In Brent Staples essay "Just Walk On By: Black Men and Public Space" Staples uses a lot of diction to puts emphasis on the tensions between the black and white races. It was very clear to point out and say that his target audience are the scared white women and people that get frightened when they see a person of color. Staples knows that there are good and bad black people but regardless of what he thinks of himself others will always look at him different. So to change their ideals he uses strong diction to get them to feel different.
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.
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.
For our first assignment, the Rhetorical Analysis Essay, my class was assigned to pick one of three topics from in our textbooks read, summarize and analyze arguments. I decided to write about June Jordan’s article “Nobody Mean More to Me Than You.” The goal of my essay was to analyze June Jordan’s teaching methods of Black English in America. My essay is responding to black language in America. It’s positive, negative sides and the effects that mainstream language can have on those who speak Black English.
The teacher then goes on to explain how she would rather have her students only learn the standardized English rather than code mesh the two forms together. Young states “Yet she wants her students to somehow learn to turn off black language and use only standard, when she can't herself. After I highlighted this observation, she gave a final "tsk" and walked away” (Young 2009, p. 59).
"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.
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.
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
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.
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.
“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.
Andrew Reitemeyer Professor Espinoza SOC 100 25 May 2018 Final Book Reflection I have learned a lot through this book and mainly how much power language has on people. The authors that wrote these essays in this book all have a common belief about how potentially harmful language and the attributes of it can be for children in the classroom that are growing up and adapting to their surroundings. The book’s three main points include “language and identity”, “language and political hierarchy”, and “language and cultural conflict”. Much of this book talks about the struggle for African American students and the ongoing debate surrounding Ebonics and how that affects them in the classroom.
The Skin That We Speak The way a person speaks is a direct link to a person’s culture and the environment which he or she was raised in. A person’s language, skin color as well as economic status influences the way he or she is perceived by others. Lisa Delpit and eleven other educators provide different viewpoints on how language from students of different cultures, ethnicity, and even economic status can be misinterpreted due to slang and dialect or nonstandard English by the teachers as well as his or her own peers. The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit and Joanne Kilgour Dowdy, who collected essays from a diverse group of educators and scholars to reflect on the issue of language
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
Kolenic, and Stephanie L. Hensel. " African American English-Speaking Students: A Longitudinal Examination Of Style Shifting From Kindergarten Through Second Grade. " Journal Of Speech, Language & Hearing Research 57.1 (2014): 143-157 15p. CINAHL Complete.
