English as well. Labov maintains that women are, “the primary transmitters of language” (MacNeil, 184). Basically, what Labov is saying is that women talk to each other far more than men do. Labov believes that women are more skilled in making a new language come about and it be acceptable. Black and white American language is not the only dialects of language in the United
AAVE is largely misunderstood in a pop culture, everyone thinks AAVE as an unacceptable English when, in fact, it’s not an unacceptable English, it is a full-fledged dialect of English. There is absolutely nothing wrong with AAVE, but it just wasn’t appreciated because of its historical and social reasons, for example relating it to the history of the race or the socioeconomic classes, etc. During that period anything the Black people would do would be called defective, they weren’t allowed in any sort of media or in any educational field because they didn’t want the next generation to learn poor English and instead learn the standard English. So AAVE, as we all know was widely misrepresented. But, as the years passed by, AAVE started to become
Pollution in Honduras is something that is affecting Hondurans lately. Sadly in recent years pollution had increased due to hazardous activity on Honduras. To tell the truth Hondurans must begin to become aware of the country. Honduras 30 years ago was a very beautiful country, but lamentably it is being destroyed slowly as cancer destroys a body. Due to misunderstanding of people towards the environment, the country is getting worse.
The Hip hop industry consists of mostly African American musicians. Since blacks are often alienated in society, their music seems to be too. People often give rappers negative labels such as “gangster” or “thug”, which are discriminatory words that people have often used to describe African Americans in the media. There is an everlasting double standard in music. as people bash rap music for being sexist and violent, other genres of music such as country or alternative have the same themes, but they’re vulgar lyrics go
