RR #21 Smitherman

Summary: 
In the article "'God Don't Never Change': Black English from a Black Perspective," Geneva Smitherman attempts to explain the difference between black and white language. She believes that black people have a different way of speaking than white people. She thinks that it is not fair that black people have to learn how to speak like white people because their language should be just as good as white people's language.


Synthesis:
I think this article deals a lot with identity like Delpit and Gee. It connects with Gee because of the "identity kit" and how black and white language are different discourses. This article relates to Delpit's article because Delpit states that you have the ability to change your primary discourse and become fluent in another discourse. Both of them also agree that students shouldn't have to be forced to learn standard English. 


Thoughts:
I thought this article was difficult. I never really realized how big grammar was until I read this article. It wasn't difficult to read, I just didn't like how many grammar problems there were. I also that it was interesting how culture can can effect someone's writing and English. 


ODJ:
1. She uses Black Idiom (BI) rhetorically because that is how she proves her point in her article. She is proving that you can read dialect and understand it just as well as if you were writing in standard English. 

2. Language promotes power for specific races and classes because identity comes out when you talk or write. It promotes power for races because one race may of been more dominant before another one and you can't make someone go to a different culture that they aren't use too.