The power of language to unite – or divide – us | Dahlia Aguilar | TEDxMidAtlanticSalon

Summary

This powerful narrative highlights the struggles of Mexican-American students in the U.S. education system, focusing on language discrimination and inequality. The speaker shares their family's history, tracing the impact of segregation and language barriers from their grandmother’s time to their own experiences in school. Despite desegregation efforts, language continued to be a source of division. The speaker’s journey as a bilingual educator and founding principal of Mundo Vetta, a bilingual charter school, aims to bridge these divides and create an inclusive, culturally rich learning environment that empowers students to shine through language and heritage.

Takeaways

• 😀 U.S. schools have made progress since desegregation but still face challenges, particularly in the area of language equity.
• 😀 By 2020, it was projected that one in four students in U.S. schools would be Latino, presenting an opportunity to enhance cultural and language inclusivity in education.
• 😀 The speaker’s family history reveals how Mexican-American students faced discrimination, with language barriers often leading to inferior educational experiences.
• 😀 My grandmother, who grew up attending Mexican schools, internalized the shortcomings of her education due to the language barrier and the lack of resources.
• 😀 After the Mexican-American War, Mexican heritage people in the U.S. faced similar discrimination to Black communities under Jim Crow laws.
• 😀 The landmark 1947 case, *Mendez v. Westminster*, challenged the segregation of Mexican students in schools and laid the groundwork for *Brown v. Board of Education*.
• 😀 Despite desegregation, Mexican-American students continued to suffer from language discrimination, where speaking Spanish was punished or led to being classified as 'learning disabled.'
• 😀 My parents, due to their negative school experiences, decided not to teach me Spanish to protect me from the same humiliation they faced in school.
• 😀 The educational system still stratifies students based on their language abilities, with Spanish speakers often placed at the bottom and those fluent in academic English at the top.
• 😀 My experience in college was a wake-up call: despite being an honors student in high school, I struggled academically at Georgetown due to the language barrier, and the concept of language as a skill was redefined for me.
• 😀 I founded Mundo Vetta, a bilingual public charter school, to offer a learning environment that values students' language and cultural heritage while helping them excel academically in both English and Spanish.

Q & A

What is the primary theme of the speaker's narrative?

The primary theme of the speaker's narrative is the ongoing struggle for language equity and the challenges Latino students face in the U.S. educational system. The speaker emphasizes the importance of valuing cultural and linguistic heritage in schools.

How does the speaker connect their family's history to the education system?

The speaker connects their family's history by explaining how their Mexican heritage and the historical context of the Mexican-American experience shaped their educational journey. They discuss how their grandmother and parents faced discrimination in schools and made decisions based on that history.

What historical legal case does the speaker reference, and why is it significant?

The speaker references the Mendez vs. Westminster case of 1947, which was pivotal in challenging the segregation of Mexican-American students in schools. It set a legal precedent for Brown vs. Board of Education, which ultimately desegregated schools in the U.S.

What role did language discrimination play in the speaker's family's experience in school?

Language discrimination played a significant role in the speaker's family's experience. The speaker's parents were punished for speaking Spanish in school, which led them to make the decision not to teach their children Spanish to protect them from similar humiliation.

How did the speaker's high school experience differ from their college experience?

In high school, the speaker excelled as an honors student, but in college, they struggled academically. They found it difficult to keep up with the workload and faced criticism for their writing skills, despite having previously been a high achiever.

What realization did the speaker have about language status in college?

The speaker realized that, while international students who spoke multiple languages were considered talented, students from their community who spoke Spanish were often demoted socially and academically. This led them to question the inequities in how language was valued.

What did the speaker do in response to these educational inequities?

In response to these inequities, the speaker became an educator and founded Mundo Vetta, a bilingual public charter school. The school is designed to create an inclusive environment that embraces both English and Spanish, allowing students to build on their cultural heritage.

What is Mundo Vetta, and what is its mission?

Mundo Vetta is a bilingual public charter school founded by the speaker. Its mission is to provide an equitable and high-quality education that values students' cultural heritage and promotes language diversity. The school fosters a community where students engage in learning through research, inquiry, and empathy.

How does the speaker hope to impact future generations of students?

The speaker hopes to impact future generations by creating learning environments that reduce divide and foster unity. They aim to empower students to appreciate each other's backgrounds and overcome historical language barriers through bilingual education.

What personal moment with their grandmother is significant to the speaker's journey?

The speaker recalls a significant conversation with their grandmother just before she passed away, in which she shared stories about attending Mexican schools and the struggles their family faced. This conversation helped the speaker fully understand the historical and personal impact of language discrimination.