I'll be the first to admit that blogging about the wonderful world of PR is a bit vapid. I mean, seriously, who really cares? (except for those that wallow in it every day, I suppose)
So today I felt the urge to blog about a topic that seriously irks me. It revolves around this question: "Are we in a culture war with the nativists?" The "we," from my perspective, being anyone non-Caucasian.
Um, silence. Something I never really thought about.
Read this editorial piece that I came across today by Ruben Navarrette who presented this thought. It discusses several valid points and disturbing examples about the saliency of racial discrimination. And not just the fact that it's wrong to discriminate, but that said question is one of the underlying fears that drive it.
"It's the perception that the country is becoming more Hispanic, that Spanish is replacing English, that Hispanic immigrants are weakening American identity, and that Main Street is turning into Little Mexico."
Ruben's above comment and POV is from the Hispanic community, but this sentiment can be applied to any racial group. More importantly, it's a paradigm of thinking for cultural hegemony, i.e. middle-class, white, Christian male.
We all tend to live in our parochial worlds, but what is supposedly unique and amazing about the good 'ole US of A is that we embrace, integrate and are made up of races/cultures/religions from all over the world. At least this is the ideology I adhere to.
My snarky attitude may give the illusion that I'm a pessimist, but don't be fooled, I am as optimistic as they come. I believe that this doesn't have to be a fallacy, HOWEVER, I'm also insanely rational and my rational brain tells me what white America really wants is to be just that. Ignorance is bliss and homogeneity allows for simple brains to lead simple lives.
OK, so we're but a baby of a Nation and in that time have come a long way, but that's not a good enough excuse to rationalize the racial injustice that happens 24/7. These acts range from the extreme (e.g. Japanese American internment camps), to the major (e.g. townspeople flatly nixing bilingual story time & insisting on English-only books in libraries), to the everyday minor (e.g. being asked "where are you from" with the expected answer NOT being "Colorado").
So do I have a point? I suppose it's as simple as awareness. It's at least somewhat encouraging to know that people are aware of the major to the subtle acts they do that advocate the belief that there's only room for one type of "we."
- Signing off from San Francisco
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4 comments:
You make valid points but I have to disagree with your issue with the English-first movement. The beauty of America is that we have melded the oppressed, the Russian Jew, the Korean, the Nigerian, the Irish, etc., all bonded by the belief that the US is the land of opportunity. This is an oversimplification but that is the essence of the melting pot. We merge different cultures within the pot of freedom and hope. English has been the lingua franca to participate in the dream. Koreans and Poles speak English at home but to make it as an American they had to learn English. Language binds communities, unites them around a commo dialect and like it or not, this has been an English speaking nation since before it was a nation.
merrill...YOU make a really valid point and I actually agree with you. BUT you are missing the entire point of my argument. It has nothing to do with English-first and the fact that if you live in this country, YES, you need to speak the language. And it is only advantageous for immigrants to speak English. My point is, and there's two of them, is that we do not accept diversity. It's as simple as that, really. Fact is that we do not "melt" with other cultures, we EXPECT other cultures to assimilate with the traditional American, English-language culture. We EXPECT them to alter their traditions, family dynamic, beliefs to meet the norm. We do NOT expect to have those "other" cultures influence the American way. This leads to my second point, which is hegemony. It's a key word that explains why we ban gay marriage, ridicule multi-racial families, and engage in racial hate crimes. This is an oversimplification of the term. But basically, I'm going to have to knock your point re: melding of the oppressed off it's pedestal.
Peace.
I enjoyed this post thoroughly! (Even though reading posts in which you two bitch about our jobs is fun and mood-elevating). :)
That said, I whole-heartedly agree with you on this. I argue with my family on these exact points. They, of course being from middle-America/mid-west, don't think they are being racist ("of course we're not racist"), but it blatantly is, in my mind. Our nation should embrace acceptance, not expect - as you stated in your last comment - that others will assimilate.
And this is why I feel it will be hard for me if/when the time ever comes for me to leave all-loving San Francisco. Sigh
Oh man. Leave San Francisco? For shame for even having the thought cross your mind. Thanks for the comment!
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