If Black English Isnt A Language

Linguist Max Weinreich defines a language as, “a dialect with an army and a navy.” In James Baldwin’s essay, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” he argues that black English is a separate language from English. The author’s reasonings date back to the days of slavery when blacks, who spoke different languages, were all piled together and forced to find a way to communicate, thus the formation of black English. Baldwin begins his piece by attempting to define a language in stating, “People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances. . .” The author continues by suggesting that, while areas might have a common language, they do not live in the same environment so they cannot be speaking identically. Baldwin also asserts that black English is not a “dialect” because the idea is belittling and disrespectful to their culture. With Baldwin’s ideas one must ask, “Where do we draw the line?” …show more content…
Baldwin claims that whites teach black children to be white. Baldwin also discusses a time period called the Beat Generation where whites attempted to use black English. The author berates these people for using their language but also never accepting it. One must wonder which point the author really believes, as they contradict themselves. If whites were attempting to use and understand ‘black English’, why are they accused of oppressing it?
Baldwin makes many good points about language in his text and decent arguments as to why black English should be one. The author also belittles whites for oppressing black culture and attempting to accept it. The main question in this piece is whether or not black English is a language or a dialect. From looking at the examples of black English in this essay one can infer that black English is nothing more than a dialect and not a complete