Institutional power authorizes individuals to act accordingly to the law meanwhile individuals’ freedoms are restricted and divide individuals within the society. How does institutional power restrict individuals’ freedoms? How are individuals divided within the society? Amy Tan’s “Mother tongue”, Baldwin’s “If Black English isn’t a language, then tell me, what is?”, and Orwell’s “Shooting an elephant” shows how language is powerful form of institutional power that is capable of destroying or building and joining or dividing the society. “Mother tongue” explains how even though immigrants know limited English does not mean they will have limitations in life. Baldwin debates about how it took white America long time to accept Black English its own language and its significance to the black community. Orwell explains that it is …show more content…
“A language comes into existence by means of brutal necessity, and the rules of the language are dictated by what the language must convey,” Black English came into existence during slavery time. African American needed a language so they all can communicate since they came from different tribes. They took English and made it their own language and Black English was formed PG 133. Differences in Black English and white American English created a division and separated African Americans from the society because it is not ‘standard’ that the society goes by. American did not wanted to accept Black English as a language because during those times blacks were inferior and so were their language. It’s ironic that white Americans don’t want to accept their own language. Black English defined the black community and Americans wanted them to be trash so “white people in America never had any interest in educating black people…” (PG
In Baldwin 's article If Black English Isn 't A Language Then Tell Me What Is? starting off by telling the readers about French speaking people. He is explaining how different dialects doesn 't mean people aren 't speaking the same language. Going deeper about language saying that it ties into the culture. Give an example of Black Culture and how their expression of English is different. Talking about the phrases like jazz me, baby, sock it to me, and funky; being used that way they weren 't meant to. Finally introducing how the African American culture has been disrespected or ignored. Telling
The absence of true freedom is apparent in Baldwin?s other essays, in which he writes about the rampant prejudice and discrimination of the 1950?s and 60?s. Blacks during this time were limited as to where they could live, go to school, use the bathroom, eat, and drink. ?Such were the cases of a Nigerian second secretary who was rebuffed last week when he tried to order breakfast in Charlottesville, VA, and a Ghanaian second secret...
...ty and their survival as a group in society because of restraint from the federal government in the ability to litigate their plight in Court. The Author transitions the past and present signatures of Jim Crow and the New Jim Crow with the suggestion that the New Jim Crow, by mass incarceration and racism as a whole, is marginalizes and relegates Blacks to residential, educational and constitutionally endowed service to Country.
This marginalization is still prevalent today, as Black English is still overwhelmingly stigmatized and discredited in nearly all academic settings, particularly within American culture. Jordan’s demonstration that Black English is not given respect or afforded validity in academic and social settings still rings true today. Black English-speaking students see little to no representation of their language in the classroom, and are often actively discouraged from speaking the language of their community and of their upbringing. This suppression and delegitimization of a valid method of communication represents colonialist and white supremacist notions of language, social homogeneity, and latent institutional racism, and has negative, even dire, consequences for the students
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Smitherman is certainly qualified to address her colleagues about the treatment of “Black English” in academia, but with such a charged writing style it is possible that her audience would not make it to her conclusion. Smitherman assumes that the general base of her audience are “White English” speakers that can understand “Black English”. She also assumes that all African Americans speak the same way. These assumptions are her first major problem. At the time of this articles publication in 1973, it is conceivable that certain scholars would have ignored the piece because of its hybrid u...
From slavery being legal, to its abolishment and the Civil Rights Movement, to where we are now in today’s integrated society, it would seem only obvious that this country has made big steps in the adoption of African Americans into American society. However, writers W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin who have lived and documented in between this timeline of events bringing different perspectives to the surface. Du Bois first introduced an idea that Baldwin would later expand, but both authors’ works provide insight to the underlying problem: even though the law has made African Americans equal, the people still have not.
Baldwin and his ancestors share this common rage because of the reflections their culture has had on the rest of society, a society consisting of white men who have thrived on using false impressions as a weapon throughout American history. Baldwin gives credit to the fact that no one can be held responsible for what history has unfolded, but he remains restless for an explanation about the perception of his ancestors as people. In Baldwin?s essay, his rage becomes more directed as the ?power of the white man? becomes relevant to the misfortune of the American Negro (Baldwin 131). This misfortune creates a fire of rage within Baldwin and the American Negro. As Baldwin?s American Negro continues to build the fire, the white man builds an invisible wall around himself to avoid confrontation about the actions of his ?forefathers? (Baldwin 131). Baldwin?s anger burns through his other emotions as he writes about the enslavement of his ancestors and gives the reader a shameful illusion of a Negro slave having to explai...
