A drop of language

And it kind of got me thinking. Because how I understand it, the system at the moment that is supposed to give us these equal rights and opportunities , acts exactly like a judgemental Mother giving out cake on your Birthday.

There are six of you, so it should be easy to divide but your mom reminds you that your Brother is always a little more hungry than you and you were supposed to lose weight anyway since you don’t fit in the pants that she bought you last year. Even though you grew and have a completely normal body.

So you get a small piece and your brother a bigger one. Of course you protest and ask for more. It’s your Birthday and you deserve at least as much your brother, so your mom sighs and cuts another small piece of cake off for you. It still not equal to your brothers but she says: „are you happy now?“ And because you are exhausted, you just nod.

And that’s exactly how our governments work at the moment, with Minorities.

White, non-indigenous humans always had a fair piece of the cake or at least the opportunity to get a fair piece.Most of the time they ate the whole cake. Minorities don’t have that and when they Protest they get a little bit more cake to make them shut up.

„Hey, you got a Day off to remember that you are not our slaves anymore. That’s great, right? So why can’t you happy for once“ but one day later there are kids being shot by the police (again), the homeless rates for indigenous and people of colour are extremely high and they have to deal with racism daily, by police, neighbours and strangers on the street.

So yes, equal rights are not a cake but we are still treating them that way.

Most fluent speakers of any Minority Language, are elderly. Their community depends on them to teach their youth about their language and culture.

They are the root of their community. Without them hundreds of years of tradition is endangered.

Covid-19 really showed us how important it is to protect our eldest, especially since a lot of native speakers fell (and still become) victim(s) to the pandemic. Our duty  is to protect others, by wearing masks and social distancing. That way we also protect Minority languages.

But in the last few weeks, with the development of the vaccine, a new danger to Native/Minority Languages showed itself. (White) Privilege!

While everyone seemed to agree on our eldest and front line workers receiving the vaccine first, since they are most endangered, many rich people don´t share that sentiment.

I want to especially talk about the Canadian couple that chartered a private jet and “allegedly” acted as though they were motel workers to get a vaccination in the Yukon area, a mostly Indigenous community. Both were fined for not quarantining for 14 days and the man resigned from his position as CEO of Great Canadian Gaming, but let me tell you something. THAT`S NOT ENOUGH! First of all both them knew that they could infect other people with Corona and they didn´t care. A 2000 US Dollar-fine is not enough for literal Millionaires to hurt and rethink their actions. They did not care that indigenous people could die because of them. That History could die because of them. All they probably thought about was their next vacation.

And second of all in a year it is probably forgotten. He will  most likely not be CEO again but the chances are high that he will have a similar position of power. Especially since his Company did not give a statement about why he left.  They will doubtlessly tell everyone who wants hear it, that they were just scared for their lives which made them ignore the consequences of their actions. And people will believe that bullshit because it is easier than thinking that the nice, rich people from next door are actually a couple of ignorant, racists that think they should come first because of the number on their bank account.

So here are two easy things you can do to help get vaccination done faster for your community starting with elderly people ( no matter if they are minority speakers or not). Please remember to stay safe while doing this:

1.Ask the elderly people in your house if they need help making an appointment to get the vaccination (depends on country)

2. Do they have a way to get there?

And if you hear more stories about privileged people stealing spots for vaccination and similar things don´t hesitate to make live difficult for them. Write the company they work for, boycott companies until they fire them and sign petitions for laws to be changed so that this can not happen again. We don´t have to accept anything anymore!!

Like always I am open to criticism and questions. I love to learn more and give my knowledge to others.

If your Mother tongue is English, German or a similar big language, there is a possibility that you don`t know what Minority Languages are. You probably never met them in your daily life, never heard them spoken, never met the native speakers and learned about their culture. There is even a possibility that you live on native land and don´t even know it.

That should change!                                                                                       Members of these Minorities face a big threat everyday.

Which is the Loss of their Language, which is also part of their culture (and probably even yours).

And the use of your phone, your TV and notebook could make a big difference.

Let me explain.

I was exactly were you were a few a years ago. I lived my life, spoke German with my friends, English maybe when things got exotic and could not care less about stuff like that. I did not even know that Germany had Minority Languages. And then I spent a few months in Scotland and let me tell you my world got rocked. Suddenly I heard of languages like Irish,Scottish Gaelic and  Welsh from activists that I met, that wanted to become independent from England.

And I really wanted to learn these Languages but here is the thing. I am not really good with learning a language in class. I hate teachers that kill all the love for learning by only teaching in the classroom on the board.

I learned English by watching Movies, Zoella on Youtube (she was ok once) and with friends that I met online. So I wanted to do the same with Irish. But its not that simple. First of all it´s not  easy to find a fluent native speaker. Because most of them struggle the same way I do with learning their own language. In their daily life they speak mostly English or whatever language is mainly spoken in their country.

While Ireland is actually not that bad with  TV programs and Radio Stations in Irish, it is definitely NOT the norm for Minority Languages. Most of them still fight for a few hours every now and then on TV/Radio and if they get time to show stuff, its really early in the morning or while people are working. And subtitles are not really heard of with the normal program.

And that is exactly why social media is that important for minority languages. Not only can it be a good place for speakers to interact and connect, especially if they don´t live near a (Speaker) Community like a Gaeltacht or something similar but it´s also an amazing way to spread knowledge and make them use the muscle, so they don`t forget their own language. There are actual people that are not able to speak their mother tongue because they could never use it.

There a lot of young people that stand up for their language and fight for their  right to use it in their daily life- That can mean, being able to translate their language with google but also using online banking or writing comments under pictures on Instagram. So things that Non-Minority Speakers do every day.

And now, you are probably asking yourself why I am writing all of this.

Its pretty easy as a non-minority member to support the cause. You can start by learning more about your country and its history. There is a huge possibility that the history is not that nice to read and that there are still minorities left. If you want to go further you can follow Activists on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. This makes it possible for them to reach more people and you get updates on petitions, demonstrations or you can just see great content.

It´s never too late to learn more and to get politically active. These languages mean something, they enhance the beauty in our world and they can be saved if we all give a little bit of our energy to the cause and educate others and each other.

My first ever post was supposed to be about Minority Languages and what we can do to save them. But because of the Situation right now in the USA I have decided that we have something more serious to talk about. Because I am Mad! I do not know if I have ever been more pissed in my entire Life to be honest. Black People die almost everyday there because of police brutality and fucking white people that believe that they are superior. I am not even living thereand only here some stuff AND I have enough, so how bad has it to be for someone experiencing this shit EVERY! FUCKING! DAY! And then I am seeing all of these Influencers on Instagram that post a picture of George Floyd and half an hour later, they talk about some shitty Brand Deal for a grooming kit or post pictures of their trip to Italy like nothing really happened, like they already done their good deed for the day. I get it, you earn Money that way, but it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Why don´t you use your influence like Sophia Bush and post actual helpful stuff on how things can be changed??? Use your INFLUENCE for something useful once in a while ok?!?  Like changing the training of police officers from 12 Weeks to a year or maybe three years like they do in Germany. Because something has to be wrong with the System when they are that many people dying each year because of police officers! Do more background checks! Actually start completely new, because there is something deeply wrong when people have to teach their children that they have to be afraid of the police!