I saw an ad for the governor race in Alabama.
The white guy's main point in the commercial
was how the driver's license exam shouldn't be in 12 languages.
He said, and I quote,
"This is Alabama. We speak english. If you wanna live here, learn it."
Now, I had mixed feelings about this.
One of my Dominican friends showed me the clip,
so my mind immediately decided the guy was talking about Mexicans and other latino immigrants.
Yeah, I suppose everyone who lives in the US
should at least have some knowledge of the English language.
But the way he put it... sounded like he was against difference.
Sure, he justified his claims with how it would save the state money,
but I still felt funny about it.
This got me thinking about Hispanics/Latinos in the US in general.
Not to put anyone on blast, but I'll use Loyola as an example.
[This is prob why I waited until school was over to write this post.]
In the "minority spot" where we all hang out,
there has been more attendance from our spanish speaking brethren.
This was fine, however they always kinda separated themselves.
It was funny to observe.
You would walk in and see the black kids around the couch and chairs
and the hispanic kids around the table, or vice versa.
Towards the end of the semester, we all formed one big group,
but it took an underlining effort.
A kind of, "ok, how can we quietly solve it without calling it out and making people mad?"
Of course, once we all sat together, we joked about it.
And anytime the hispanic kids separated themselves again, we would point it out.
In all honesty, the hispanic population seems the least represented on campus.
Even the Asian population, though heavily assimilated into the white culture,
can be seen walking around the quad.
However, recently, the number of hispanics student has noticeably increased,
and a quiet concern has come across the black kids on campus.
Thoughts of them taking over and how we as black people have to hold firm
and continue as the main minority on campus.
This is probably all in my head, because I have a very conflicted mind.
But this is how I think sometimes, and I know it's wrong.
Attempting to rationalize my feelings,
I've decided it's because of the hispanic culture.
Think about it,
of any cultural group in the US,
who manages to hold on to their traditions the best.
Half of the Asian kids I know are whiter than white kids I know,
though some do manage to portray their culture.
Black kids for damn sure don't have much to hold on to.
Our culture was partially stripped from us during slavery [add smallest violin music here].
Only the a small percentage of African Americans look up their roots.
Caribbean kids are usually pretty prideful and hold on to their traditions.
But I find that Hispanics manage the best
in passing down tradition and culture.
Many of the Hispanic kids I know are bilingual.
Sometimes their parents might not even speak English,
but they still manage to function and make a living here.
I think I heard that by 2040,
the majority of citizens in the US will be Hispanic.
This can cause people to fear change.
Perhaps English will be replaced by Spanish as the primary language.
Maybe we'll have a nationwide siesta time?
You think that the liquor stores in the hoods
will be replaced by pure tequila stands?
...excuse my ignorance.
Remember, this blog is part of the process in ridding me of it.
Not just me, but all of us.
We need to have more open discussions like this.
Then we can understand more about each other,
and not fear each other... like I do sometimes.
Word.
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