If Black Isn't a Language Than Tell Me What Is

Response Paper 1

In James Baldwin’s essay, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me What Is”, his ideas of Black English are heard loud and clear. He expresses that people may speak the same language, but how they use the language will be different depending on the life they are living. Baldwin uses great emotion to convey to the reader how Black English came to be. He states the white people had no desire to educate the slaves upon their arrival to America because there was no need for that education. It appears that the whites did not want to give them any form of power or self-worth. The blacks had no way to express themselves or communicate with other blacks in times of danger, so they created their own language, known as Black English.

Language does one of two things in a person’s life. It either brings them closer to others, or it sets them apart. Baldwin expresses this quite clearly by stating, “[Language] is the most vivid and crucial key to identity: It reveals the private identity and connects one with, or divorces one from, the larger public or communal identity” (Baldwin pp 5.) Baldwin also stresses the important purpose of language, and how it is a way to express one’s reality. “People evolve a language in order to describe, and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged by a situation that they cannot articulate (Baldwin pp 1.) The blacks were living in a very scary time, and they had no way of escaping that reality without a form of communication. In turn, language offers people the ability to be involved in something greater, and it gave the blacks a sense of belonging in their own society.

I agree that language connects a person to a group of people in which they identify with, and it also gives you a sense of self and belonging. Even though I do not speak a different language fluently, my job requires me to communicate with some people where English is their second language. This often times gets very difficult on both sides because the full message is not always being expressed due to the lack of knowledge for the language on both sides. Often times, that person will have to bring in someone that can translate to us so the customer and myself are getting the information correctly. The look of relief on the customer’s face expresses the appreciation for having someone that they can connect to in everyday life. Even though it is frustrating that not everyone speaks the same language, I would never want there to only be one language. The blacks are proud of their language because it got them through a time of great oppression. This is true with many groups of people and the language that they speak, and they would never want to give that up. Speaking a different language does not have to separate people, but it does every day. I feel Baldwin’s purpose of this article wasn’t just to shine light on Black English, even though that was the main subject. I feel he was trying to express how different languages have evolved over the years as well. Black English is still around today because it was their first language in America, and I agree that it should be recognized as a language.

What the blacks went through during slavery is something I could not, and do not, ever want to imagine. On top of being worked for hours upon hours, being beaten, and starved, they had to live in silence because they had no language. I could not make it even a couple hours without talking to someone about anything. Human interaction is an essential part of life, and without a language that is known, it is