Introduction
James Baldwin was an American writer born and raised in Harlem in New York City in 1924. He is well known as a writer and civil human rights activist who has written many autobiographic novels and plays that are major in politics, race, and sexuality. The essay analyses some of his works and speeches to better understand the scope of originality of the black race, Black English, and reasons for empowering minority groups in America. Accordingly, his viewpoints demonstrate that minority populations, notably the black diaspora, have lost their pride in America due to racial, linguistic, and cultural prejudice.
Discussion
Racial, language, and cultural discrimination against minority communities, especially the black diaspora, has led to the loss of a sense of American pride and belonging. Many scholars have analyzed the topics, and we have used various sources to reach different conclusions and opinions. In 1961, American writer James Baldwin wrote the book “the discovery of what it means to be an American.” He tells how he grew up in the United States and decided to move to Paris to discover himself. In Paris, he gained the ability to establish better relationships with Americans, which he thought was impossible in America. Baldwin explains that racial discrimination against minorities a real issue that blocks people from relating with one another on a more humanitarian level (Baldwin, 1959). Baldwin, being black and homosexual, finds himself predominantly cut off from the dominant culture because he is openly gay.
Many Americans cannot relate the origin of the black culture, why Black people came to America, and how. In Baldwin’s speech in 1963, he stated reasons why minorities existed in America and what challenges they went through. He also wrote that the immigrants coming to America came here because they believed it was better than where they were. People should stop believing in the myths in the culture taught to children at schools that were created about a country’s past (thepostarchive, 2016). One of the earliest American minority citizens was the Negros, the only one who was forcefully brought to America because all White supremacy wanted was cheap labor. Moreover, it is argued that black man, through Christianity, was made to believe he was a man because they did not know that whatever was happening to them was wrong.
Baldwin also writes an essay, “If black English is not a language, then tell me what is?” A statement that raises much controversy. In the text, he argues that Black English is more of a language than a dialect outside the cultural mainstream (thepostarchive, 2016). The suppression of using Black English as a minority language suppresses how the community thinks and relates within themselves. Black English was developed from slavery in America. Most black people from Africa and the Caribbean were moved from their ethnic groups, where they used different languages and brought to America to serve the white man.
Baldwin argues that the attack on Black English is not based on attacking the language but attacking the superiority of marginalized groups and that if black people used Black English more, it signified increased unity and high integration, which is a weapon against white supremacy. He states an example of the French-speaking communities in France and the French colonies such as Senegal as a clear indication of how language could be used to divide people (Baldwin, & Kirby, 1970). The need to suppress African-American vernacular language clearly symbolizes prejudice in America. It is factual that people use language to express their circumstances and to suppress their language
Black English is unique and has had a significant influence on American English, thanks to the Beat Generation of 1950, which is a movement that used art to come up with phrases and reinterpreted the style from the black American culture, and that only explains something special about Black English (Baldwin, 1959). Baldwin states that the language was created out of necessity since the Africans and Caribbean people transported to America as enslaved did not academically learn the English language. Baldwin described the phenomenon as an alchemy that transformed traditional elements into a new language. If there were no black people in America, white Americans could not sound the same were it not for the influence of black culture.
Similarly, in Sonny’s Blues, Baldwin shows the obstacles of childhood in black America. Essentially, the narrator tells how his brother, sonny, faced hardships growing up in Harlem. The day he discovers he was arrested for selling and using heroin from a newspaper as he prepares to teach algebra class. Despite having difficulties conversing with his brother, the narrator still feels sorry for him. In the flashback, the narrator remembers their childhood stories when their mother told him to take care of his brother (Baldwin, & Kirby, 1970). She told him a story about a man who witnessed his brother run through a van full of white people who did not dare to stop and help, which demonstrates racism and prejudice. Despite his brother’s challenges, he tries to shape him into a better person by supporting him in his jazz journey.
Conclusion
James Baldwin wants Americans to acknowledge that Black English and culture reflect the ancient dynamics of living in modern language, and suppression of people according to language, race or culture can increase disunity in America. Indeed, he cites examples of other dominant cultures that suppressed less prevalent languages and cultures and the effects caused. Baldwin asserts that this is a plan for the stronger power to be able to control the people by forcing them to speak one similar language. In his view, this should not be tolerated in modern America.
References
Baldwin, J. (1959). If Black English isn’t a language, then tell me, what is? The Black Scholar, 27(1), 5-6.
Baldwin, J. (1959). The discovery of what it means to be an American. Collected Essays, 142.
Baldwin, J., & Kirby, G. (1970). Sonny’s blues (pp. 175-206). Klett.
the post archive. (2016). “Free and Brave” a speech by James Baldwin 1963 [Video]. YouTube. Web.