Recently, my boyfriend sent a video my way which made my fists clench and blood pressure skyrocket. If you'd like to watch for yourself, here's a video link. If not, I'll do my very best to briefly summarize.
A family trying to have a decent meal at a local IHOP is criticized by an onlooker because of how they're interacting with one another, in their native tongue. "We speak English in the United States!" the woman proclaims, progressively more indignant as the video keeps rolling. She goes as far to even say, "We want English! We don't want the Nazi's back. We don't want Castro." As the video starts to close out, her greatest argument transcends into, "This is a free country," and "We can practice free speech."
If there's one thing this petulant woman and I can agree on, is that the United States is a free country. It is a beautiful nation, rich with civil rights and liberties that simply can't be found elsewhere. I say it with every ounce of sincerity: I feel blessed and overjoyed to live in a country where I am granted the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness without a second thought. I am also unbelievably lucky considering the fact that I was born into this system, and never had to fight for my own voice the way others have had to. That being said -- hateful rhetoric has recently been sent into overdrive and it is absolutely terrifying. To be frank, I didn't think it would effect me in any way, but it has. My first experience was frankly, the most horrific. (In hindsight, it did take place at Walmart, so what else was I expecting?)
A couple months back, around 8 p.m. one night, my grandfather agreed to take me to the store to grab a couple snacks. It's important to note that my grandfather immigrated to the United States when he was much younger, but his accent is still thick when he speaks English. He knows how to communicate and does so on a regular basis working as a mason, with little to no issues. That's why it didn't seem like a big deal to hand him the items we had to check out and run to the bathroom. Upon my return to our respective check-out lane, the cashier was speaking loudly to my grandfather and smacking her palm against the counter as if that would somehow make whatever she had to say more articulate.
The issue is that the red "X" that normally makes cards run as credit simply cancels the transaction at this store, and there is another designated button for credit. I remember the cashier huffing something along the lines of, "Ugh, thank god," when I helped explain what happened with the card to my abuelo. We grabbed our things and left as soon as we could.
I will never forget how quiet the car ride home was. I felt so disgusted, angered, frustrated. Since then, I have picked up on sneers and lingering gazes when I dare speak a language that's not English in public - malls, zoos, grocery stores. I realize these are all incredibly tame in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of other stories regarding "language barriers," but they have felt dehumanizing all the same. Reflecting back on my time as a cashier, I always recall some of my favorite moments as times where I could speak to a guest in Spanish and they would visibly relax, smile and talk to me with ease and the deepest sincerity.
A little fact that surprises many is that although government documents are primarily done in English, this is solely for convenience. The United States doesn't actually have an official language. And I believe this is for very good reason. America was built on differences. This is a country born from immigrants, created by immigrants, for immigrants. From the get-go, this nation was running from oppression. Where is the logic that we should go running back into that same kind of territory?
The next time you find yourself in a situation where maybe you don't speak the same language as another person, or maybe understanding them is a little harder than it otherwise would be because of an accent, I encourage you to seek the patience and willingness to make the conversation work and go smoothly. Do not raise your voice, do not frantically use hands to motion around, do not get frustrated. Remember that they are no more obligated to speak your language than you are to speak theirsI guess my conclusion is going to be a wee bit cheesy, but hear me out. The cliche saying that the United States is a melting pot is more than 100 percent true. This country is an absolute melting pot of ideals, of nationalities, of people and, yes, of languages. Once we can find solidarity in our differences once again and let those differences make us stronger as a nation rather than let the differences tear us apart... well, maybe that's just what we'd need to actually make America great again.
