More handpicked essays just for you.
Language barriers in the united states essay
Mexican immigrant experience
Language barriers in the united states essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The United States of America is always being thought of as the land of the free. The Mexican-Americans that live in the United States have been mistreated and discriminated for many years. Millions of Mexican-Americans live in the US and they struggled with starting a life because of social and cultural differences. Throughout the Mexican-American history they have faced constant struggles to be recognized as equal citizens. The author of “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldua, goes into depth about the differences the Mexican community faces in becoming American citizens. “How to Tame a Wilde Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua is an article in which is extremely helpful and purposeful. The article brings up very important social issues such …show more content…
Gloria speaks from experience when she talks about the struggles of Mexican immigrants. The Rio Grande Valley is located right on the edge of Mexico and is filled with many Mexican immigrants who want to achieve a better like in America. One of the biggest difficulties Mexican-Americans must deal with is language, whether it is Spanish or English. In the book, the author gives a description about children going through situations where if kids were to speak in Spanish rather than English while in class then they were to be punished. For example, the young boy was caught speaking Spanish at recess and the teacher yelled at him saying “If you want to be an American, speak ‘American’. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (206, Wild Tongue). For kids to be attacked because of a form expression is technically a violation of the first amendment. You cannot stop anyone from speaking the language they feel comfortable with, the only way to stop someone is taming a wild tongue. When Mexican immigrants come to America they experience a whole new life and when they first get here they don’t know how to speak English fluently, when you punish young children for not speaking English fluently is an …show more content…
For instance, they pronounce f as j in the Chicano Spanish. Chicanas grow up believing that people who speak Spanish the normal way is the wrong way. The reason they are scared to speak their own language to other Spanish speaking people is because Chicanas view everyone different of the way their Spanish is spoken. The author speaks about the troubles of either Chicana or Latina go through being confident in themselves while speaking the native language. Chicanas experience trouble while speaking to anybody because truly there is no language to go by, it is all made up. If you are a young Chicano kid living In a town where you must speak Spanish then you will experience some difficulties that will cause
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted of being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he got bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
In an article written by a Senior student they discuss a monumental moment in Mexican American history concerning equality in the South. The student’s paper revolves around the Pete Hernandez V. Texas case in which Hernandez receives a life in prison sentence by an all white jury. The essay further discusses how Mexican Americans are technically “white” americans because they do not fall into the Indian (Native American), or black categories and because of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848. The student’s paper proceeds to discuss the goals connecting the Hernandez V. Texas case which was to secure Mexican American’s right within the fourteenth amendment [1].
America is a presumptuous country; its citizens don’t feel like learning any other language, so they make everyone else learn English. White Americans are the average human being and act as the standard of living, acting, and nearly all aspects of life. In her essay “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack,” Peggy McIntosh talks about how being white has never been discussed as a race/culture before because that identity has been pushed on everyone else, and being white subsequently carries its own set of advantages. Gloria Anzaldua is a Chicana, a person of mixed identities. In an excerpt titled “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she discusses how the languages she speaks identify who she is in certain situations and how, throughout her life, she has been pushed to speak and act more “American” like.
Anzaldúa, Gloria. “How to Tame a Wild Tongue.” Borderlands La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, 1999.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” That statement holds strong for immigrants in America. Equal access to opportunities allows immigrants to achieve the American dream. Their success correlates with America’s success because of the contributions immigrants provide to America. Unfortunately, the current immigration policy in America denies many immigrants the American dream. It is crucial to understand the historical context of immigration in America. Initially, most immigrants were from Europe and were not restricted by any immigration laws. Now, most immigrants come from Latin America but are restricted to severe immigration laws. The Latino/a community is one of the most severely affected groups because the current immigration system disproportionally affects Latino/as. Recognizing how the experience of Latino/a immigrants have been both similar and different in the past from other immigrant groups and dispelling common misconceptions about Latino/as today bring an awareness how Latino/as are affected.
Another struggle for identity with Latinos is their struggle with the Spanish and English languages. While some Latinos may speak Spanish in their homes, the language may not be conversationally used in their schools. Some Lat...
