HispanicVista Columnists
Speak English, “Aquí se habla inglés”, you're in the United States
By Manuel Hernandez
June 5, 2006
Last summer while visiting the world's most famous arena with my son in the city that never sleeps, I was speaking English, Spanish, Spanglish, Span-English and a variety of tongues because my California New York Puerto Rican background allowed me to code-switch and play with language whenever I felt like. “De repente”, all of a sudden, a white middle-aged man wearing a Yankee baseball hat and an L.A. Laker jersey cried out to us, “Aquí se habla inglés, you're in the United States.” He ran away before I could react to his outcry. I have confronted the same situation many times in different places across the United States of America. With Latinos multiplying in numbers like never before, Spanish has made its presence felt like never before in the United States of America.
In the United States of America, there is a growing and diversified minority that speaks a language that is not spoken by many in the mainstream. Although the Latino presence has overwhelmed the entertainment industry, 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 the people 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 reiterated 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? Even today, there are hints of going back to that English Only debate. It looks like the second round is just about ready to begin and with similar results.
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 and more humane America. When a language is imposed upon a nation, it creates mixed and undesired reactions. Bilingual education today is practically 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. There are still classrooms where the newly arrived is thrust in the corner to sink and swim (my nephews in a sunny state).
When I was hired as an English as a Second Language Teacher by the City of New York in 1988, professionals in the teaching of ESL immediately trained me. 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 to 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. 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 find my buddy in the arena. 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.”
- ________________________________________________________
Hernandez lives in Naguabo, Puerto Rico and enjoys spending his free time with his beautiful wife, Maria and his seventeen-year old son, Jose Manuel and his newborn son, Josue Esteban. He is a disciple at Abundant Life Church in Fajardo. Also visit: http://www.puertoricans.com/
(Editor's note: Manuel Hernandez created a Yahoogroup for the discussion of literature and education. HispanicVista highly recommends this effort and urges its readers to join and participate. Write to Manuel at: mannyh32@yahoo.com or visit and join at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/latinoliterature copyrights 2006 @ManuelHernandez