In “Teaching to Transgress: Education as the practice of Freedom”, Author, feminist, and social activist Bell hooks made a point to go beyond Standard English and express ourselves through one's own cultural language. Hooks believes that African Americans created a speech that could convey more than Standard English does. I agree with Hooks because different languages are used in many different ways, whether it is to insult someone or to express how much you care. I believe that Standard English became a symbol of oppression and Standard English covers up the true language of Black Vernacular English.
Ebonics is very much different from a real foreign language such as Italian, or Arabic. Arabic, for example, has a completely different alphabet, sentence structure, words, and sounds than English; while Ebonics basically uses the same alphabet, words and sounds as English. The only variance between Ebonics and English is that some pronunciations of words and grammar are somewhat different. There have been many opinions about the use of Ebonics as it vaguely different from Standard English. John Baugh argues that Ebonics is not “proper English”. When he was about four years old the eldest sister of his church told him ‘‘you sho’ is a fine young man.’’ To which he replied, ‘‘are! You are a fine young man.’’ (Baugh 4-5) This can only conclude that Ebonics is not an instinctive language to non-African Americans. Standard English has been practiced by many immigrants by the way, yet the African Americans wish not to speak it. Ebonics should not be recognized as a language at all. It is a dialect that some African Americans use to communicate with each other more effectively. Though it is not proper English, Ebonics is still used as a primary dialect in many African American homes. This is the reason to educate the youth of today. Ebonics should not be taught in school at all. Professional work places should also use only Standard English to encourage the practice of proper
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a book by Michelle Alexander, a civil rights litigator and legal scholar. The book discusses race-related issues specific to African-American males and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander (2010) argues that despite the old Jim Crow is death, does not necessarily means the end of racial caste (p.21). In her book “The New Jim Crow”, Alexander describes a set of practices and social discourses that serve to maintain African American people controlled by institutions. In this book her analyses is centered in examining the mass incarceration phenomenon in recent years. Comparing Jim Crow with mass incarceration she points out that mass incarceration is a network of laws, policies, customs and institutions that works together –almost invisible– to ensure the subordinate status of a group defined by race, African American (p. 178 -190).
Sharing the commonality of punctuation and sounds with Southern American English, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also known as Ebonics, has become one of the leading means of speech for people descended from black Africans, and has since asserted its independence from standard English through influences such as age, status, topics, and setting. Many linguists, those that study the art and diversity of language find nothing intimately wrong with African American Vernacular English since, like any other language, it is used to convey thoughts and ideas. However non specialists’ attitudes lean more toward the negative with African American Vernacular English, especially amongst African Americans themselves, as its usage can be misconstrued as ignorance and/or laziness. As a result of these negative connotations that derive from the usage of African American Vernacular English, many African American’sare now bidialectal, also known as code switchers, being that they are able to use both standard American English as well as African American Vernacular English.
I agree with this statement to some degree, that while Black English may be associated with lower classes, I do not necessarily think that the language itself creates a sense of separateness from society as a whole. In some aspects, society accepts the language. Koga says that if you suppress Black English, you suppress black culture and identity. In my opinion, I think that even if Black English is not taught in the schools of America, it will not put an end to Black
Although Baldwin’s letter was addressed to his nephew, he intended for society as a whole to be affected by it. “This innocent country set you down in a getto in which, in fact, it intended that you should parish”(Baldwin 244). This is an innocent country, innocent only because they know not what they do. They discriminate the African American by expecting them to be worthless, by not giving them a chance to prove their credibility. Today African Americans are considered to be disesteemed in society. They are placed in this class before they are even born just like Royalty obtains their class before they are even conceived. We may think that this is a paradox but when d...
The injustice of segregation laws is leading to a violent impact throughout the African American community, as they strive to have equal rights. In the essay, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. describes the many struggles the African American community is going through. Dr. King effectively uses rhetorical appeals to persuade the clergymen that segregation laws are unjust and must end. Dr. King exemplifies his credibility as an advocate for the ending of segregation laws. He gives an example of how society should realize that there is no need for violence by comparing both Socrates’ and his techniques.