How to Tame a Wild Tongue

What are some characteristics that make a person's culture or ethnicity special?  The language, food, literature right?  The two main characteristics that most people remember about a culture is the language and the food though.  If someone was to ask, "What do you know about people who are French?" the answer would most likely be, "They speak French and eat snails."  The same is true of every culture, but is it true that all cultures and their languages are treated with respect in the United States by everyone?
Immigrants that come to the United States come because they want a piece of the American Dream not just for themselves but for their children and future generations.  However, they were not warned of the challenges they would face by coming to the United States.  It is not just financial struggle but emotional and psychological as well.  By coming to the US, they are leaving everything that they know and everyone they love behind.  So they must learn to adapt into the new country somehow, which is called assimilation.  But is complete assimilation always possible?  No right?  Most immigrants that come to the United States want to keep some parts of their culture alive either through the food or even teaching their children the language of their homeland.  Having their children know their "home" tongue is usually something to be proud of but that's usually only for children that are born in the United States.  Here is where the issue comes to light.  What about the children that are born in the home country and brought to the United States with their parents?
Upon arrival to the United States, immigrants start to experience their first issues with being in a new place.  They start to get the feeling that they do not belong, which is usually because they cannot speak English well, they do not have a job, etc.  As a result of those feelings, they try their best to adapt and  become one with the dominant culture sometimes disregarding their own.  They even do the same with their children so they do not experience being judged by their peers if they are in school.  There was a mother in "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" that told her child "I want you to speak English" and was mortified that her child did it like a Mexican.   I understand a parent's want to do this because my mother experienced the same issue with my sister.  In the Philippines, English is taught as a major subject.  My sister left the Philippines at the age of 5 and only received some schooling for English but received a little bit from my parents.  When she arrived to the United States and started going to school, she came home one day with a note for my mom telling her that my sister's teacher wants to meet with her.  At the meeting the teacher told my mom that she needs to stop talking to my sister in Tagalog, which is one of the main languages of the Philippines, because she needs to learn English more than her own language.  For my sister's sake at school my mom did just that, but it got to the point that my sister forgot how to speak Tagalog for years and she had to relearn it from the Filipino movies.  The fact that the teacher told my mom this and it was done to the point that my sister forgot her home language completely makes me feel angry as well as sad.  Tagalog is the language of her home country and is a component of her identity as a Filipino.  How can it be taken away so easily like that?
So to answer the question asked before, is it true that all cultures are treated with respect in the United States by everyone, it is NO.  English is seen as the language of greatest importance in the US.  It is almost as if the other languages are seen as inferior.  According to Gloria Anzaldua, "Ethnic identity is twin skin to linguistic identity.  If one cannot take pride in their language, they cannot take pride in themselves."  This as a result leads to low self-esteem.  There are those in the United States that see other people as inferior based on their culture and race.  An example would be Anglo people looking down on those of Latino/a descent because of the stereotypes.  The language Chicano Spanish is even looked down on by those of Latino/a descent as well since it is seen as a poor Spanish.  It is seen as that despite the fact that it is a living language that is always evolving.  The fact that the language is always changing and even creating new types of languages fascinates me and makes me want to learn more.  It makes me upset that people are seeing it as a poor form of Spanish and that it is used by those that are not the "real Chicano/a." I feel that in order for them to feel comfortable in speaking their language they need to know that they are not being judged because of it but instead be told that their language is interesting.  I think that judgement is what creates fear and anxiety when trying to speak their home language.  At the same time I also feel that Chicanas/os must take pride in where they came from and the language.  I feel like the ability to resolved this issue comes from both sides through the understanding of others and a raise in self-esteem by the people themselves.

