kinky cornbread

That’s pride alright lmfao

“When I was growing up, my parents spoke to each other in Spanish, but they didn’t speak to us in Spanish because they were told not to. In school we weren’t allowed to speak it.”

and also???

“… But America is the only country that promotes monolingualism. Here it’s English, English, English. Every other country makes their children learn a second language very early on. So as my political and social activism grew, I was like, ‘I really need to learn Spanish.’ So I did.“ 

idk how many people i’ve known growing up in texas whose parents speak fluent spanish but they don’t speak a lick solely because their parents were afraid or told not to teach their children. it’s unspeakably common and doesn’t in any way shape or form diminish someone’s claim to or pride in their heritage. 

My family has lost AT LEAST four languages to Americanism. The last words ma grandma ever heard in Sicilianu were, ‘We live in America and we speak English now.’ My dad and grandpa both only know very basic Spanish. Who knows how many dialects the enslaved Africans didn’t get to pass on.

When people move to America, America pressures them into losing other languages. The only people who get props for being multilingual are bougie domestically born whites.

Also have any of you ever tried to learn a language by yourself with no one teaching you? If you haven’t, then you should probably try it yourself. If you have, then you know exactly how much money, time, resources, etc. it takes to learn a language. You know how different what you learn from books is versus what you hear in conversation. You know that different accents are hard. You know that some people ‘get it’ and some people have to work harder.