I chose to include my response to the passage “​Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and

the Future Life of Willie Jordan” by June Jordan, because it changed my opinion of
non-standard, or “black” English. Prior to reading Jordan’s work, I viewed black english in a
negative light; I felt that it was not grammatically correct, and therefore, its speakers were
uneducated. Moreover, my opposition to the language was based on my difficulty in
understanding it. After reading the passage, however, I realized that my opinion reflects cultural
bias. I believed that my version of english was the only “correct” one. In reality, language is
arbitrary, and the belief that a system of language is “incorrect” is subjective. Jordan’s article
allowed me to expand my understanding of language and cultures alike; I realized that bias
against black english is a small piece of a larger issue. While being partial to a particular
language form isn’t innately wrong, we must be careful that an attitude of ingroup partiality
doesn’t lead to racial prejudice.