"Dear Native Spanish Speaker"

Dear Native Spanish Speaker,

I'm almost afraid to write this. I don't want to hurt your feelings. You were one of the main reasons I decided to learn Spanish in the first place. I remember when I worked with you in the frozen warehouse at Troyer Foods in Goshen,Indiana . I remember memorizing all of the words for chicken and chicken parts in Spanish, pecho, costillas,piernas . I remember sharing lunches with you and the other guys in the lunchroom. You were a such a kind and patient Spanish teacher, except for the time you gave me a Habanero pepper and told me, "¡cómelo-es como un tomate!". I think my stomach lining has finally grown back from that day when I felt like I needed to swallow a fire extinguisher...

I remember the first time I went to Mexico and how everyone was so patient with me and helped me learn more. I always felt like you were happy that I was trying to learn your language and about your culture.

It's been about 10 years since that first trip to Mexico. I know a lot more Spanish, but my accent is still a little rough. I realize that many of you are second-generation immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries. I know many of you are as proficient in English as I am.

But I have noticed something negative about you lately that I need to tell you about. I've noticed this on more than several occasions, so I know I'm not just being over-sensitive. When I come into your place of business where Spanish is spoken, you will only answer me in English when I speak Spanish to you. When you call the call center I work at, and you hear I'm not a native and have an accent, you will only speak broken English to me. You know, it's ok to mix the two languages in order to communicate, no matter what our Spanish and English teachers told us. Some of you have as thick of an accent in English as my accent in Spanish.

Now I know my Spanish is not perfect, but it is understandable. I've interpreted for groups and even spoken before groups of people without an interpreter and have been understood. This is not just the rant of a bruised ego. I expected that you would know what its like to want to learn a new language and have people talk down to you when you try to communicate in your new language.

I can identify with your desire to not be pigeon-holed as only a Spanish-speaker. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishment in learning Enlish. I truly understand that it took a real effort to learn a language that has more words than other languages, is not phonetic, has hundreds of rules and a thousand more exceptions. That said, only speaking to me in English is leading to a different problem.

How will America ever become a multi-cultural society if we only speak English in public? More specifically, if no one is willing to speak to Gringos with less than perfect Spanish,(or Mandarin or Vietnamese or whatever), how will we ever change? How will White America ever change from the culturally-myopic society if you only speak English to us? Gringos will continue to tell everyone "y'all need to speak Amahericuhn only, y'hear?" as long as they are able to walk through their day-to-day world only hearing English as the only language spoken.

The fact that many immigrants only speak their language with each other only helps this ethnocentric ideal of a one-language-one-culture country. Many people in the rest of the world regularly speak two or three languages. They can comprehend more ways of speaking, thinking and seeing the world. If other Gringos were to start hearing their fellow Caucasians speaking something besides English-maybe they would start to doubt this idea. Maybe they would start considering that speaking more than one language is important for everyone, not just academics.

I know this is idealistic, but that does not make it any less true. Real social change in the dominant ideas of a society are not always changed by some large government program. Sometimes the government is the worst way to fix society's problems. The idea that each of us can be the change we want to see in society is still valid. The changes in how individuals relate to one another on a micro-level will eventually cause changes to society on a macro-level.

Sociological gobbledy-gook aside, we need to break down these walls between us and relate like we are all Americans, no matter what language we speak. America is like any physical organism, our diversity will make us stronger and more vital. That diversity is what makes us a great culture. Don't cut off the rest of America from participating in all that the Latino cultures have to contribute to our nation.

Su Amigo,

Juanito