Denying someone the right to speak the language they are comfortable with is like denying them the right to breathe and think. When we as a society tell a person that they can't speak a certain language because someone else can't understand what they are saying we are basically telling them that they can't be who they are. We silence their voice and push them to shy away from themselves and their culture. How can you deny someone the satisfaction of speaking the language they grew up with just because you weren't raised listening to that language. In the beginning of "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" Anzaldua begins with someone at the dentist and the dentist having a struggle cleaning their mouth because of their tongue. The dentist keeps repeating "We're going to have to control your tongue." The person who is getting their teeth cleaned is confused because how do you just control someone else's tongue? In the first amendment it says that humans have the right to free speech but when we make someone suppress their mother tongue we are denying them that basic right.
There are some people that violate that right which people have fought to give us. Anzaldua mentions how one time when she was at recess she was caught speaking Spanish and got punished for it. She was hit on the knuckles with a ruler. The Anglo teacher who made her stand in the corner for "talking back" told her "If you want to be American, speak 'American.' If you don't like it, go back to Mexico where you belong." This statement to me is ironic because if someone had said this to a Native American I would say to them "If you want to speak 'American' (which you can't because it's a race not a language) then you can go back to England. People forget that they weren't the first ones here they came later when there were already people living here.
Denying a group their language is a violation of that groups right to freedom of speech. Anybody who denies anyone that right is an awful human being and needs to remember that they don't get to decide what someone speaks just to please their ignorant selves. We the human race are unique because we all speak differently and are raised differently. We create an act of violence when we force someone to silence who they are and live and speak a different way. It may not be a physical act of violence but it became one when that teacher hit her with a ruler because she spoke Spanish. Things can escalate to a physical violent point when an ignorant person is angered just because they don't understand.
Let me just applaud you for your great answer! I love that you opened your blog by saying “denying someone the right to speak the language they are comfortable with is like denying them the right to breathe and think.” I actually thought of this comparison while reading the text. I strongly agree with your answer because, I come from a background where my first language was not “American” or English, I was told by my own mother, before I went to Pre-K here in Texas, I needed to start speaking English at home, because at Pre-K, no one would understand me and I would have to go to an ESL class, although I was both fluent in Tagalog and English. I then started speaking English at home, which then eventually made me forget the first language I learned, which is something I strongly regret. Fast forward to moving to Japan at an early age and growing up there, no one cared what language you spoke, because you’re living in a foreign country, yes, I went to school on the American military base but there were many different cultures represented on the base, no one cared what you spoke. The only time our school system cared was when some students had to be in ESL, because they were either coming from Japanese school and were half American or grew up in a household where they predominantly spoke their first language. However, us military kids didn’t bully or negatively speak about others for not speaking English, we would help them out, our teachers would encourage them and we would even have a week long international fest where kids could speak their own languages and learn about new ones. This encouragement led the kids who didn’t know English or were not confident in speaking it becoming bilingual by the end of the school year and becoming great English speakers and translators. For the Anglo teacher to deny their student the right to speak another language is certainly against the first amendment, anyone who makes someone do this is inhibiting that person's right to the first amendment and their right to freedom of speech. Sometimes we are ‘lost in translation,’ but if people understood that sometimes English isn’t a person’s first language, they can treat that person better and understand their constitutional rights. Being able to speak more than one language is a blessing and a curse, however if people respected this blessing they would also be respecting their constitutional rights and encourage them to spread their culture and heritage.
ReplyDeleteI would also like to congratulate you on your terrific and spot on response. I think that the whole "I want you to speak English or get out" thing is not only a violation of the first amendment (as Angelica Rosas had said) but that it is also super racist. We should not only accept people's language diversity (or any other form of diversity for that matter) but we should embrace it with open arms. America is largely made up of immigrants because people from all over the world see the freedoms that many of us take for granted and they want a better life and while we're saying they can't speak their native language we're giving them that same persecution that they're trying so desperately to get away from. In the book the dentist says,"we're going to have to control your tongue." Anzulda then wonders how can you control someones' tongue. I agree with both you and Anzulda that nobody should have the right to dictate what language someone else speaks. We should all be free to choose our own path.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that troubles me with the upcoming elections is if Donald Trump "builds the wall" he's going to violate many of American's (both native and immigrants) of their unalienable rights such as freedom of speech. Fortunately I think so far America has been going in the right direction because we're starting to be more accepting of foreign language and culture.
