Think piece 2 - Aria

                I believe the most interesting thing about Richard Rodriguez’s passage from Aria was how he detailed the progression of his feelings on the language barrier that Spanish speaking people in America encounter. He details his experience as a child beginning school in America barely understanding English.  He was very insecure and reluctant to speak out or make friends. As a small child, he was led to believe this was because of the language barrier. As he grew his feelings about himself, his heritage, and his family evolved through many stages ultimately coming to a deep realization about words and their meaning and feeling; and the difference between the two.

                When Ricardo’s family first moved to America they immediately felt like outsiders. He describes their yellow house in a row of white bungalows in the Sacramento neighborhood as well as the neighbors either ignoring them or intentionally making them feel unwelcome. He associates this unwelcoming with the English language. He mentions watching his parents strain and tense their bodies as they tried to understand people speaking to them in English. He associates English with “high nasal notes”, and “whining vowels and guttural consonants”, while associating Spanish with his heritage, not simply sounds and communicative devices. Hearing and speaking Spanish gave Rodriguez a “pleasing, soothing, consoling reminder of being at home.”

                At 5 or 6 years old, Rodriguez began to associate Spanish as being a “private language”.  It was the language spoken to him by the ones that loved him most, his family. He associated that which makes the Spanish language different from English with the unique love he received from his family. Having established this train of thought, English became the language of the public. Because he was not familiar with the English language, Richard felt like even more of an outcast.

                When Ricardo was forced to speak English at home he was immediately defiant and uncertain, but within a few days, with determination from his parents he began to open up to it, and immediately realized the importance of speaking the public language saying “That day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier. The belief, the calming assurance I belonged in public, had at last taken hold.”  The harsh sounds of the English language had gotten softer; more familiar. He began to interpret people’s tones and the feeling of the language, not just the vocabulary.

                Soon the language skills of Ricardo and his brothers and sisters surpassed those of their parents and they began to feel a different kind of alienation. He noticed a vulnerability In his father he had never seen before when he fumbled through a saying of Grace in English before dinner. He observed the difference in confidence his father displayed when speaking Spanish over English. The language barrier was now separating Ricardo from his parents and his grandmother. As he became more Americanized he detached himself from his family and traditional Mexican culture.

                Ricardo and his brothers became more familiar with English than Spanish. When his Grandmother and other relatives would speak to him in Spanish, he would not always understand the translation of the words but would be able to interpret what they are saying based on tone and sincerity. Older members of his family would be offended when he Ricardo would have to tense up and really pay attention in order to understand conversations. He began to feel guilty, like he had turned his back on his culture.

                As Ricardo began to mature he began to truly feel the English language; “I began to distinguish intimate voices speaking through English.” English began to have as passionate of an effect on him as Spanish had. When he says “Intimacy is not created by a particular language, it is created by Intimates.” he clearly shows he understands that human emotion in terms of communication transcends language.

He eventually came to the realization that many hardships he experienced through life that he had previously blamed on the language barrier may have less to do with language and more simply be the trials that adolescent kids of any culture may go through.

About me

...so im just starting to organize the course load in my head, trying to figure out blog from think piece from journal entries and whatnot.  This should have been my first entry as the intro.

I've been in and out of community colleges for since the 90's; at first because i just felt like i should be in school. that didn't work out well. At 26 years old, i went back just to gain general knowledge, taking courses in things that interested me with no attention to degree requirements. that was enriching, For the first time i actually enjoyed school. 

I've always been interested in music and kind of held out for a career in the field. Last year i concluded that as a teacher, i could still have the summer to pursue anything else i want, really. (or do nothing but surf.) It's a great job for a part-time dreamer like myself.

Teaching is in my family. my mother, three aunts, one uncle, and two cousins are all teaching or pursuing careers as teachers. It is one of the most important careers one could choose. With the exception of careers in the the government, medical or engineering field, most other professions are simply making money for someone else, making little impact on what is important.  

