This chapter by Lippi Green explores language discrimination targeting Spanish speaking communities in the United States. By introducing a summarized history of how terms such as “Hispanic” arose to define a massive and diverse portion of the American population, Green argues how individuals with Spanish accents are targeted and systematically punished for being unable to erase their accents, and by extension their identities, to appease their non-Spanish neighbors.
Questions to Consider
- How does generalizing various Latin American nationalities under the umbrella term “Hispanic” impact how non-Spanish speaking populations view them?
- What are crucial traits that provide the framework for what it means to identify as “Hispanic”?
- At what point does the desire to communicate in the workplace transcend connivence and enter language discrimination?
- The College of Wooster requires students to enroll in courses that explore a “Cultural Difference”. How has academic coverage of minority groups in the classroom affected students of said groups, and those who identify differently?