Dis be blog 7

In his article “God Don’t Never Change”: Black English From a Black Perspective, Geneva Smitherman attempts to explain the difference between “Black English” and “White English”. He argues that teachers should not necessarily grade black students on their grammar, but rather on their content. He is trying to say that black students may be writing with “bad grammar”, but it is part of their history and where they come from. The African American people have imitated the English language to the best of their ability with the little education that they received. He also argues that the White American people say that it is incorrect to write in a way of Black English, yet we as White Americans have no problem understanding and reading it; and when in reality we have a hard time understanding the “admired” British language instead.

 

I believe I could compare this article to the Dawkins article about correct punctuation because I believe they have the same concept. Dawkins explained that there is technically no correct way to use any type of punctuation mark. There is a broad spectrum of uses for each mark, and we can use them all in different ways to get our point across. Geneva explains that there are many different ways to interpret English and that no one way should be the right way. He believes if a person who uses Black English has a really great concept, then there is really nothing wrong with his/her English speak because that’s a part of their background. These two articles are explaining that the English language is never set in stone, and all the “rules” have exceptions.

 

Geneva explains that “sloppy, irresponsible writing” is a type of writing that is grammatically correct, but repeats itself in sentence structure and has no supporting details. He explains that this type of writing is often just a generalization and writing styles are repeated. There is no combination of sentences and ideas, but rather short thoughts with no facts. On the other hand, he says “sloppy, correct writing” is a type of writing that may not be grammatically correct, but the writing may have complex ideas with supporting facts. Geneva does not think teachers and professors should be wasting their time worry and correcting such minor misuses of words. They should be looking for content! He wants the teachers to engage their students in the complexity of the communication process and not pay so much attention to minor details.

 

My opinion of this article was that I could agree with Geneva at some level, but disagree on another. I agree with him because I do think the complexity and content of a piece of writing should be held at a higher standard then grammar. I think many African American students are used to hearing this type of language in their home environment; therefore they are inclined to talk and write in the same way. I do not think if a student has poor grammar and speech patterns that their paper should be handed back to them right away. The teacher should at least take a peak at the ideas the student has written down. I disagree because I think everyone should write and speak in the same “language”. Everyone should follow the same rules to make writing less complex. I found it harder to read a sentence that be talkin like dis. It be hard to undastand cuz we used to correct phrases. I found myself having to re-read a few sentences to make sure I was reading them correctly.