David was an intellectual character, a scholar, and he represents the miniscule part of the bilingual Latino, and also of the Latino who had the opportunity to succeed and become educated. He was able to assimilate into the mainstream society of America, and take advantage of its resources. As we could see in the play, David had no ‘Latin’ accent and spoke fluent english. It was this that made him successful, and not necessarily his capability of managing two languages. The desire to get ahead in many Latinos’ minds is linked with the learning and the use of english, because in a materialistic society, economic achievement rather than linguistic versality is prized. In David’s monologue he recounts his experience with learning english: My mother used to say that was unfortunate because I learned so much english I was unable or unwilling to carry on a conversation in proper Spanish. I had to go back and learn my native tongue all over again. This unlearning of the Spanish language becomes yet another cause for cultural discrimination as the children that have unlearned Spanish under the impact of english, maintain their Spanish only by means of constant cross reference to english. Th result? A bad grammatical, ill- spoken Spanish. This is the reason why not may Latin migrants are capable of maintaining a competent and eligible Spanish and english: “It is very difficult to be bilingual but they can be. But bilingualism is not biculturalism. That is a question of values. No patriotism. Language does not give you cultural dualism that some people assume come with language”. Ruiz bringsforth a very important statement of bilingualism and biculturalism. To Learn english for most immigrants is seen as a tool needed for education, career path. It is a ‘key’ to the mainstream, and to all that the mainstream have to offer (however only to those with a ‘key’). Donald Hata summarizes this topic: “There was a great desire among the immigrants to learn english, not for any great love of country, but for the very reason they came here-to make a buck”.
So What are the implications when immigrants are not educated and are unable to assimilate into the Dominant culture? These people still have to live by a society whose rules and regulations prove that in order to be heard, your ‘voice’ needs to be english, otherwise, you are denied the opportunity to change and advance. Thus, there is a social hierarchy – where the majority of the Latin community has mainly always served as a cheap labor force (agricultural, mining. Etc) “...as a Texas grower said around the turn of the century ‘im all for educating people, but once you start to educate Mexicans they stop working’”. In the play Reyes is an example of the immigrant without a voice due to the lack of English: Go’ no job cos I didn study, just ha to hel’ mi papa wi his jobs, cos money wasn comin... we struggle, no foo’, mi mama made miracle every dinna. Was hard comin to America, you knoh. Mi papa, was a teacha in Puerto rico, scien’ teacha, buh he come here, no job, cos he ha no english...
Here we can see that the social struggle becomes a cycle, which is repeated due to certain aspects: lack of money, lack of education, lack of skills, lack of insight and principles for ‘bettering’ oneself. This cycle is hard to break due to the fixed and static social and economical situation.
In the play there is also a ‘silent’ character whom is Gringito. We can see with him that ethnicity diminishes among non-English speakers as they enter the American mainstream. He was a character who thought that in order to be ‘equal’ in society, the migrant had to become ‘equal’ in culture too. And he did, as Reyes informed about gringito : HA! He smart. He seh to papa ‘I go to english school, no li deh schools in deh barrio, an I len goo’ english, propa english, deh “gringo english”’ (laughs) an he did... his name roun’ deh barrio was “GRINGITO”, cos he tal’ li a gringo, viste?. The fact that he did not want to belong to the barrio school meant he broke away from the cycle and assimilated into the mainstream by belonging and becoming like such. For most people, the more they are accepted into the mainstream economy, the weaker the ties to ethnic language and culture. “It is important always to keep in mind that one of the powerful ways to maintain minority languages and cultures is to discriminate against their users” .Gringito settles the concept that language is not always equated with culture; people who speak a foreign language are presumed also to keep a foreign culture, and that is not always the case: “The basic question is both economic and social. Languages, “foreign languages” if you wish to call them that, survive in the united states until the immigrant groups using them get ahead. They move past beyond language and are concerned about other issues”
Thus the dilemma manifests itself, whether to attack language policy, which is a secondary symptom of ethnic and linguistic prejudice and discrimination or whether to attack directly the political and economic institutions which are themselves the root causes of this oppression.
Andrew Greeley, ‘The Law’ in The new Bilingualism, An American dilemma, p 49, Ed. Martin ridge, University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles California, 1981
Ramon Ruiz, ‘Culture and Economics’ in The new Bilingualism, An American dilemma, p 76, Ed. Martin ridge, University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles California, 1981
Fernando Peñalosa, ‘Some Issues in Chicano Sociolinguistics’ in Latino Language and Communicative behaviour, p 5, ED Richard P. Duran, ABLEX Publishing corporation, Norwood New Jersey, 1984
Ramon Ruiz, ‘Culture and Economics’ in The new Bilingualism, An American dilemma, p 87, Ed. Martin ridge, University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles California, 1981
Donald Hata, ‘Culture and Economics’ in The new Bilingualism, An American dilemma, p 85, Ed. Martin ridge, University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles California, 1981
Stephen T. Wagner, ‘The Historical Background of Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the United States’ in The new Bilingualism, An American dilemma, p 32, Ed. Martin ridge, University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles California, 1981
Ramon Ruiz, ‘Culture and Economics’ in The new Bilingualism, An American dilemma, p 92, Ed. Martin ridge, University of Southern California Press, Los Angeles California, 1981
Martin Cortazzi, The culture the learner brings: a Bridge or a barrier? In Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective, p104, ED Michael Byram and Michael Fleming, Cambridge university Press, Cambridge United Kingdom, 1998.
