| “Aquí se habla inglés”, you're in the United
States
by Manuel Hernández
Last summer while vacationing with my family in the world's
most famous theme park, I was speaking English, Spanish, Spanglish,
Span-English and a variety of sorts because my California
New York Puerto Rican background allows me to code-switch
and play with language whenever I feel like doing so. “De
repente”, all of a sudden, a middle-aged man wearing a Yankee
baseball hat and an L.A. Laker jersee cried out to us, “Aquí
se habla inglés, you're in the United States.” He quickly
moved away from us before we could react to his statement.
I have encountered this situation a dozen of times or more
in different cities in the United States of America. With
Latinos multiplying in numbers like never before, Spanish
has made its presence felt all across America.
In the United States of America, there is a growing and diversified
minority that speaks a language that is not completely well-received
by many in the mainstream. Athough the Latino presence has
overwhelmed Hollywood, Congress, State Governments, Major
League Baseball, Education and many other American institutions,
there is still a resistance to the speaking of Spanish in
America. Many feel uncomfortable to hear Spanish being spoken
in baseball parks, schools, beaches, malls, hotels, restaurants
and historical sites. They whisper, mumble and openly complain
when conversations they do not understand are held in their
presence and get angry when coming across Spanish language
stations in television and radio.
In reality, the man's reaction was normal. We are a nation
with strong political, social and economic ties with countries
in Spanish-speaking countries in Europe, the Caribbean, Central
and South America, but the predominant language of the mainstream
here is English. With the amount of Latinos in American cities
growing by the second, Spanish has become an every day reality
that all of us must deal with on a daily basis. But why feel
apprehensive about Spanish? In the 1980's and 1990's, The
English Only movement voiced its concerns about the use of
the Spanish language. A few years later, the presence, influence,
use of Spanish has augmented to heights yet unknown. Why fight
against a supernatural reality?
When the contrasts between the majority and minority collide,
fear in the death or destruction of the other takes over.
A language is a way of living, an essential element in defining
culture and its people. Through language, we master reality
and the most intimate emotions are revealed to us. Without
a language, there is no life. Spanish represents the vital
force of the new America. When a language is imposed upon
a nation, it creates mixed and undesired reactions. In Sandra
Maria Esteves'poem “Here”, the speaker describes how the imposition
of English has alienated her from Spanish: “I speak the alien
tongue in sweet boriqueño thoughts.”
Bilingual education is history, and a great percentage of
Latino teens graduate from high school without mastering basic
skills in science, math, reading and writing. Even today many
mainstream English teachers use force and imposition to teach
English. New incoming English teachers come into the classroom
lacking the professional training to work with the ever-growing
Latino minority. When I was hired as an English as a Second
Language Teacher by the City of New York in 1988, I was immediately
trained by professionals in the teaching of ESL. I was assigned
a buddy teacher who had experience in the area. This is not
the norm today. Most Bilingual/ESL Programs across America
have been dismantled, and Latino teens continue to be the
largest minority in many cities in the United States. Latinos
have demonstrated their willingness to contribute in America.
We are a nation founded by immigrants.
Latinos are the new immigrants in America today, and they
have and will always be a part of the heart of America. They
have ingrained the majority of American cultural expressions,
but Spanish is and will be deep inside the heart of those
who were born and raised outside of the United States. That
does not make them less Americans. This year's World Series
Champions are overwelmingly Latino. Fear of Spanish expresses
the majority's inability to understand that Spanish is influencing
American culture in ways many fail to comprehend.
I spent the whole day trying to hook up with my buddy in
the theme park. There was no way I was going to miss him because
we were both sports fans of the same teams in basketball and
baseball. I had thought of something to tell him, but he was
nowhere to be found. I wanted to tell him that “Aquí se habla
inglés and Spanish too.”
|
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