If Black English Isn't a Language Then Tell Me What Is?
Occidental College
OxyScholar
ECLS Student Scholarship English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS)
4-1-2009
BALDWINISM: The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”Colonial America
Julian Mitchell
Occidental College
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.oxy.edu/ecls_student Recommended Citation
Mitchell, Julian, "BALDWINISM: The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”-Colonial America" (2009). ECLS Student Scholarship. http://scholar.oxy.edu/ecls_student/11
This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) at OxyScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in ECLS Student Scholarship by an authorized administrator of OxyScholar. For more information, please contact cdlr@oxy.edu.
1 Julian Mitchell Senior Comps 03.18.09
BALDWINISM
The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”-Colonial America. James Baldwin’s If Black English Isn’t Language, Then Tell Me, What Is asserts the English language as a contemporary system of racism and marginalization. The construction of Western language reflects the same alienating principles which validate the Western ideology of race, executing the political and economic agendas of both colonization and nationalism. Therefore, the English language is colonial because it establishes a power structure which imposes whiteness to create a means of identifying and objectifying the “other”, placing empirical value upon racial separation. “Whiteness” is defined as “the quality of being white or freedom from darkness and obscurity; purity or cleanliness”. Thus, Baldwin argues that language implements a system of race within speech and literature, in which “white” English or “proper” Western language signifies access to white privilege and the achievement or stride toward racial independence. Consequently, “Black” English is
OxyScholar
ECLS Student Scholarship English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS)
4-1-2009
BALDWINISM: The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”Colonial America
Julian Mitchell
Occidental College
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.oxy.edu/ecls_student Recommended Citation
Mitchell, Julian, "BALDWINISM: The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”-Colonial America" (2009). ECLS Student Scholarship. http://scholar.oxy.edu/ecls_student/11
This Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) at OxyScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in ECLS Student Scholarship by an authorized administrator of OxyScholar. For more information, please contact cdlr@oxy.edu.
1 Julian Mitchell Senior Comps 03.18.09
BALDWINISM
The English language functioning as a system of racism and colonization in a “Post”-Colonial America. James Baldwin’s If Black English Isn’t Language, Then Tell Me, What Is asserts the English language as a contemporary system of racism and marginalization. The construction of Western language reflects the same alienating principles which validate the Western ideology of race, executing the political and economic agendas of both colonization and nationalism. Therefore, the English language is colonial because it establishes a power structure which imposes whiteness to create a means of identifying and objectifying the “other”, placing empirical value upon racial separation. “Whiteness” is defined as “the quality of being white or freedom from darkness and obscurity; purity or cleanliness”. Thus, Baldwin argues that language implements a system of race within speech and literature, in which “white” English or “proper” Western language signifies access to white privilege and the achievement or stride toward racial independence. Consequently, “Black” English is
Cited: Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. First. Boston: Beacon Press, 1955. West, Cornel. Race Matters. First. New York: Beacon Press, 1993. Roth-Pierport, Claudia. "Another Country: James Baldwin 's flight from America." The New Yorker February 9, 2009: 102-106. Baldwin, James. "If Black English Isn 't a Language, Then Tell Me, What is?." The NEw York Times July 29, 1979: 1-3.