Black Dialect

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Stories have existed since the beginning of mankind. Going back as far as ancient Greece in history, or even further back, one can examine the many different types of stories that have been passed down. The Ancient Greeks wrote about gods and developed drama; the Romans passed down biographies of Caesars containing their life achievements as well as their failures; numerous stories questioning the institution of slavery were produced here in American. Usually by reading the work of an author one is able to find a message or a moral hidden beneath the storyline. In most cases, authors dictate their writings in their culture’s dialect for many different reasons, many reasons of which that would not conclude them as being racist for using it. Black Dialect is used in many stories throughout American history. This dialect represents a time period of freedom. The representation of dialect writing was a “chain” it linked African American’s to a conventional past that was contrived by others (Nicholls 277). The dialectal writings show no concern for racism. The American language is intended to absorb the racial and ethnical differences (Nicholls 279). Its intent is sought for the reader’s attention not only by the storyline itself but by the dialect it uses to draw out the reader’s imagination in the story. Also known as Black English, Black dialect, like many other dialects is drastically identified as a complete, “rule-governed”, form of language. To those who use black dialect, there is a less sufficient understanding of the actual meaning. The black community may protest Black English because of the controversy it causes. Because of these effects, some concluded that black people suffered from “self hatred” due to dominatio... ... middle of paper ... ...has in common, it creates new beginnings, new meanings, for so many different things. As Michael North stated, “Language exists and grows by inclusion” (Nicholls 281). Works Cited Dundes, Lauren, and Bill Spence. "If Ida Kown: The Speaker Versus The Speech In Judging Black Dialect." Teaching Sociology 35.1 (Jan 2007): 85-93. JSTOR. Web. 10 Feb. 2010. . Lauter, Paul, John Alberti, and Mary Brady. The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume C. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2009. 37-108. Print. Mary Rhodes, Hoover. "Community Attitudes Toward Black English." Language in Society 7.1 (Apr 1978): 65-87. JSTOR. Web. 10 Feb. 2010. . Nicholls, David G. "Review: untitled." University of Chicago Press 95.2 (NOV 1997): 276-81. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .

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