Sunday, April 01, 2007

Bilingual Education Worked for Me


From CNN: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with "the language of living in a ghetto" and mocked requirements that ballots be printed in multiple languages.

Not that anyone is waiting around for Newt Gringich (who?) to say anything smart or relevant, but the former Speaker of the House has touched on a very important issue. Of course, in true red-neck bigot form, he took a very logical argument and twisted it so that bloggers like me who have a huge chip on their shoulder about issues like immigration and the word "ghetto" can have a field day.
I grew up in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and I am the product of bilingual education. From kindergarten through the fifth grade, my days alternated between English and Spanish. Having been born in Brooklyn, I was placed in the English-first track, which basically meant that all of my classmates were Latino, as were my teachers, and we alternated freely between English and Spanish. Our school plays focused on Puerto Rican folk dancing and on singing songs about the coqui and dancing around a mariachi's sombrero for any which celebration of our heritage. My first boyband crush was Menudo and by the time I was ten I was too worn out to care about the New Kids on the Block.

I'm all the better for those experiences. Not only do I speak Spanish fluently, but my Spanish lessons came in handy when I took up French in junior high school (and wound up in Paris during my junior year of college). And yes, while I grew up in what most of my snooty friends would call the ghetto, bilingual education was my ticket out of the 'hood.
But that's just me.
The flip side of the bilingual education debate is that it makes learning English seem unimportant or unnecessary. If you want to broaden this debate, throw Telemundo and Univision into the mix -- are these channels vital links to one's mother tongue and to the Latin American countries, or are they a crutch that halt the assimilation process?
I can tune in and out of the Spanish-language channels and go from my cheese Mexican "novelas" to Ugly Betty. But there are also people in my family who only switch between Univision and Telemundo and after 30+ years in this country they still don't speak English.
While Newt Gingrich might want immigrants to hurry up and learn English, everyone from Pepsi to Walmart has no problem advertising in Spanish and investing millions into studying the buying habits of Latinos. And that's because in any language, it's clear that Latinos are a financial force to be reckoned with.
The problem isn't language. Latinos will be the first to tell you that view English as the language of success. But it's also the language that's being used to villify them. Not learning English is an act of defiance. If English is only good for standing up to idiots like Newt Gingrich, then why bother to learn it when there are jobs to be had that pay enough for a car, a small living space and TV to watch Univision?
The answer to that question is that you then instill an adversarial mentality into a new generation of young people who could be contributing more to this country but are too passive aggressive to do more for themselves. You then wind up with twenty-somethings who were born and raised in this country and speak neither Spanish nor English but a really bad mixture of both.
For me, English was always a vehicle for preserving my Spanish language and heritage. I thought both languages were important and so did my parents. While I have relatives who didn't learn English, I also have cousins who never learned Spanish -- I think both generations are missing out on a world of experiences and opportunities.
Bilingual education is not the problem -- it's the disdain that both groups have for one another that's halting progress.

13 comments:

Berdo said...

If I can come up with a way, over the next few months, to disabuse you from labeling every single person you disagree with as a bigot, I would consider it a personal victory. You throw that word around with such ease that it is such a disservice to actually calling it out...you lump actual bigots with anyone with a differing view. It dilutes the term, lessens the charge, and makes you less credible. When will you learn it is self-defeating to continue to lace your posts with such invective?

Anonymous said...

Bigot is certainly an appropriate word here. Ghetto has too many negative connotations in this society and Newt knows exactly what he's saying. Remember where the Jews lived during the Holocaust? Try using that term against Jews now and you'll see all hell break loose. Anyway, I think it's a real shame that people like Newt feel that English is the only language that should be spoken in the US. I watched funding cut year over year for foreign language classes when I was a kid in school and as such, I never mastered another language which makes me feel inadequate compared to the rest of the world. Almost every other country, especially in Europe, has citizens who speak at least two languages fluently - regarless of socio-economic status and education. Meanwhile, we have a president who can bearly speak English. And just so I don't come across as a bleeding heart liberal, it was also embarrassing that Jackie Kennedy had to speak French on behalf of her husband, because he couldn't speak any other language either. Spanish could have been useful during the Cuban missle crisis. We're seen as stupid Americans by most of the world. We need to start realiziing that we are part of a global economy and bi-lingual education should be embrased. If signs weren't printed in multilple languages in foreign countries, there would be a lot of lost Americans running around. I think Newt's comments are just about as ignorant as they can get. If the word bigot gets under your skin, berdo, try "idiot." It works for me.

Berdo said...

James - you must certainly know the difference between labeling someone an "idiot" and someone a "bigot." I happen to agree with bilingual education - though there is a legitimate argument against it. I work in public relations - I have met with at least 60 different companies since the new year. You want to know how many spoke Spanish? I think the idea is to increase upward mobility. I agree with you in that I don't think bilingual education would hurt that. Newt does. I think he's wrong. I don't think he's a bigot.

And the "world" can think Americans are stupid all they want - this country's per capita income is exponentially higher than any of them. Perhaps WE are not the ones who are idiots. How many countries have institutionalized bilingual education in their countries?

I am sorry James, I usually agree with your posts...but I think your off base on this one.

Unknown said...

Good topic, GCL.

