Part of the first chapter in our forthcoming book, Bilingual is Better, deals with the ongoing debate of how we identify ourselves. Are we Latinos? Are we Hispanics? Or are we something else? So I was pretty interested in the results of a Pew Hispanic Center survey on this very topic that came out last week. I’ve never really liked the word Hispanic because I feel it implies I come from Spain, which I don’t. I’m okay with the word LatinaRead More ...
CNN’s Anderson Cooper is devoting this whole week to a special report called “Kids on Race: The Hidden Picture.” I don’t have cable, but I just watched the first segment, which aired last night, online and I must confess: I cried. I don’t know if you’ve watched it, but it was really difficult to watch a bunch of both white and black 6-year-olds — in other words, kids Vanessa’s age — talk about how the color of your skin mattersRead More ...
These days, it seems that the terms “Latino,” “Hispanic,” and “Spanish” are interchangeable in colloquial speech. Few people know the difference, including those who fit into these categories. Much like other racial and ethnic terminology, the words we use to describe Spanish speakers and those of Hispanic origin are confusing, inadequate, and often inapplicable. My son, for example, could be categorized as a white Hispanic. Yet, that’s only because he is part white and he looks white like me; inRead More ...
On Monday, I sat down with my 2 boys and read them a copy of “Free at Last! The Story of Martin Luther King, Jr.” I read to them about the bus boycotts and the March on Washington. I tried to explain to my 5-and almost 7-year-old boys that sometimes people are so uncomfortable with a group of people that they will do anything they can to keep them down. My 7-year-old said that Martin Luther King, Jr. lived aRead More ...
A curious thing happened this weekend as I was paying for a sandwich at a local eatery. The cashiers had been cooing at my baby son, marveling at his big, expressive brown eyes when all of a sudden one of them asked me: “What nationality is he?” I was so taken by surprise that it took me a while to respond.”American,” I said, but her puzzled look made me feel it was necessary to explain further. So I added, “HisRead More ...
Ana
Roxana
We are two Latina moms – best friends since college – who are extremely passionate about ensuring our children not only speak both our languages, English and Español, but that they also grow up proud of both their cultures, Latino and American. Over three years ago we realized there's was a lack of information available for parents raising bilingual + bicultural children, so using our background in media, we launched SpanglishBaby.