DeleteP.s. sorry for having to make two posts I posted the first one and realized I had more to say.
I think that your response is great and I totally agree with everything that you said. Denying someone their right to their native language or tongue is like denying them the right to breathe. Why do we oppress others for being themselves? Gloria Anzaldua was accused of "talking back" to her school teacher when all she was trying to do was "tell her how to pronounce her name." She also stated that she was "required to take two speech classes" while in college with the purpose of getting rid of her accent. Why is it okay for American schools to deny Chicano students their right to their native tongue or accent? We shouldn't judge people based on where they are from or what accent they speak in. I'm sure Europeans who come to America and speak english in a British accent or other European accent are not forced to take these classes. So why are we forcing hispanics into these classes? Language oppressing can lead to violence and hatred as mentioned by Gloria when she was hit on her knuckles for speaking in her native accent and showing her teacher who she really was, this can also lead to wars and fights throughout this country and across the world. One example would be world war 2 when Jews were oppressed for being who they were and they were treated very harshly for it.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with everything you said in your response. Denying a person of their right to speak in their native language is completely and utterly wrong. It goes against everything America has ever fought for. America prides itself on being a diverse country, a "melting pot," while at the same time, restricting people from being who they truly are. Language isn't something to be messed with out of sheer ignorance. In the beginning of this story, the dentist is complaint about needing "to do something about your tongue," and how he's "never seen anything as strong or as stubborn." When you attack a person's language, you have to expect them to fight back and to protest because as Ray Gwyn Smith say, "Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?" It's a war that continues to this day. Not even a couple of days ago in Idaho, a school bus driver going by the name Mary Black, was caught on video pouring water over a kid's head for speaking Spanish with his friends. In the video she can be heard saying that she doesn't "understand Spanish. I'm not going to learn it. I live in America and it's a English-speaking country. So if you want to speak to me, speak to me in English." It had been said that this wasn't the first occurrence of her berating and bullying kids like this, but she had never been caught because she would always turn off the video surveillance in the bus. The fact that situations like this are still happening across America is insane and upsetting. It's tragic that people can be so close-minded in a country that is supposed to be proud of its diverse background. I wish I had been taught to speak Spanish as a child because there's an entire half of my family that speaks Spanish, but unfortunately my father figured he was too good to speak in his native tongue and I never got to learn. No one should ever have to be scared to speak their first language in front of people.
ReplyDeleteI also was very impressed with your answer to this question, not allowing someone to speak there native language is asking them to be something there not, this issue hit home for me especially since i come from a Spanish speaking family. This country was built off the mixing of culture, even if i agree that everyone here should know some kind of basic english, it does not mean that they should have to give up there primary language by any means. Showing a child as disrespectful just because she correct you is a crime, it is disrespectful to refuse to pronounce someones name right, based on there culture. Ray Gwyn describes this as a "war", which sadly is quiet accurate, most people think that racism has only been a problem since the days of slavery in american, racism has been the number one factor to the mistreatment of people since society was even establish. The freedom of speech was our right given to us, it states that we has people have the right to say what we want and how we want (within reason), but no where in the bill of right does it say that people have "The freedom of speech.....but only in english". So why would people be upset about someone using a language other then their own. I am personaly very culturally diverse, and being asked to ignore my cultural is asking me to ignore who i am, which no one should have to do.
ReplyDeleteYour answer could not have been any better. I couldn't agree more with your first sentence, about how taking away someones right to speak is like telling them they can't think or breathe. Denying someone the right to speak is one of the worst forms of censorship there is. Even though I can't relate to the essay, I can only imagine what its like to be told that I'm not allowed to speak my native language. Taking away someones right to speak their own language is one of the worst things you can do to a person. You're stripping that person of something they have every right to keep. How you speak and the way you speak make you unique. Many Americans before us fought so that these rights could not be taken away. Especially by fellow americans. America is a place where everyone should feel accepted, not ashamed.
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