 

So it's on to RIC to buckle down be a serious student., It's tough working full time and driving an hour to school everyday but for the first time i'm looking at it as something temporary, and a means to something better. ...that, and "it's time to grow up" -Mom

on Amazing Grace

2/14/11

The first thing that struck me while reading Kozol’s “Amazing Grace” was the reality of it. Most people are aware that things such as IV drug abuse, the AIDS virus and prostitution are a large part of certain areas of our country. Like me, they just choose not to think about it. One almost tends to forget while their concern turns to a pair of jeans they want to buy or the argument they had with their mother about going away next weekend. The fact is, that no matter how bad kids think they might have it; weather it’s because mom won’t buy them a new toy, or maybe they have to walk to work in the rain, they never consider themselves lucky. When I was a kid and I would get bratty (as kids tend to do), my parents always told me they were going to leave me in the poor part of town for a day and see how I liked it. When I thought of the “poor part of town”, I pictured kids with outdated clothes and cheap sneakers, and parents without cars. The magnitude of the situation described in “Amazing Grace” puts disadvantages like that into perspective. I never saw anyone do hardcore drugs until I was in my mid- twenties and that was because I put myself in that situation, and the people involved were far from poverty-stricken. The scene that has been painted here as Kozol explores the Bronx ghetto featuring parents shooting heroine rather matter-of-factly in front of their children and kids experiencing the AIDS virus first hand in their parents and neighbors tends to open one’s eyes to what it really means to be disadvantaged.

It’s terrible that this area of the Bronx is populated not by people who just ended up there, or grew up there and never left; most of the people here were relocated because they were run out of wherever they were from because they made privileged people feel uncomfortable. The story is written quite well including many mentions of trash people left in abandoned lots, and other various non-desirables paralleled with the people relocated there as simply being left there to expire because no-one wanted them in their field of vision. The incineration plant is a perfect example. People in affluent communities did not want the plant to be built in their part of town so they hold a meeting or two and find a new location. Even if the people in these poverty stricken communities had access to information letting them know that things like this are to be built in their back yard, I doubt they even know how to lobby against it. Even if they tried, I doubt very many boards in this country will even listen to them.

Another thing that struck me was the way the children adapt to these situations and face them like it’s no big deal. They call heroine the “needle drug” . Normally when kids come up with their own names for thing it’s rather cute. This situation is sad to the point of sickness. What was most interesting to me was the behavior of 7 year old Cliffie as he took Kozol for a tour through the neighborhood. He had a level of maturity equal to that of someone in their late-teens. He talked about witnessing murders, drug use, and AIDS without any emotional effect; showing that this behavior is rather normal to kids in this neighborhood. I suppose growing up in this environment you have to learn the lessons of life rather early. At seven years old, he is clearly an active member of his community, saying hi to random people on the street. He’s polite and selfless. He has a conscious grasp of religion and what is right and wrong. He has obtained many qualities in his limited time on earth that many affluent, educated, privileged adults refuse to acknowledge. This causes me to think about educating yourself for the real world and the difference between “street smarts” and “book smarts”; the value of each, and how they are obtained.

something missing from s.c.w.a.m.p.?

Examining the ideas of power and privilege the past weeks in class have encouraged me to consider the concepts of s.c.w.a.m.p. in most if not all of my daily activities. Discussing the issue on a deeper level as Johnson, Delpit and Lake have helps to create more awareness of issues that though present in our society may have lost the attention of some people; possibly because they feel the problem has been solved, or simply because public outcry has become simple and monotonous.

Thinking about the idea of privilege, there is a particular group of privileged individuals which members can be of any sex, racial group, heritage, religion, sexual orientation or social class. This group even transcends human beings and applies to animals, plant life or basically anything tangible. It is very difficult to officially distinguish members of this group because those who belong aren't supposed to admit that they belong. The group i speak of is beautiful people.

Attractive people are favored over others in most societies, especially ours. Manny professions require a desirable, welcoming atmosphere (restaurants, retail, face-to-face sales). These employers are more likely to hire a more attractive staff to lure in more business. Working in restaurants for over 12 years now, I personally have seen competent, experienced, overqualified applicants passed over for more attractive applicants, sometimes with no experience. Employers will even intentionally hire one or two less attractive people to simply avoid any accusation of favoritism.

I believe people pay more attention to attractive people. Again, working in bars i have a front row seat to the dating show. If an attractive girl sits at the bar by herself there's a very good chance someone will try to converse with her or offer a drink. That simply doesn't happen with less attractive women. This can affect not only one's self esteem, but family future also.

My final example (of many) involves the media. Most of our pop music stars, movie stars, t.v. and cable news personnel, even (yuk) reality tv "stars" are beautiful; hardly an accurate representation of what we see every day in the real world. Yes, some of these people who we admire, inquire about and strive to be like have talent. Yes, some have dedicated all their effort to their craft and deserve our respect as artists or journalists, but a small minority of them. It truly makes me sad to think of all the talented, dedicated, hard working musicians, actors, or journalists who were passed over because they didn't fit the physical mold. (Who knows, maybe pop culture would actually have some form of artistic credibility instead of just dumbing down our society.)