Precious Knowledge

How is ethnic studies defined?  According to the University of California, Berkley, it is the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.  From grades 1-12, all students learn about in Social Studies or History is the history of the United States.  It's not a bad thing at all because it is important to learn about how the country was formed, but after some time learning about the same thing over and over again is not always people's favorite thing.  Sometimes students want something new or exciting to learn about; something that they are interested in.  For some they want to learn about where they came from or even their culture because they know nothing about their ethnicity and culture.  From what I have learned, when families decide to come to the United States they do so hoping for better opportunities for their children in terms of education.  However, in the process of doing so they need to assimilate to the dominant culture of the country, in this sense American culture.  Due to their want for the promises of the US, they give up their culture in order to fit in and they in turn teach it to their children, while keeping minor traces of their real culture.  As we have learned in previous chapters from the Latino/a Studies Reader, the second generation tend to see their ethnicity as "optional" and only shown when it is convenient.  It is not only the second generation of Latinos/as that experience this but all minorities groups as well. I was born in the US but I am a member of a minority group.  My parents came to the US for the same reasons but made sure to hold on to some aspects of the Filipino culture but I can say for myself that I feel I do not know anything at all about where I came from.  If I had the opportunity to take classes like those provided at Tucson High School, except for Filipinos, I would do it in a heartbeat.  I do believe that it is important to know about how the country we live in was formed but I believe that it is more important to learn about who you are and what makes you... you. 
Watching the documentary Precious Knowledge, made me feel so many emotions that I did not think I would by just watching it.  I understand those students and their love for the classes that they were taking because I know I would feel the same.  Those classes gave those students what they felt they were lacking, which is an understanding of who they really are.  It made them see that they are more than what those stereotypes say they are.  I wish that I could take classes about my ethnicity too.  Those teachers gave them just what they needed like a place where they felt comfortable and like they belonged.  There are not many teachers like that in the world.  While watching Precious Knowledge, I found myself understanding, agreeing, and enjoying what was being taught and how the teacher was teaching his students.  I found myself laughing at the teacher because he made the lessons funny.  From what I saw in the video, the main concern is the dropout rate of the students attending the school but thanks to the ethnic studies classes that began to change.  The students wanted to go to school and were engaged in their studies resulting in graduation and college attendance rates to be averaged at 93%. 
Here's the thing that is just pissing me off beyond belief.  Forgive me for putting it that way I just could not find a better way to express my feelings towards this.  Why would you want to take away a program that has done nothing but help students excel in the classroom and in life?  Why would you want to take away something that engages students in school rather than having them sleep in class or even worse just drop out of class altogether?  Watching the parts with the superintendent and the legislature, made me feel nothing but anger and disgust.  During some of those parts, I had to just pause the video and take my headphones out because I could not believe what I was hearing.  There were some times when I actually yelled.  My mom was in the room with me while I watched it and she kept asking me what's wrong with me cause I yelled.  Just some of the things these government officials said did nothing besides making me mad.  I could not even agree with what they were saying at all.  Some of them said, "Teachers are teaching the kids to hate America", "The classes are anti-American", "Can't plant evil ideas in kids minds and expect healthy outcomes."  Those people have never been inside the class before and listened to what is being taught, so how can they say those things without actually seeing it with their eyes.  Even the one person who accepted the invitation sat there and listened to the view points of the students, who are the ones who will be affected the most from the shut down of the class, but all he could do was point out one thing the teacher or director said.  That teacher was mentioning a fact about Benjamin Franklin, which is most probably not known by others, and called the class anti-American.  He was upset at the fact that the teacher or director "trash talked" a founding father.  Here's the thing though... Do we know everything about the people that helped found America? No absolutely not.  Do we know everything about those founders' lives? No.  Do we know about all the decisions they made? No we do not.  Then what do we know? We know what they did to help found America, in other words all the good things that they did in their lives.  History tells mostly of what was done to positively impact the US but there are things that talked about what negatively impacted the formation of the country as well.  Other than those points nothing else about them was talked about.  So how can that one point of the visit be the main reason for agreeing that the ethnic studies department should be shut down.  Shouldn't he have considered what the students had to say?  Or couldn't he even notice how engaged the students were during that class or how interested they were?  During the discussion the students brought up compelling points, such as the Civil Rights.  The student made asked, "Didn't people disagree with the Civil Rights movement?" and he was not able to give a definite answer because he knew that the student had a point and he could not deny it.  The student compared the Civil Rights Movement to the situation they were in.  Hearing the students do that even though he is a member of government, I felt proud and happy that they were able to do that on live TV. 
Unfortunately the bill was passed that banned schools from having ethnic studies classes.  Even though that happened it did not stop the students, alumni, and community from fighting for what they believed to be true.  It has been 10 years since that video was made and now ethnic studies classes are back in colleges and that are more of them.  This Introduction to Latino/a Cultural Studies class was started due to another class.  Who knows more classes like this may form. 

