ipl-logo

If Black English Isn T A Language, Then Tell Me, What Is By James Baldwin

572 Words3 Pages

Rhetorical Reading Response Baldwin In James Baldwin's personal essay, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell me, What Is?" (1979), the author defines the development of language as primarily a political act through which a group of people establish a distinct identity. Baldwin shows this by giving examples of how language allows a group to define and express who they are from their own point of view, instead of having their reality expressed or misrepresented by another group. Baldwin's purpose for this essay is to defend, in an eloquent and convincing way, the idea that black English is a true language, in order to show that it meets the criteria of what defines a language as a method of expressing reality. Baldwin shows children and adults the value of having a language in which one is able to communicate one's own experience is essential to everyday life. …show more content…

Language can either separate someone from this larger identity or connect him or her to it. This essay shows that black people in America have been systematically and institutionally marginalized by white society that their creation of separate and distinct language was a necessity, and this essay brings to light the struggles my community ---------- the black community --------- had faced in an effort to break through stereotypes and erroneous assumptions .I personally enjoyed how Baldwin incorporated historical examples into his essay, such as the Irish and the Germans, because it showed me that African Americans were not the only ones who felt marginalized by the way they use

Show More
Related
668 Words | 3 Pages

Knowing that Baldwin was a black man from Harlem, one can assume he had put up with discrimination. He describes his relationship with his father saying, “I had not known my father very well” and this explains why he never learned to deal with hatred, and let it eat him up like it did to his father. His father was also very religious, and consequently, Baldwin saw Christianity, in which he grew up, as a mechanism by which African Americans channeled their desire for revenge against white oppressors. By describing his background in this fashion, he is able to gain empathy, credibility, and a large sense of ethos from his readers. Baldwin’s pathos is seen in his pure unadulterated hatred of white people.

Read More
212 Words | 1 Pages

Jaswinder Bolina uses his identification as Other, to describe difficulties within the writing and speaking community related to what is commonly identified as “white” English in his essay, Writing Like a White Guy. Bolina’s audience is people whom identify as “Other” or “non-white”. He emphasizes, “The first perhaps essential step in assimilating into any culture is the successful adoption of the host country’s language. What’s unusual in America is that this is no different for the immigrant than for the native-born nonwhite.”

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

From the characteristics of an author’s writing, the reader can tell whether the author’s piece is effective. Despite how long ago they were made, Martin Luther King Jr.’s response to criticism from some clergymen in “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and James Baldwin's “If Black English Isn't A Language, Then Tell Me What Is” on the role of language, remain important pieces of writing today because they still relate to the ongoing internal separation between races in America. Their long time recognition has their writing being compared to give readers with insight on how to develop their own argument successfully. King’s essay is more effective than Baldwin’s because of their different style, character, and vocabulary.

Read More
338 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
2399 Words | 10 Pages

Racism and racial inequality was extremely prevalent in America during the 1950’s and 1960’s. James Baldwin shows how racism can poison and make a person bitter in his essay “Notes of a Native Son”. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “A Letter from Birmingham Jail” also exposes the negative effects of racism, but he also writes about how to combat racism. Both texts show that the violence and hatred caused from racism form a cycle that never ends because hatred and violence keeps being fed into it. The actions of the characters in “Notes of a Native Son” can be explain by “A Letter from Birmingham Jail”, and when the two texts are paired together the racism that is shown in James Baldwin’s essay can be solved by the plan Dr. King proposes in his

Read More
807 Words | 4 Pages

By using personal experiences, this makes his tone sound more personal and subjective. He says, “I say that present skirmish is rooted in American history” (Baldwin). This shows his personal beliefs, but then sets up an explanation using history to better support his belief. Baldwin discusses a few events in history that formed black English and explain how black English was used. He illustrates that the beginning of black English was created during slavery times.

Read More
621 Words | 3 Pages

Well Baldwin believes so. In the story Baldwin also states that he believes that if there was not any black people in the United States white people would not sound the same; English is just a purified version of Black English. I believe that people from different areas have different struggles, which would ultimately affect their variation of that language.

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

Sydney Erb Ms. Sonnenberg English 2 (H), Period 6 19 December 2023 James Baldwin Introduction James Baldwin was one of the most influential writers of our time. Baldwin was a famous writer who wrote forty-two books, two plays, and around thirty-six essays. He left a mark on the literary world with his powerful words and thought-provoking ideas. Born in 1924, Baldwin grew up in poverty in Harlem, New York with his mother, stepfather, and five siblings. The Harlem Renaissance, an era where the African American community expressed themselves through art, music, and literature, started gaining attention while Baldwin was growing up.

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
898 Words | 4 Pages

Our society is still filled with issues that have yet been uncovered. Though the time periods have change, the world still has not resolved all the issues that are still present from the past. In the two poems, “On Being Told I Don’t Speak Like a Black Person” written by Allison Joseph, the author shows how racial issues have still yet erased in our world today. In the poem, the author is faced with the issue of people criticing the way she talks. Just because she was black they assumed that she would sound uneducated.

Read More
1302 Words | 6 Pages

“James Baldwin Wrote About Race and Identity In America”). Throughout his books and commentary pieces, Baldwin repeatedly points out that Christianity is responsible for supporting slavery and calls out black Christians who use it as an excuse to live comfortably with oppression. However, he does not fail to give credit where it is due: Baldwin expresses his gratitude toward Christianity for helping the African-American community come together in order to protect themselves from racism (VOA. “James Baldwin Wrote About Race and Identity In

Read More
1699 Words | 7 Pages

Being black in a racially divided world, Baldwin encountered many altercations. One instance, James recalls being bullied by two police officers for his race. This and other

Read More
1998 Words | 8 Pages

In William Brennan’s article, “Julie Washington’s Quest to Get Schools to Respect African-American English”, he explores a case-study which reveals that speakers of AAVE (African American Vernacular English) are often belittled, ridiculed, and overlooked. The ignorance for their dialect of English results in statistically low-performing standardized test scores. While some would argue that this phenomenon occurs because their vernacular is incorrect, other researchers have decided that this dialect difference accounts for the black-white literacy gap. Author Curt Dudley-Marling asserts that “children must learn the formal language of schooling. There is little to be gained, however, by pathologizing the language and culture of children living in poverty” (368).

Read More
676 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
839 Words | 4 Pages

In A Letter to My Nephew, James Baldwin, the now deceased critically acclaimed writer, pens a message to his nephew, also named James. This letter is meant to serve as a caution to him of the harsh realities of being black in the United States. With Baldwin 's rare usage of his nephew 's name in the writing, the letter does not only serve as a letter to his relative, but as a message to black youth that is still needed today. Baldwin wrote this letter at a time where his nephew was going through adolescence, a period where one leaves childhood and inches closer and closer to becoming an adult.

Read More

More about If Black English Isn T A Language, Then Tell Me, What Is By James Baldwin

Open Document