Bilingualism is a beautiful gift.
Even if some folks don’t know it.
Monolinguals too often look down on citizens who speak two or more languages. I recall in high school speaking Spanish with a friend. Incensed, a nearby girl whirled around and sputtered, “Ugh, why are you speaking Mexican?”
I let her know we were conversing in Spanish, not “Mexican.” Her last name was Hernandez, which she dismissed with teen callousness. Her dad was Mexican, she said, but she was an American and spoke only English.
It is sad she had lost such a beautiful part of her culture. It is her loss for not learning “the loving tongue.”
I am blessed to be bilingual, speaking English and Spanish from the moment I could talk. I am fluent in both languages because my parents planned it. My Mexican mother speaks English as a second language and spoke to me only in Spanish. My father, a white guy with German ancestry from Chicago, speaks Spanish with a heavy accent. He spoke to me in English. They agreed I should learn both languages with the proper accent.
My parents’ strategy worked. My dad and I still speak English together, without any issues. I speak Spanish with my mom, which often causes consternation when we are out in public. Throughout my life older white women have stormed over to demand we speak English.
“This is America,” they crow. “We speak English here, not Mexican.”
Mom and I speak Spanish, not “Mexican,” just as I speak English, not “American.” Show me the passage in the U.S Constitution that says English is the nation’s official language. America has no official language.
This is news to many monolingual busy bodies. My first tongue lashing from a Spanish hater came when I was 5, buying stamps at the Third Avenue Post Office. I was embarrassed and ashamed. With tears in my eyes I asked my mom if speaking Spanish was bad.
My mother told me never to feel ashamed of who I was.
“Hija, you are Mexican as well as American and should be proud of both heritages,” she said defiantly. “Con la cara en alto y con el nopal en la frente (a traditional saying for someone who is proud to be Mexican).”
Mom often reminds our uninformed neighbors that California had been a part of Mexico and prior to that these were indigenous lands. To speak “Mexican” would require fluency in Náhuatl, the language of the indigenous Aztecs, or one of the other 67 known indigenous languages of mesoamerica.
All Mexicans are the product of Spanish colonizers blended with the indigenous people. Spanish colonizers, the armed Karens of the 16th century, purged the region of its ancient linguistic diversity.
Thousands of global languages have been eradicated by colonization. Scores of languages and traditions from nuestros ancestros have been extinguished, silenced forever.
It pains me that I do not know the language of my indigenous ancestors. The Spanish language, like Spanish soldiers and priests, is an invader, brutally imposed on los indígenas. It is a lovely language, but not the original “Mexican.”
Spanish, by the way, is not the only language in Spain. Mexicans generally speak Castellano, from the region of Castile, home of Madrid. Spaniards also speak Catalan, Gallician and Euskera. Mexico has 68 indigenous languages with 364 linguistic variations.
Intolerant Americans are not the only linguistas terribles. Discrimination is rampant in Mexico. Indigenous communities suffer from colorism and classism deeply ingrained in the culture. Mexicanos must stop using cruel phrases like, “Hay que mejorar la raza” (We must better our race) or “india pata rajada” (Indigenous woman with calloused feet). Latinos must avoid the use of “prieta” (dark-skinned) or “india” (indigenous woman) in a derogatory manner. We need to stop idealizing Europe and take pride in who we are.
My grandmother was from Oaxaca, a state with a rich history and culture. Oaxacan gastronomy, architecture and textiles are among the most beautiful in the world. Yet Mexicans have generalized the use of “Oaxaquitas” as a derogatory term to describe indigenous people.
Academy Award-nominated actress Yalitza Aparecio of the film “Roma” is from Oaxaca of Mixtec ancestry. A Mexican actor, Sergio Goyri, referred to her as a “pinche india” in a viral video. Goyri is sadly typical of Mexico’s elite and middle classes.
My Mom likes to say “De todo hay en la viña del Señor.” (There are all types of people in the vineyard of the Lord). It is possible to love and embrace all of your complex heritage. I can love my Mexican indigenous roots and still love being an American. I love my Spanish and my English languages that gave me a foundation to also master Italian.
I wish I could speak “Mexican.” Sadly, I will never learn my grandmother’s extinct indigenous language. No one will.
So I will settle for Spanish.
