Reading Response No. 21

Summary:
In her article "God Don't Never Change," Geneva Simtherman attempts to persuade her audience that Black English should be held in the same regard as White English. She argues this point by giving examples of papers that recieved bad grades due to incorrect grammar written by black students. She goes on to say that this is invalid, claiming that black English is more style than error.

Synthesis:
One could relate this article to the Flynn and Wardle articles, because all three deal with identity. I thought about the Flynn article while reading this because both article put emphasis on identity in adulthood in relation to identity in youth. Delpit can also be related to this article because it also talks about Black English.

Questions for Discussions and Journaling
1. The author uses Black Idiom rhetorically by inserting in the text and therefore showing the audience that is it acceptable.

2. Those that hold power usually hold the responsability for "deciding" what is right and wrong; this is also true in writing. According to Simtherman and Delpit, this is racist toward blacks, and opresses black people.

Personal Response:
I really didn't like this article much. I think the author is using black English as an excuse for bad grammar. I also don't think that the English language opresses black people. Language gives people voice, it doesn't opress them.