James Baldwin published this essay in The New York Times in 1979 to defend, in an eloquent and convincing way, the idea that Black English is a true language. Baldwin argues that Black English meets the criteria of what defines a language, as people develop a language to express their reality. As he writes, "People evolve a language in order to describe and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged by a reality that they cannot articulate." In other words, Blacks in America had to create their own language because they needed a way to articulate their experience.
He also defines language as a "political instrument, means, and a proof of power." Language defines who one is, and it also defines who one is with regard to the larger identity of the community. It can either separate someone from this larger identity or connect him or her to it. Baldwin feels that Blacks in America have been so marginalized by white society that their creation of another, distinct language was a necessity.
Baldwin traces the development of Black English to the creation of what he refers to as a "Black diaspora"--slaves who came to America speaking different languages and needing a way to communicate. He believes that the Black experience in America was so transcendent that Black English is not a mere dialect but rises to the distinction of being a true language.
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