Gloria Anzaldua, wrote the essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” communicating and describing her adolescence in a society brimming with sexism, cultural imperialism, racism, low self-esteem, and identity formation. The reason one comes to America is to finer themselves academically, and intellectually. One must learn to speak English to live among the American’s, because that is the language they speak. Though, no one has the right to deprive you of your familiar tongue. At a young age, Anzaldua was scolded, even mistreated for speaking her native “Chicano” tongue. Anzaldúa described this ignorance, cruelty, and discrimination when she states: “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess – that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler.” She overcomes this hostility throughout her life.
Although we would like to think that we have finally achieved equality for all, it is not the case. How to Tame a Wild Tongue portrays the different ways in which our society remains discriminatory. The American community, for instance, still holds the belief that it is superior. In consequence, it forces its culture, its beliefs, and its language upon immigrants and other countries. Throughout the novel, Anzaldúa seeks the Chicanos’ support by encouraging them to take pride in their culture. She hopes that by doing this, they will be able to fight against the oppressive nature of dominant cultures like the U.S. She ends on a powerful and hopeful note, which pushed other minorities, for whom it is not too late, to fight for their language and
Being a culture under pressure from both sides of the contact zone, there needs to be passion and emotion or else the culture might disappear into history. Anzaldua’s text makes great use of passion and emotion while merging the ideas of multiple cultures together through the tough experiences in her life. Autoethnographic texts give perspective to outsiders on how a culture functions from the inside point of view. Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” excellently portrays her culture’s plight and creates a fiery passionate entrance for her culture in their uprising through the contact zone.
As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the crucial problem facing America happens to be the discrimination and oppression of Mexican immigrants. “Mexican Americans constitute the oldest Hispanic-origin population in the United States.”(57 Falcon) Today the population of Mexican’s in the United States is said to be about 10.9%, that’s about 34 million people according to the US Census Bureau in 2012. With this many people in the United States being of Mexican descent or origin, one would think that discrimination wouldn’t be a problem, however though the issue of Mexican immigrant oppression and discrimination has never been a more prevalent problem in the United States before now. As the need for resolve grows stronger with each movement and march, the examination of why these people are being discriminated against and oppressed becomes more crucial and important. Oppression and Anti-discrimination organizations such as the Freedom Socialist Organization believe that the problem of discrimination began when America conquered Mexican l...
In the essay, “How To Tame A Wild Tongue”, by Gloria Anzaldua and the essay, Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, the ignorance shown by many people is highlighted. Amy Tan’s essay focuses on how some people look down on others who do not speak English without an accent. Anzaldua’s essay focuses on how people do not have a broad view of language and often look down upon others who do not speak the language that they speak. Both of the essays address language, but the broader topic that they acknowledge is more important. The essays both acknowledge how humans feel uncomfortable around people that are different from them, and often demean others. People demean others due to people wanting to look more powerful by giving their views correctness while discrediting
In this summary the author Tanya Barrientos is explaining how hard it is be different. In the beginning of the summary Barrientos explained how people automatically assume that she is Latina. She grew up in an English-speaking world. Her parents are born and raised in Guatemala but she moved to the United States at the age of three. When her parents came to the United States of America they stopped speaking English immediately. Her parents wanted her to read, talk, and write only in English. She felt like she was the only one who needed to learn how to speak Latino, even though she looks like she can already. In the summary she went on saying that she was trying to fit in and become a regular person so other Latinas won’t judge her. All she
“Se habla Espanol” wrote by Tanya Maria Barrientos. She is growing up in Texas, but she was born in Guatemala. That causes she cannot speak Spanish like Latina. In the article, she talked about what the feeling as a Lantana without the ability to speak Spanish so well. Her parents give her a few of knowledge about speaking Spanish. Because, she grew up in a special era, which Mexican Americans were considered dangerous radical. Nowadays, this theory is politically incorrect. The author wants to find some people that like her, does not fit in Spanish culture and help them, giving them a big mental supporting. I’m from China, growing and living in different places, which have different language and culture habit.
In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” author Gloria Anzaldua portrays all the negative aspects of having to dispose of her hispanic roots and taming her wild tongue to do so. She begins the article by describing her
Bibliography:.. Becoming Mexican-American by George Sanchez, Oxford University Press, Inc. 1993.