Blog 4

In the essay, "On Being Black and Middle Class," the author writes of the turbulent times during the 60s. On page 165 he writes of the "racial identification" of black people, going through a transformation into a monotithic "singular people with a common experience of oppression." Before the 1960, black people in the US. went by the name negros. Today black people in the US. no longer consider themselves as negros. The process of a race of people in the US. no longer calling themselves by the name negros, but calling themselves black people is very much a part of what the author is talking about on page 165 and 166. Earlier in the essay (bottom of page 163) the author mentions how the black middle class has always identified with the "upper-class white society." Steele writes, "This habit goes back to the institution of slavery itself, when 'house' slaves both mimicked the whites they served and held themselves above the 'feild slaves.' " During slavery, the mulatto (a person with one white and one black parent) considered themselves better than a black person whos parents were both black. The mulatto was also a slave, but because he/she was half white they felt they were on a higher level of existance than the dark complexted slave. Many years after slavery ended this partice continued and light complexted negros ( not all but most) considered themselves better than the darker complexed negros. I wanted to write an essay on how the black people in the US. went from being called negros to being called black people, but the research would take too long and I could never get it done on time.

Blog 3

In the essay, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" James Balwin claims; "...Black English began with the formation of the black church under the conditions of slavery. It was not merely the adoption of a foregin tongue, but an alchemy that transformed ancient elements into a new language." Baldwin does not focus on why Black English is, or is not, a dialect. The first slaves who learned to speak english, spoke the words in the African way of communication. They taught their children to speak the language this way, which was passed on from one generatino to the next. Today we call it Ebonics. In the essay by Rachel Jones, "What's Wrong with Black English," Jones is more in favor of black people doing away with black English, and trying to learn the proper way to speak and write the English language. I cannot beleive these two essays were placed back to back by pure accident.