“As the daughter of colonized immigrants, my socialization into U.S. culture began with my earliest schooling experiences—the gradual loss of my first language coupled with acquiring and
excelling at a second language.” (p. 2-3)
This beautifully written piece tackles many facets of society, from American values, to Mexican values, to perceptions of Mexicans through American eyes, to perceptions of Americans through Mexican eyes, to the values of hard working families, to the struggles faced by immigrant families, to bureaucracy favoring one race* over another.For this MVP, I wish to focus on the importance of not losing contact with one’s roots, particularly one’s heritage language and native culture, when assimilating into a new world. Linda, the author/narrator, recounts her life, marking her official acceptance into the American way of life once her L2 language skills began trumping her L1, her heritage language. Linda’s mother decided to sacrifice herself by not learning English in an effort to preserve the Spanish language in her children’s lives. This is observed among many immigrant parents today, who maintain the mother tongue in the household and even send their children to heritage language classes (which is what happened in my case). As such, 2nd generation children grow up learning the language of the land and the native language. However, there exist many immigrants who wish to remove all ties to their country of origin and who, consequently, do not teach their children their heritage language or customs. Many do this in an effort to make assimilation into the target culture easier; to not have their kids stand out. This is a very valid reason, especially if the family resides in a community where diversity is not accepted. In my opinion, however, to remove such a significant part of life from a child’s upbringing is to rob them of a second soul.
When Linda thinks to write her article in academic Spanish, she admits not feeling as capable. She is incapacitated not because of her parents, rather because of the society in which she lives. With English as the dominant language and caucasians as the dominant race*, her cultural and linguistic essence were pushed aside and demeaned. This is seen through the use of derogatory terms used towards Mexicans (and basically every other immigrant) and being silenced (by her teacher when she was proud to share her knowledge, but was deemed unfit to do so.)
Linda mentions the exceptional educators in her life, those few that made her embrace her Mexican background. We, as future teachers, need to emulate those educators and foster an environment that promotes diversity and acceptance of all and to instill these values in our students from a young age.
*Though I make use of the term race, I do believe it to be a social construct.