If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?

Black English is spoken by many Black people in North America. It was developed when African people were enslaved during the Atlantic slave trade, beginning in the late 17th century. By the time of Baldwin’s New York Times essay, cultural and scholarly debates over “the use, the status, or the reality” of Black English had been occurring in the United States since at least the 1920s and probably centuries before (Paragraph 1). Many linguists argue that Black English is a language variety because it “is systematic in phonology (sounds), morphology (structure of words and relationships among words), syntax (sentence structure), semantics (meaning), pragmatics (context), and discourse patterns” (“African American English.” Oxford Bibliographies). However, as Baldwin argues in his essay, some deny Black English the status of a language to further the goals of anti-Black racism.

The question of what to call Black English has been—and continues to be—argued, including names such as Ebonics (a blend of the words ebony and phonics), African American Language (AAL), African American English (AAE), Black English, and Black Language (differentiating it from white mainstream English) (“African American English”). Black English also includes many dialects, among them Gullah (Geechee), African American Vernacular Language (AAVL), African American Vernacular English (AAVE), African American Church Language, Hip Hop National Language (HHNL), and African American Sign Language.

By its very nature, Black English is a tool of self-determination because it is created and used primarily by Black people. When James Baldwin chose to publish in a nationally influential newspaper an essay designed to persuade readers that Black English is a fully developed, self-contained language, he furthered both the status of Black English and the self-determination to be gained through Black English’s use and broad recognition. The topic of Black language continues to be debated in the public sphere. One recent example is the book Talking Back, Talking Black (Bellevue, 2017) by linguist, professor, and New York Times opinion writer John McWhorter.