The Importance Of Diversity In The United States

“Our culture, our traditions, our languages are the foundations upon which we build our identity.” - Unknown. Bilingualism has many different interpretations and definitions and can cause problems in the community or unite it. The concept of bilingualism represents several different ideas, two writers, Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez share in their essays their personal stories about being immersed into the English culture and learning the language. They share their views of what bilingualism means to them personally and make arguments about the importance of the concept. The two essayists bring awareness to the major role bilingualism plays in the communities today and highlight the effects of disagreements between cultural groups.

Robert MacNeil, a writer of many great historical articles, was once, a journalist and news anchor. In his article, “English Belongs to Everybody”, MacNeil responds to the fear of many Americans who believe that Spanish will soon sweep over English. He argues that English can not be diluted by any other language as “it has prospered and grown because it was able to accept and absorb changes,”

There are two Educational philosophies that Rodriguez had utilized in his younger years. The philosophy of supporting Bilingual Education was to help Students acquire the skills of a classroom crucial for public success. Supporters would report that children miss out a great deal by not being taught in their family’s language. “They say that children who use their family language in school will retain a sense of their individuality- their ethnic heritage and cultural ties” (Kindle 6236-6237). Supporters would also say that children will have a sense of individuality that retains their family’s language. Giving children something to feel different and have something special. “But then there was Spanish. Español: my family’s language. Español: the language that seemed to be a private language.” (Kindle 5982-5983). Rodriguez shared how it was hard fighting between assimilating to American culture and keeping his connection and heritage alive within him.

“Language is power. If you cannot understand or be understood you have no power. You are at the mercy of everyone.” – (Rudat, 1994, Stow, Dodd 356) Should Americans be required to learn Spanish as a second language? The construction of our nation stands on documents written in English, however English is not our official language nor has it ever been. America is a “melting pot” in which English is the most prominent language, followed closely by Spanish. Requiring Americans to learn Spanish is a great controversy; I strongly believe that it should be a requirement, because it improves academic achievements, career success, and cultural and social understanding. The controversy has great counter arguments such as the double standard Americans are held to, and further division of the country. Regarding the counterarguments, I still firmly believe that it should be a requirement because the integration of a second language in our schools is more beneficial to our country’s success as a whole.

Bilinguals in America experience unfair treatment and are looked at differently if English is not their native language. The subject of bilingualism is not a topic many are educated on. Uneducated English speakers use their dominance and popularity of their language to treat Spanish speakers like their language and culture does not belong in our country. Martin Espada and Richard Rodriguez speak of bilingualism in their well published essays, and they write about the struggles that American citizens face when they are bilingual in Spanish and English. This essay will clearly show each writer’s definition and arguments on bilingualism and my argument on the topic.

In 1900 there were around 500,000 Latino's. Now, the national Latino population numbers more than 35 million and is one of the most dynamic and diverse racial/ethnic groups in the united states. The most known dramatic impact of the Latino population on the demography of the nation has taken place over the last few decades in the U.S. The amount of Latino's in the United States more than doubled the amount of Latino's from 1980 to 2000, counting for 40% of the amount change in the country's population during that time. By the time 2004 the U.S Census Bureau designated the Latino kind as the nation's largest minority group, an outstanding thing given in 1980 the Latino kind was only close to more than a half the size of the African American

S. Census Bureau must not place “Hispanic/Latino” as a racial category on the census. As a consequence of colonization in Latin America, Latinos are not homogenous, but rather quite heterogeneous in their cultures, customs, and outward appearances. For this reason, such a change to the census would eradicate the experiences of certain Latinos by placing them into a singular racial group. The experiences of white Latinos, although not great, cannot be lumped together with those of black Latinos. As a result, it is imperative that the “race” and “ethnicity” categories be separate on the census so that Latino groups can identify as they wish according to their experiences based on their own unique identities (e.g. Black Latino, White Latino, Asian Latino, Indigenous

Diversity exists all across the United States. It is defined as the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. Along with the ever-growing diversity in America, brings along intercultural communication. Intercultural communication can be defined as a situated communication between individuals or groups of different linguistic and cultural origins. Due to the limitless amounts of diversity and intercultural communication across the United States, misunderstandings and clashes between cultures are bound to occur. These clashes have been as extreme to be used to explain violence and crime not only in the United States, but also throughout our entire nation. On the other end, these cultural clashes can be so personal in our everyday lives because of our expectations of a certain behavior coming from our own cultural backgrounds, as many others have very different cultural backgrounds and expectations of us.

