Comments on: We Need to Become More Accepting of All Cultures

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:04:28 +0000

Hi Chelsea,
Jut a quick note to point out that we, as Hispanics, sometimes unknowingly plant the seeds for this divide by thinking about it as “us” and “them”. While my intention is not to minimize the importance of all the great points you make on your post, I would point out that it’s not about “the whites” vs. us Hispanics. If you read your post carefully, you characterize “them” as “white,” when in fact language has very little to do with race and much to do with culture and Heritage. Living in Miami, for example, I am used to the large Cuban population, which is largely of the white race. At the same time, a large portion of our “American/Non-Hispanic” counterparts happen not to be white — many are African American, many are of Asian descent, etc. Anyway, I know this is not necessarily the topic of your post — which again, has some very valuable information. However, I feel it is important to point this out so we don’t add to the misunderstandings that deepen the division.

By: Reyna

Reyna — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:35:58 +0000

My mom moved to the States 2 years ago. She is a legal resident and is trying really hard to adapt to the culture and language, but it has been extremely difficult! Learning a second language as an adult is more challenging than she anticipated… Sadly, in Utah we have the “English Only” law and she has not been able to get a driver’s license because of her limited English. She goes to English classes, watches tv in English, and is doing an honest effort to learn, still, when she goes to the store and is unable to communicate with the cashier, she has been offended and discriminated against. People feel they have the right to tell her that she is in American and needs to learn English. Little do they know the many tears she’s cried for being discriminated in a Country that claims to be accepting of all people…
I understand that people need to learn English but it is not possible for everyone and we should be more understanding…

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:53:01 +0000

I agree with you that warning signs, instructions, and emergency services should be in Spanish for safety purposes, but that’s all. I think we have a small, but very vocal group of people who make a living by providng services to the dependent Spanish speaking population, and they would like to keep it that way. And before anybody jumps on me, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to be bilingual, only that one of those languages should be English so that the individual can fully contribute and participate in American life.

By: Eugenia

Eugenia — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 19:51:21 +0000

As a Spanish college professor I still see this to be a problem, so I’ve worried that my 5 yo daughter didn’t see herself as Latina (Mexican). The other day, while we waited a Children’s Close to home clinic because she had an ear infection I became a very proud Mexican mamá. Isa was playing with a little boy (white) and they were speaking English. I then said something to her in Spanish and the boy asked my daughter “what is that?” She responded very securely and, I would even say, proudly: “That is Spanish. It is another language.” The boy’s response was that he also spoke Spanish, to what my daughter responded “well, we are Mexican.” For the first time I heard her identify with a culture, our culture, but I also detected a tone of pride in her own words. Being Mexican, for her means being able to speak Spanish, but it also means a right to use that language to communicate between us. I’m very happy to know that, at least for now, she know who she is and where she is from.