James Baldwin on Language

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James Baldwin is absolutely correct when he states "language can connect or divorce one from certain groups" and "language is a political instrument and proof of power."
After the events that occurred in the United States during 9/11 people became disconcert. They became very secure and wanted to separate them from the Middle East. If you were Muslim, Indian, or Pakistani Americans would treat you unfairly, call the cops, and in some cases put matters in their own hands and fight you. My Father was traveling from Mumbai, India to Miami, Florida on September 29, 2011; when he landed he was pulled over immediately and was searched thoroughly and was asked a series of questions even though he was a valid United States Citizen.
The people of India and Pakistan hate each other with a burning passion that goes back thousands of years. Because of the constant border wars you had to be stealthy when talking to people. For example if we were both on India's land and were both Indians we could be buddies; on the flip side if you spoke Sindhi, a derived form of Hindi, and I spoke Hindi I can assume you were Pakistani and we would have to fight it out.
In the Movie My Fair Lady Eliza Doolittle is being out casted by the upper class because she sounds like she is from a lower class. Throughout the movie she learns to talk like an upper class woman. When she learns this she decides to go talk to her family; no one recognizes her. Frustrated, she has to choose between the two worlds and has no idea what to do.
Around 8000 BCE there was a sudden surge in wanting to settle down and communicate with other communities. Because of this new written and spoken language was formed. These languages connected certain river valley civilizations and disc...

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...o order the Peanut Butter Perversion; because my waiter was so good at persuading she managed to talk me into buying something else. She said "Actually the Peanut Butter Perversion is good, but I recommend the Red Velvet Cheesecake. Our chef's cheesecakes are handmade and are a 12 hour baking process. And personally since I am from New York I've tried a bunch of these, but this one is the best." Feeling Overwhelmed I said "Ok can you cancel my other order and put this one?" Her language was so powerful it made me change my choice (which is hard to do) and order what she told me.
As humans we want to communicate with other people. This is shown throughout time when as far back as 600 BCE when people would meet at markets to now when people mingle at football games. Now I leave you with this to ponder: Do we as people put other races down because of the way they talk?

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