Language has always been one of the most crucial building blocks to the personal puzzle of self-identity. It is the carrier of culture, and culture is the carrier of identity. In some of the earliest days in history God recognized this fact. He realized that the best way to prompt his people to heed his command and obey his words during the building of the Tower of Babel was to confuse their languages. Why did he do this? Because taking away the common language of the people completely obliterated their sense of unity with those around them. Suddenly they had almost no one to confide in or to relate to. This is precisely what is taking place in our lives today. Despite being founded as a free country and a safe haven for immigrants and refugees,
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In es sence, what is taking place is the idealization of American culture and the English language. John Storey, author of Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, highlights this “passive racism” in his segment on “Whiteness.” He states, “What makes whiteness so powerful, therefore, is that it is more than the dominant coloring; it operates as an unmarked human norm, and it is against this norm that other ethnicities are invited to measure themselves” (188). Storey is presenting the idea that because America is promoting and encouraging immigrants to understand our culture and language as the dominant one, it is then “unmarking” white from the list of ethnicities, and creating this illogical standard that our culture is superior. This is wrong in that it completely contradicts what it means to be human. Storey makes the claim that “…there is just one ‘race’, the human race” (175). Regardless of skin tone, country of origin, or preferred language, we are all equally and irrevocably …show more content…
Dexter provides us with excellent insight as to the effects of cultural assimilation within the public school system within her article “Communicating Care Across Culture and Language.” Dexter proposes that the American public school system is greatly underserving its diverse cultural groups. Her article deals specifically with a school who’s students are predominately Latin-American, while most of the teachers are white. Dexter expresses her concern for these students, as the school system does not seem to be properly accommodating their linguistic needs. Dexter demonstrates “Historically, the U.S. school system has been designed to assimilate students, rather than nurture minority cultures and languages…Excluding or failing to acknowledge the languages or cultural norms of interaction common in students’ communities may constitute a continuation of this assimilation” (158). Dexter could not be more accurate than she is with this statement. If America continues to refuse to accommodate these individuals, forcing them to forsake their ethnic origins in favor of American culture and the English language, we are only doing harm to their educational needs and their social health. Dexter then continues by stating “U.S. schools that generally strip Latino students of their cultural and linguistic heritage may thereby create obstacles for students meaningfully relating to learning in schools” (158). When students are forced to learn in any language outside their native
In es sence, what is taking place is the idealization of American culture and the English language. John Storey, author of Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, highlights this “passive racism” in his segment on “Whiteness.” He states, “What makes whiteness so powerful, therefore, is that it is more than the dominant coloring; it operates as an unmarked human norm, and it is against this norm that other ethnicities are invited to measure themselves” (188). Storey is presenting the idea that because America is promoting and encouraging immigrants to understand our culture and language as the dominant one, it is then “unmarking” white from the list of ethnicities, and creating this illogical standard that our culture is superior. This is wrong in that it completely contradicts what it means to be human. Storey makes the claim that “…there is just one ‘race’, the human race” (175). Regardless of skin tone, country of origin, or preferred language, we are all equally and irrevocably …show more content…
Dexter provides us with excellent insight as to the effects of cultural assimilation within the public school system within her article “Communicating Care Across Culture and Language.” Dexter proposes that the American public school system is greatly underserving its diverse cultural groups. Her article deals specifically with a school who’s students are predominately Latin-American, while most of the teachers are white. Dexter expresses her concern for these students, as the school system does not seem to be properly accommodating their linguistic needs. Dexter demonstrates “Historically, the U.S. school system has been designed to assimilate students, rather than nurture minority cultures and languages…Excluding or failing to acknowledge the languages or cultural norms of interaction common in students’ communities may constitute a continuation of this assimilation” (158). Dexter could not be more accurate than she is with this statement. If America continues to refuse to accommodate these individuals, forcing them to forsake their ethnic origins in favor of American culture and the English language, we are only doing harm to their educational needs and their social health. Dexter then continues by stating “U.S. schools that generally strip Latino students of their cultural and linguistic heritage may thereby create obstacles for students meaningfully relating to learning in schools” (158). When students are forced to learn in any language outside their native