Refugees or Economic Immigrants? Immigration from Latin America and the Politics of US Refugee Policy

What is one of the main topics seen in today's media?  The multiple policies that President Trump has been putting into place regarding refugees or immigrants entering the country right? But the main question is... What is the difference between the two?  According to the reader, a refugee is a person fleeing a "communist or communist-dominated country."  While an immigrant a person who leaves their homeland to live in a new country because there are better opportunities present. 

Who can be considered a refugee and an immigrant?  Those who can be considered refugees are the Cubans, Chileans, or Central Americans, who had to leave due to the issues developing in their homeland.  Those that are immigrants are like those interviewed in the "Los Que Se Fueron: Interview Exploring the New Migration" because they left their homeland willingly in search of better opportunities for themselves and their family as well.

While reading about the migration of Cubans to the US from the reader, I was in shock.  From what I knew about the United States's relationship with Cuba, I thought that there were no Cubans in the US but I found out that millions were already living here.  I knew that Americans could not go to Cuba or at least avoided going there for reason I did not know.  Based on the reading I felt that only reason why they came was due to the multitude of opportunities that the US could offer only to learn that it was due to Cuban government and leader, which was Castro.  The fact I did not know about how many Cubans were in the US and how they came to live here I feel is a bit concerning because it is a part of US history, so if I do not know it then how many other people do not know about it either... I believe that all parts of US history are important, whether they are good or bad.  The arrival of the Cubans to the US was not a bad thing, in fact, it showed me just how much the US was willing to help those in need at the time.  The US gave large amounts of money towards the resettlement of the Cubans in the US and even tried to help send them home if that is what they wanted. Not knowing things like this just shows how much classes or courses like Introduction to Latino/a Cultural Studies is needed.  If it were not for this class, I do not know when I could have learned about this part of history.  

However, reading about how the Chileans and those from Central America were treated by their homelands made me extremely upset and almost brought tears to my eyes. According to the reading, many of those that left were seen as "exiles" and not immigrants but in reality I see them as refugees.  Due to their governments, they were afraid to return home on the grounds that they could be imprisoned or even worse murdered because they do not agree with the government.  I cannot agree with this.  Not everyone will agree to whatever the government thinks so does that mean that those people are threats?  Does that mean that they should be thrown out of the only home they've known and be placed in a completely new place?  In my opinion, NO.  Despite these fears, the US tried to welcome these frightened people in with open arms. But when the government would not do anything else, the media kept all the issues regarding the Chilean refugees front and center sparking anger in the people thus causing the government to act.  I can't say that I am not pleased about the turn out in that case, but I wish that the government would just keep going with its efforts instead of stopping and letting the pressure cause them to start again. 

Although I cannot agree with some of the actions of the government, I can understand why it can be strict or unfair.  Unfortunately with the surge of immigrants coming into the US it is hard to keep track and sometimes there can be hidden agendas or those that are entering for bad reasons.  Sometimes those reasons can be considered a threat to national security, which is why measures were heightened after 9/11.  It was after this event that it was necessary to see if those entering the country had a "credible fear" of being sent back.