ReadingJournalAnzaldua,Ch.

5 KatjaLiebing

IfyouwanttobeAmerican,speakAmerican.
Ifyoudontlikeit,gobacktoMexicowhereyou
belong.
Thatjustmakesmeangry.Itssadthatstilltoday
peoplefeelthiswayandtellotherstogowhere
theycamefrom.Integratingshouldnotmeanto
havetoloseone'scultureandidentityandtake
onanother.
Attacksononesformofexpressionwiththe
intendtocensorareaviolationoftheFirst
Amendment.
UsuallyAmericansaresoprotectiveofthe
Amendments,butitseemstheysometimesforget
themwhenitsuitsthem.Freedomofspeech,
somethingmanytakeforgranted,butoftendo
notthinkthatattackingChicanoslanguageis
attackingtheirfreedomofspeech.
ForapeoplewhoareneitherSpanishnorlivein
acountryinwhichSpanishisthefirstlanguage
forapeoplewholiveinacountryinwhich
Englishisthereigningtonguebutwhoarenot
Angloforapeoplewhocannotentirelyidentify
witheitherstandardSpanishnorstandard
English,whatrecourseislefttothembutto
createtheirownlanguage?
Thisgoeshandinhandwiththenextline.I
believethisisespeciallytrueforsecond
generationandlater.Thosewhowerechildren
whentheborderwasmovedorwhowereborn
after.Onthesearchfortheirownidentityitis
onlynaturaltoalsocreateauniquelanguage.It
helpstocreateasenseofcommunityand
belonging.
ChicanoSpanishsprangoutoftheChicanos
needtoidentifyourselvesasdistinctpeople.
Icanunderstandthat.Iwonderwhatitwouldbe
liketofeellikeyoudonotfullybelongtoeither
countryandculture.Itwouldbelikenothavinga
realhome.IfeelabitlikethatasIhavebeen
awayalongtimefrommybirthcountryandalso
neverreallyfeltathomeinAustralia,evenafter
10years.IcanunderstandwhyChicanos/asfelt
theneedtocreatesomethingthatmakesthem
uniqueandabletoidentifywith,likealanguage.
Weareyourlinguisticnightmare. ButonlyiflinguistsdonotviewChicanoSpanish
asaseparatelanguage.Theymightneverasitis
tooclosetootherlanguage.However,
NorwegianandDanishareverysimilar,but
differentlanguages(IreadandspeakDanish
fluently,andcanreadNorwegianwithouthaving
learnedthelanguage).AlsoPortugueseand
Spanisharesimilar.ThereforeIwouldnotcall
ChicanoSpanishalinguisticnightmare,butrather
interesting.
ChicanaswhogrewupspeakingChicano
Spanishhaveinternalizedthebeliefthatwespeak
poorSpanish.
Thismakesmesadtohear.Itremindedmeof
KozolandYossosworkswhenwereadthatit
affectschildrendramaticallywhentheymadeto
believethattheyarenotworthasmuchasothers.
Asthenextpointshows,languageispartofones
identityandifChicanosheartheirSpanishisnt
goodenough,theywouldportraitthesameonto
themselves.Theproblemisthatpeoplestilldo
notviewChicanoSpanishasaseparate
language.
So,ifyouwanttoreallyhurtme,talkbadlyabout
mylanguage.Ethnicidentityistwinskinto
linguisticidentityIammylanguage.
Ifindthistobeverytrue.Yourlanguageis
definitelypartofyourethnicidentity.Especiallyin
Europethisisveryevident.Culturesand
countriesaresoclosetoeachother,butlanguage
iswhatseparatesthemthemostobvious.Itis
offensiveanddegradingtosayanythingnegative
aboutanotherpersonslanguage.Whoareweto
judgeotherslanguagesanyway?Mineisnot
betterthananyoneelses,justdifferent.
FordaysIwalkedaroundinstunnedamazement
thataChicanocouldwriteandcouldget
published.
RemindedmeofReynaGrandestalkduringthe
Bordersofdiversityevent.Dianagavehera
bookbyaChicanoauthorandshewasequally
amazedbyit.Ineverthoughtofthemhavingtheir
ownlanguage,probablybecauseIjustgothere
andsimplyhaventlearnedmuchabouttheir
cultureyet.Itmustbeamazingtoholdabookin
yourhandswritteninyourlanguageifthatwas
thefirsttimeever.