Amy Tan Equality

2120 Words5 Pages

Minority groups have faced inequality from the majority. This is due to their means of communication, mainly stemming from the language they use. As a call to action, many authors have shared their experiences to help raise awareness. For example, Chinese Americans have been represented by Amy Tan’s essay, “Mother Tongue;” she shares the discrimination she and her family have faced throughout her life by white Americans. Another author, Gloria Anzalda, speaks on behalf of Chicanos, Americans who have Mexican roots. Her chapter, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” details similar discriminatory experiences to Tan’s essay. Authors have not only shown their experiences, but, some offer solutions and criticize the views of white American educators. Vershawn …show more content…

She and other immigrants face many difficulties when communicating with other non-immigrants. Since some people cannot understand their native tongue, they must try to utilize English to the best of their abilities, which Tan’s mother does. As a result, their message may be perceived as less trustworthy or taken less seriously. Tan includes examples of this throughout, showing the inequality faced by immigrants attempting to speak English. For example, when Tan pretended to talk on her mother's behalf, she had to talk in “perfect English,” to receive the money while talking to a stockbroker. Her essay acts as a call to action, criticizing native English speakers for the mistreatment of immigrants trying to use their language. Due to the numerous examples of linguistic prejudice provided by Tan, a lingual gap may be created between Chinese and native English speakers in the foreseeable future. Chicanos have faced similar linguistic discrimination from both English and Spanish speakers due to how varied their language is. In addition, Chicanos have faced cultural discrimination for their backgrounds, being neither fully Mexican nor …show more content…

Aiming for a possible solution, Young later states “we all should know everybody’s dialect, at least as many as we can, and be open to the mix of them in oral and written communication” (2010, p.111). The majority of prejudice faced by Chicanos has mainly been due to a negative mindset towards them and who they are. Because of the origins of Chicano Spanish, being a blend of both English and Spanish, this creates situations where Chicanos may feel out of place like they do not belong as demonstrated by the university. A simple change in how people view language can prevent situations like Anzalda’s. Young preaches the idea of accepting others for their cultural differences, which in turn may reduce levels of both cultural and linguistic prejudice towards Chicanos. Although the Chinese primarily face linguistic prejudice, Young still provides useful answers. His code meshing and changed mindset can help prevent further linguistic prejudice towards Chinese. Tan (1990), includes the following examples of her mom facing prejudice: people at various establishments did not think she was serious when speaking. This led to poor service and they acted like they could not hear or understand

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