The Black English Language - Essay Sample

Introduction

James Baldwin's "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" was written with the tragic history of African Americans in mind. In this essay, Baldwin provides numerous examples that successfully support the significant impact black culture has had on English. Meanwhile, he concentrates on the background and history of different languages to get audiences to think about semantics from a new perspective. This essay effectively helps readers to understand that Black English and culture have had an enormous impact on mainstream English as well as the American culture. Although Baldwin uses a harsh tone and gives blunt commentary, he effectively applies concise, emotionally inspiring examples and credible facts about the history of African American to prove the reality and necessity of Black English.

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Slavery is a theme that has surrounded the entire essay, but what is the connection between the worth of Black English and slavery. Indeed, it is slavery brought by the Europeans to blacks that led to the development of Black English. Baldwin emphasizes what actually brings about language and says that it comes into existence by way of brutal necessity like slavery hence Black English has a conveying meaning that is understood by the Blacks. Moreover, the tone in this article directly parallels the roughness of Black English, specifically his short sentences and blunt statements about the ignorance of Americans. Baldwin concludes his article with the following:

And, after all, finally, in a country with standards so untrustworthy, a country that makes heroes of so many criminal mediocrities, a country unable to face why so many of the nonwhite are in prison, or on the needle, or standing, futureless, in the streets-it may very well be that both the child, and his elder, have concluded that they have nothing whatever to learn from the people of a country that has managed to learn so little (796).

Here, Baldwin discusses the contributions and importance of Black English in morality within society. Although Baldwin often emphasizes the importance of Black English, in this essay, he attacks the positive reputation of American values and instead emphasizes American ignorance toward black vernacular and culture. American audiences usually find offense with Baldwin's essay, however, which make his claim more powerful.

The use of rhetorical appeals is apparent in Baldwin's essay, but does the authors' emphasis brings out a convincing argument as to the necessity of Black English? The necessity of the Black English holds since the roots of the language was from the influence of the Europeans. For instance, Baldwin further incorporates rhetorical appeals to stress on the necessity of Black English is when he appeals to the emotions of his readers through pathos and tells a personal story that describes how Americans tend to discredit a language that was once meant to save people:

There was a moment, in time, and in this place, when my brother, or my mother, or my father, or my sister, had to convey to me, for example, the danger in which I was standing from the white man standing just behind me, and to convey this with a speed, and in a language, that the white man could not possibly understand, and that, indeed, he cannot understand, until today (796).

Baldwin has used this story to help readers realize that Black English is really necessary for them to stay safe; Americans do not fully understand the necessity of this language, even though it is a language that has been spoken for centuries. The development of language has been defined as a political act used by individuals in establishing a unique identity. With a clear explanation of Black English, Baldwin differentiates between language and dialect. Language allows individuals to express and define themselves from their perspectives instead of being defined by others. The essence of language goes beyond the language itself, but what the language is conveying hence it will lead to the distinct identity of speakers of that language. If the language is conveying meaningful information then it holds and it worth a language.

The necessity of Black English in American society has been proven through these relevant examples, which bring a new perspective to white American readers. Although emotion is an easy way that Baldwin can make readers believe in a claim, the author also uses logic to explain the reality of Black English. Americans who speak English are targeted by explaining that some of the words they use came from African-American vernacular. Baldwin says that; Jazz, for instance, is particularly a sexual terminology as in "jazz me; baby, but European people modified it into the Jazz era". Moreover, "give it to me", which translates, closely, the same information, has been adopted by Nathaniel Hawthorne's descendants with no qualms or hesitations at all, along with letting it all hangout and right on!" (Baldwin 795).This pattern of purification should not make a superior language group to dictate the Blacks culture, but instead they should hold and appreciate that Black English is indeed a language since the meanings and information in the language can be conveyed even to the Americans themselves, and no modification or adjustment should be made to the Back language to come up with a different language.

Blacks were victims of circumstance during the slavery period, yes, accompanied by high illiteracy hence hampering communication among them. This situation was hindering efficient conveying of massages, hence making an extended period of slavery. Moreover, not being able to speak the same language makes it nearly impossible to communicate, which contributed to slavery lasting as long as it did. Baldwin explains that " had blacks been in a position of communicating effectively, slavery period could have been cut short" (Baldwin 795). Language is not perfect, but it is essential and crucial for human survival. It impacts the day-to-day activities of an individual, regardless of the creed, region, or race. The existence of a common language enhances effective communication among the language speaker; hence Black English is a language worth mentioning.

A language is a tool of identity since it dictates culture and origin. And since language are diverse and have a dialect, why not the Black English holding as a language? If a person speaks dialect, it may reveal the identity of the speaker, and dialects may be used to divide people from different places. Baldwin discusses the different dialects of the French language and explains that:

A Frenchman living in Paris speaks a subtly and crucially different language from that of the man living in Marseilles; neither sounds very much like a man living in Quebec; and they would all have great difficulty in apprehending what the man from Guadeloupe, or Martinique, is saying, to say nothing of the man from Senegal-although the 'common' language of all these areas is French (794).

Baldwin tries to explain why Black English might differ from mainstream English. From the example he provides, it is evident that sub-languages can exist among the main language, and a key factor to consider understanding of the speakers of that language, not other external parties' because geography determines the dialect of an individual.

Language remains a dictatorship of identity and culture, and earlier languages have formed a tendency of exercising power to later languages. It is perhaps the ideal way of identifying individuals since it reveals the private identity of an individual and how it is similar or different from the wider public and communal identity (Baldwin 795). People use language to separate and identify themselves. The author describes how language is a political instrument and an illustration of the power and how it connects people or differentiates people from the societal identity. This point is a key element in the article because the black race obviously speaks differently from the white race. The large diversity of languages should not be a reason for human diversity, but instead should be appreciation and acknowledgement of one's language and culture. Hence Black English should be a language of its speakers and therefore is a language.

Baldwin reports that the development of language is a political behavior through which can make other languages look down upon other languages as not being worthy. He also differentiates between language and dialect. A language allows people to define and realize who they are instead of another people expressing or misrepresenting their reality. Individuals tend to grow a language to describe and have control over their circumstances. Baldwin states that "People evolve a language to describe and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged by a reality that they cannot articulate" (Baldwin 794). Here, he points out that language helps people understand and communicate with one another. Therefore, distinct speakers of a given language have a sense of identity that everyone craves: a feeling of being a part of society.

Baldwin claims that Black English is a language that derives from African-Americans, and he makes a clear statement about the creation of Black English, as well as its profound purpose. Black people had to create a vernacular to improve their chances of surviving against the pressures of racism. Baldwin, a well-known author, desires to challenge racist perspectives, and he effectively uses techniques and rhetorical devices to not only secure the attention of multi-racial readers from different backgrounds but also to disprove the ridiculous claim that black English is not a language. Through his profound emotional ideas and effective appeals to pathos, Baldwin delivers profound insight into the purpose and creation of Black English.

Work Cited

Baldwin, James. "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology, edited by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, Bedford and St. Martin's, 2017, pp. 794-797.