Dominick Karmo

Professor Hankerson
English 1010
October 20, 2015
Informative Summary
In If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?, James Baldwin is
discussing how Black English is both a legitimate speech form and a legitimate language
built upon the ancestors of African Americans living in the United States. He speaks
passionately about language and how it conveys ones historical, societal and cultural
experiences. If it werent for Black English we wouldnt be speaking with the hip dialect
like we do now.
In the beginning of James Baldwins article, James Baldwin talks about the
meaning of language, and how each person is submerged into his or her own culture
through language and cannot be further submerged into somebody elses culture and
language. Baldwin gives the example A Frenchman living in Paris speaks 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.
(Baldwin 2) These dialects have become their own unique languages because each dialect
is unique to the people the live in each region of the country. James Baldwin gives
another good example by saying Irish Indigenes were forced to undergo English by the

English. (Baldwin Pg.1) This case shows us how language is used as a form of political
power. There are times when speaking a language could be fatal or could save ones life.
Next Baldwin speaks about how Americans wouldnt sound like what they do
today if it wasnt for Black English. He talks about something called The Beat
Generation, which was a time where uptight middle classed white people were imitating
poverty by using phrases and words from Black English, such as Beat to his socks.
(Baldwin 2) Unfortunately African Americans arent credited for creating a language that
gives a chance to escape from a false reality. (Baldwin 2) During the Black Diaspora,
African Americans from different tribes were chained to each other and could not
communicate with one another because each tribes language sounded different from one
another. Slaves were then given a bible and began the formation of the black church.
Now these people could try and learn to communicate with one another through their
dialect of English. This language came to be because there was no other choice for
survival.
Last, bot not least, Baldwin speaks about the truth of this country. He says that the
white people of America do not have any interest in educating black people unless it
benefits them. Someone trying cannot teach a black child to change the way the child
speaks and change what kind of person he or she is. His strong words show the true
realization of the never-ending discrimination of black people in the United States.
Language is what holds roots to African Americans being born in the U.S. today. This is
what refuses any black person to be subdued to White American standard of language and
for a black person to enter a world where he or she is no longer black and can never

become white. It is not just the language being despised but the experiences and culture
of the person.
In conclusion, Baldwin speaks passionately about language and how it is the
central element to distinguish ones culture from another. Slaves brought over to America
from Africa had no other option but to learn English and make it universal among the
slave people. It is wrong to say that Black English is an illegitimate way to speak when in
reality it is a language, which goes beyond the norms of this country. Language is formed
out of the historical, cultural and societal experiences of different ethnicities and
backgrounds and language continues to be an instrument for defending ones culture and
ways of life. It is wrong to say that ones language is correct and anothers is not. Until
we can fully understand each other as equal humans on this earth, this societal conflict
will continue to help the minorities of the United States of America not to be
reprimanded.