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7 November 2013
June Jordans Nobody Mean More to Me Than You: An Analytical Response
In June Jordans Nobody Mean More to Me Than You, Jordan suggests that Black
English is an endangered dialect, while Standard English is the correct way to speak.
She discusses her students reactions after reading parts of Alice Walkers The Color
Purple, along with her own response to the issue. Being so accustomed to reading and
writing in Standard English, Jordans students have trouble recognizing their own dialect
in writing.
Jordan details how Black English differs from Standard English, and she and her
students promulgate rules on how to speak using the dialect. Willie Jordan is one of her
students who faces difficulty writing in Standard English. Toward the end of the essay, he
discovers that his brother Reggie was shot and killed by a white policeman for no
apparent reason. When Willie Jordan and his classmates decide to write letters to the local
police force, they struggle over whether to use Black English or Standard English. In the
end, they settle on Black English; to abandon the dialect is to abandon Reggie, along with
everything they learned in class.
Black English is far more complicated than one might think. While it sounds as if
random words are dropped when spoken, detailed guidelines instruct which words to
leave out, and when. In this essay, Jordan explores those guidelines, emphasizing the
complexity of the dialect in the process.
After reading June Jordans essay, I concluded that some of her claims have value,
while others lack supporting details. For example, Jordan states, compulsory education
original word habits, or we completely surrender our own voice, hoping to please those
who will never respect anyone different from themselves, she says. While it is true that
individuals may lose a degree of personal expression by using proper grammar,
compliance with grammatical rules has its benefits. Standard English teaches consistency,
and consistency of grammar, spelling and other language rules fosters effective
communication among large groups of people, regardless of race or upbringing. It seems,
too, that Jordan believes language makes up ones entire identity. To lose it is to lose
ones self, she argues. But there are many different forms of personal expression that
make up ones identity, including standards of dress and personal grooming, political
opinions and religious beliefs, among others. It seems unlikely, then, that ones identity is
controlled entirely, or even mostly by speech patterns.
When Jordan suggests that society looks down upon blacks because of how they
speak, she leaves out important context. In fact, Standard English has evolved
considerably through the years, losing and gaining certain words, phrases and standards
along the way. It seems likely that the average 19th century American would face
difficulty understanding the English language in its present form. Regardless of race,
everyone who eschews Standard English for improper grammar risks marginalizing
themselves professionally and personally. And while Jordan implies that only blacks
speak Black English, that seems unlikely given the overlap of various forms of the
English language among all races. Black English is not restricted to one particular race; it
is a dialect spoken by those who were reared speaking that way. And so the issue
becomes less about race and identity, and more about standards.