Throughout the world social problems such as illiterate, elderly, handicapped, minority groups, and poverty have been the biggest part in our society for many years. Some of our social problems had died off, meanwhile, they’re still many problem that we are still facing as a society. One of the major social problem we face is people being illiterate. Being illiterate is meaning a person can not read nor write, and it can also mean that a person is grammatically incorrect. There is as much as 23% of the adult population that are ignorant to basic skills of the 4th grade level. In the U.S. the ethnic group that is most affected by not being able to read or write is

According to his work, “English is the fastest-spreading language in human history and is used by an estimated 1.27 billion people globally” (Neeley, 2012). The English language is already the most popular language in the world, accompanied by each person’s native language. Also, compared to other languages English is relatively easy to learn (McWhorter, 2015). This does not mean that the meshing of new versions of English are always pristine. Ana Lucia Gonzalez, reporter for BBC, wrote the article, “Life in Spanglish for California’s Young Latinos” to address this issue of blending language.

For over two centuries, the United States has a been a religious haven for anyone and everyone, regardless of religious belief. America has only been able to remain a powerhouse for this vast period of time because of their ability to accept and thrive upon diversity. Opportunities given in the United States allow and promote diversity, which brings forth understanding, perspective, and wisdom. Unfortunately, immigrants from certain religious backgrounds are not receiving the same opportunities that our forefathers believed each and every one of us are entitled to. Based upon the free exercise clause and the establishment clause of the first amendment, as well as section one of the fourteenth amendment, it would be unconstitutional to require immigrants to take a religion test.

Rodriguez is able to characterize both the languages he describes through his personal observations. English is characterized a public language and is spoken by the native speaker in a firm way that accentuates their belonging in the public society (Rodriguez 295). However, for Rodriguez English full of uncertainty, not only in the way native speakers sound in his unaccustomed ear, but also in how an immigrants’ confused tongue speaks the alien language. In contrast, Rodriguez considers Spanish a private language, “a language of home,” and was a language that created a feeling of inclusion of an exclusive group of immigrant (Rodriguez 296). While English is characterized as uncertain, Spanish is personified as the complete opposite. Spanish fills Rodriguez

He didn’t know until it had happened. His arm was completely trapped under a rock that had tumbled down after he fell through the crevasse. He was standing on a stable enough ledge, but his arm incapacitated his movement, and he could feel the blooding dripping down his forehead from a gash he received during the fall. Thankfully, he still had his backpack on, but since his arm was immobilized under the rock, he knew he had to cut the backpack off his body. He pulled out his water bottle; it was only half full. The camera he took on his hikes was still intact and working, and he had many tools in his backpack that could be useful: a Swiss army knife, some rope, and a couple of granola bars. He was still in shock and the pain had not yet reached

The United States of America can be regarded as one of the most diverse and progressive countries in the world with people from all corners of the world contributing to the changing culture of the melting pot that is America. Despite this, our government inadequately represents our diverse population, specifically in Congress, with many officials being Christian, older, non-Hispanic white males dominating government.

Why should people nowadays see languages as a big prize? A person speaks more languages have more opportunities are skewed to him because he benefits the profit comparing to a person who speaks only one standard language. It is time for globalization and its effects on children for speaking other languages as a must. In two articles “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez and “Whose Voice Is It Anyway?” by Victor Villanueva, the two authors both expressed their opinions on native language and how the assimilation impacts a child. However, Rodriguez believed that the assimilation was beneficial for him as he had grown up in the English-speaking world and he disliked bilingual education which created many controversy.