Baldwin's 'If Black English Isn' T A Language
In both Baldwin’s “If Black English Isn’t A Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” and Trask’s “From A Native Daughter” the idea of the American images impact on other cultures is shown. This impact could have had an impact on how fast America came to be what we know.
Baldwin in his essay talks about slavery and how it could have ended sooner but it would have taken the white man to be able to realize their own ignorance in order for this to be able to happen. This realization would of been hard for them to handle. In Baldwin’s essay he writes about the slaves having to learn how to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently, “Had to convey… the danger in which I was standing from the white man standing just behind me, and to convey this with a speed, and in a language, that the …show more content…
He cannot afford to understand it. This understanding would reveal to him too much about himself, and smash that mirror before which he has been frozen for so long”(Baldwin, 264). Baldwin explains how a slave would have to transfer information to his fellow slave without the master finding out what was being said. They would have to do this in order to protect themselves from what their master would do if he knew what was being said right behind his back. If he were to have found out though then that may of destroyed what he thought about himself, “This understanding would reveal to him too much about himself, and smash that mirror before which he has been frozen for so long” (Baldwin, 264). This states how the white man’s image of himself could have been ruined if only he knew what he was doing was affecting other people. Also if he were to of realized that they were not objects for his control. Only after this was established could the country of changed for the better and it could become what we know of it as now. This compares to Trask due to the fact that the Hawaiians history when written by
Baldwin in his essay talks about slavery and how it could have ended sooner but it would have taken the white man to be able to realize their own ignorance in order for this to be able to happen. This realization would of been hard for them to handle. In Baldwin’s essay he writes about the slaves having to learn how to communicate with each other quickly and efficiently, “Had to convey… the danger in which I was standing from the white man standing just behind me, and to convey this with a speed, and in a language, that the …show more content…
He cannot afford to understand it. This understanding would reveal to him too much about himself, and smash that mirror before which he has been frozen for so long”(Baldwin, 264). Baldwin explains how a slave would have to transfer information to his fellow slave without the master finding out what was being said. They would have to do this in order to protect themselves from what their master would do if he knew what was being said right behind his back. If he were to have found out though then that may of destroyed what he thought about himself, “This understanding would reveal to him too much about himself, and smash that mirror before which he has been frozen for so long” (Baldwin, 264). This states how the white man’s image of himself could have been ruined if only he knew what he was doing was affecting other people. Also if he were to of realized that they were not objects for his control. Only after this was established could the country of changed for the better and it could become what we know of it as now. This compares to Trask due to the fact that the Hawaiians history when written by