You guys remember George Wallace? He's the guy who, after losing one of his first races for Governor of Alabama because of a moderate stance on integration, is alleged to have said something to the effect of no one was going to "out nigger" him ever again.

Wallace, and others like him, were probably not personally racial bigots (any more than anyone is), but they were not above using various elements of bigotry for political purposes. Senator Goldwater, remember, was an early architect of the Southern Strategy which exploited Southern unhappiness with such moments as President Eisenhower's federalization of the Arkansas National Guard to integrate Little Rock High School.

Did that make Goldwater a bigot? Does exploiting the bigotry of others make one a bigot?

(In full disclosure: When I began to read the post, GCL, I sighed a quiet, "Oh, dear" when I read "In true red-neck bigot form." If I may take Berdo's "dilutes the term" and change it to "dilutes the topic," "bigot" became an ancillary subject of the post, and you lost control over your readership. There are too many important topics which you have raised for you/us to be defending/attacking a buzz word.)

By the bye, for the last 4 years I have been holding an English class for Spanish senior citizens at the Cathedral City Senior Center. It's a hoot. I don't speak Spanish, but they are very patient with me. One is 93 years old, born in Texas, and knows the value of English as the language of the economy.

Agape.

James Henry Bailey said...

GAY(conservative)LIBERAL,
No one, including Mr. Gingrich, is suggesting that people should not be exposed to as many languages as they like. If you want to learn a new language every year, no one will stop you. If you want to teach your children seven languages, no one will stop you.

However, bi-lingual education has absolutely NOTHING to do with cherishing one's heritage or celebrating it. It is solely to make sure that the children.. er i mean Latino children.. who fall behind in the class room due to poor English language skills are given the opportunity to catch up using their native language.

That's not fair to the other children who speak a language not accommodated by the bi-lingual program. It's not fair to the tax payers who expect a fully functioning, educated, English speaking adult to emerge. And it's not fair to the children who are advanced despite their inability to comprehend certain issues in English. They end up lost in a job market with a serious disadvantage. , and remain at the bottom of the pay scale. And many of them end up living in a ghetto- where everyone speaks their language.

After the recent riots in France, this should be painfully clear.

BTW, President Bush speaks Spanish, James.

Furthermore, James- what you are saying is "Boo-hoo, the taxpayers didn't pay for me to learn a second language and now me sad!" Grow up and take some responsibility. Why didn't your parents teach you another language? Why didn't you take it upon yourself. No one is stopping you!

James Henry Bailey said...

Almost every other country, especially in Europe, has citizens who speak at least two languages fluently - regardless of socio-economic status and education.

...and how many of them do you think choose to speak Spanish?

James Henry Bailey said...

And the "world" can think Americans are stupid all they want - this country's per capita income is exponentially higher than any of them. Perhaps WE are not the ones who are idiots. How many countries have institutionalized bilingual education in their countries?

Well said Berdo!

Rob said...

And just so I don't come across as a bleeding heart liberal,

It's a bit late for that. Question: Is Bill Cosby a bigot for insisting that black kids cut out the ebonics?

Rob said...

Further,

Ghetto has too many negative connotations in this society and Newt knows exactly what he's saying.

Yeah. It's an actual word. Look it up. It only has a negative connotation, in this case, because YOU want it to. You WANT to be offended by Newt, and you are. You're giving him the power, unbeknownst to him, to offend you because you want to be.

Remember where the Jews lived during the Holocaust? Try using that term against Jews now and you'll see all hell break loose.

Actually, the ghettos pre-date WWII by a few hundred years and not all of them were synonymous with poverty.

Anyway, I think it's a real shame that people like Newt feel that English is the only language that should be spoken in the US.

At what point has he said that?

I watched funding cut year over year for foreign language classes when I was a kid in school and as such, I never mastered another language which makes me feel inadequate compared to the rest of the world.

Who's problem is that? You expect us to believe the only way you can learn another language is at taxpayer's expense?

it was also embarrassing that Jackie Kennedy had to speak French on behalf of her husband, because he couldn't speak any other language either.

So his wife could speak French. So what? When did it become a requirement for a president to be fluent in all of the world's languages and dialects? Do all the other world leaders speak English? How about your buddies at the U.N.? What are those thingys they have on their ears?

We're seen as stupid Americans by most of the world.

1. Por ejemplo....?

2. Who gives a damn what they think? Should we spend out time worrying about what other people think of us?

If the word bigot gets under your skin, berdo, try "idiot." It works for me.

As for myself, I don't let words get under my skin. But the fact is that you're being bigotted by ASSuming that's what Newt is. Of course being a liberal, as far as you're concerned, every Republican is a racist, sexist, bigot, homophobe and you just can't WAIT for them to say something to offend you so you can play the poor pitiful victim.

And that, my friend, is pretty damn pathetic.

James Henry Bailey said...

Bigot is certainly an appropriate word here. Ghetto has too many negative connotations in this society...

Oh?

And what about the GAYconservativeLIBERAL blogger who wrote a post titled Ghetto Prom?

I guess we'll just overlook that slight in-consistency and hypocrisy...

Rob said...

Given GCL's habit of pissing her panties over "war profiteering", he should have a post slamming DiFi any day now.....

Any day now. Whenever you're ready.

Rob said...

Correction:

Whenever you're honest.

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