academia – E367: Writing and Diversity

In Rodriguez’s “The Achievement of Desire: Personal Reflections on Learning ‘Basics,’” Rodriguez highlights the struggle of balancing an academic career with his home life. When he throws himself into his studies at an early age, he quickly notices the implications that it has on his home life. This struggle is especially reflected in his relationship with his parents. He mentions that whenever his parents would ask him about what he learned at school, he would keep his answers short and vague, not wanting to share too much. He would read often, which caused him to engage less with his family, staying in his room, so he wouldn’t be distracted by the sounds of his home. He mentions that he felt his parents “were always behind” him. His parents gave him and his siblings the means to succeed academically, however, it also caused them to distance themselves from each other. Rodriguez’s interest in academics didn’t only affect him, but it also his parents as well.

There’s no denying the sense of pride that Rodriguez’s parents feel towards his academic success’s, however, Rodriquez mentions that they began to become dismissive of his intelligence. Whenever there was an argument in the house, his parents would defend their statements by simply saying “It’s what we were taught in our time to believe,” which immediately ended the discussion. Even though Rodriguez has had more academic success than his parents, they are still his parents and still have authority over him, which makes it easy for them to discount his statements.

Rodriguez has conflicting emotions when it comes to his academics. He feels a draw towards learning that seems to overpower the guilt that he also feels. This guilt coming from the separation he notices between himself and his home life. He feels like he is responsible for this change that has occurred in his home.

“I kept so much, so often to myself. Sad. Guilty for the excitement of coming upon new ideas, new possibilities. Eager. Fascinated. I hoarded the pleasures of learning. Alone for hours. Enthralled. Afraid. Quiet (the house noisy), I rarely looked away from my books – or back on my memories.”
Rodriguez, 243

Even though his schooling caused him to distance himself from his home life, he also became appreciative of it later on. His studies gave him the knowledge to look back on his childhood and try and recover what he lost.

“I needed to understand how far I had moved from my past – to determine how fast I would be able to recover something of it once again.”
Rodriguez, 254

I feel like many of us can relate to the fear of coming home with a report card to show to our parents, scared that they aren’t going to be pleased with the results. Maybe the few times they weren’t, it caused tension in the house, with maybe a grounding or two to follow. Rodriguez has a whole different take on it, which I never really considered before. He was scared to succeed rather as well as fail. Rodriguez was a good student (although he highlights he was really only good at mimicking, instead of forming his own ideas), and he felt like he had to hide this from his parents. If he shared his successes with his parents, he felt like they wouldn’t understand, but when he keeps his thoughts to himself, he’s separating himself from his parents.

Trying to relate to Rodriguez, I can think of one example. I remember when I entered high school, the only thing that I knew about politics was what I heard about from my parents. However, the more educated I became, I began to form my own opinions, which opposed the views of my parents. I remember expressing some of my views and immediately being shut down. It felt similar to when Rodriguez would try to have a discussion with his parents, who wouldn’t really listen to his side of things. I learned to stop bringing up my own thoughts whenever the conversation turned to politics. I learned to keep quiet because I knew I would upset my parents if I said anything contradictory. Although this is only a small piece of my home life that has been affected, it seems like Rodriguez is expressing a shift in his own home life which has a much greater magnitude. “In place of the sounds of intimacy which once flowed easily between us, there was the silence.”

Assimilation is the concept of homogenizing a minority group or culture with the dominant culture. An Immigrant is supposed to, over time, become like those in the society they move to. This could also extend to those who are born into a society and are pressured to stay within the perimeters of the culture that is most rewarded in that society. Assimilation can be debated as a something unifying and natural, or as something culturally genocidal and forced—a means to erase differences and multiculturalism. These arguments can be seen within the use of language as a means of assimilating.

On one hand, language can be unifying—a means for communication and understanding. Language is what connects us to each other—verbal or nonverbal. People who live millions of miles apart can still connect with each other through a shared language. However, a dominant language can be used to weed out minority languages as a means of acculturation. Language and how someone speaks that language is highly tied to someone’s culture and background. In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the Canadian government forcibly assimilated the indigenous people that lived in the country. Alongside measures to stop traditional marriage practices and spiritual ceremonies, the government also enacted an extensive residential school system to target indigenous children. They were abused, forced into arranged marriages after graduation, and prohibited from speaking their native language. Once a language is targeted and erased, the minority culture can no longer communicate with each other the way they used to and thus cannot relate to their past culture the way they used to.

Today in the United States, there aren’t horror stories of such proportions—hopefully—anymore, but there is an effort and pressure for efficacy in speaking the dominant language—English. This pressure is not directed or dictated formally, but as a means of advancement and “fitting in.” Think of it like joining a new friend group and having to learn what type of humor they have or how they all talk to each other—except on a more communal or national scale. The U.S. doesn’t have an official language, but the dominant language is English and without learning and proficiently speaking or writing can keep many from advancing within the society—either socially, economically, or academically. In Barbara Mellix’s From Outside, In, she spoke about her experience of growing up in a Southern black community and how her family and neighbors spoke “black English”, but when moving out of this community or encountering white Americans—even if they spoke similar to her—steered her away from the vernacular she grew up speaking. She moved to Pittsburgh and had to conform to how that community spoke because she felt she would have been ostracized or possibly punished for her “improper English.” She also makes a points within her piece about how “proper English” is pushed in education.

In America’s education system, the main language that is being taught in classrooms is English—“proper English.” There are Language Immersion programs where children can learn another language aside from English, but the learning revolves around English. Usually math is the secondary language while English is reading and writing. Because of this tie to English and education, there is a subconscious link to believing more proficiency in English, knowing large words and understanding grammatical rules, means someone is more intelligent and educated. Of course, knowing many of languages, being bilingual, could also provide a sense of intelligence and education, but these extra languages are not “useful” in the sense of a dominant culture.

Thinking about education and language led to thinking about the language that dominates Academia and many academic papers. Can language assimilation happen within this sphere as well? Can this concept be applied to this community? Academia is not a dominant culture, but say someone is trying to write a research paper and have it published in a prestigious journal. This person has never written a research paper before on such a level. What would they have to change about their language to be accepted into this culture? Would even a paper written in a language similar to or in “black English” be accepted or taken as seriously as a paper that was bloated with three syllable vocabulary and convoluted grammatical techniques—even if one was more understandable than the more traditional and accepted language? Would you have taken this essay seriously if I wrote in “improper English?”

Tag: academia

Response to Rodriguez

Language and Assimilation