Aria A Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood Analysis

The culture we are raised in has a great impact in the way speak, the way we act, the way we view other people and who we are comfortable with. This makes us have a bias towards different cultures. This has been a problem in society for a long time, Richard Rodriguez, in his article “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” demonstrates how in his childhood, about fifty-years ago, kids viewed him in a strange way because of his ethnicity (group of people that have a certain racial, cultural, religion or other traits in common.) and language. “Walking down the sidewalk, under the canopy of tall trees, I’d warily notice the (suddenly) silent neighborhood kids who stood warily watching me nervously, I’d arrive at the grocery store to hear their
sounds of there the sounds of the gringo, reminding me that in this so-big world I was a foreigner.”(Rodriguez 658). The problem of cultures having perceptions is still going on today, because of the so many different cultures and biases in them, Donall E. Hall in his book “Literary and Cultural Theory” (chapter 9) he states, “racism (the differential treatment of people based on racial identity) and ethnocentrism (the viewing of one’s own ethnic groups perspectives as universally legitimate and appropriate for all) have been thoroughly entrenched in language, literature, art and social institutions.” (Hall 265) meaning that our culture determines who we are; and it determines it with our way of speaking (language), written production (literature), our creative skills (art) and ruled-governed behavior (social institutions).
Usually the culture we are part of gives us our identity and makes us who we are.
Culture also determines the way we perceive someone and how someone will perceive us, by someone’s way of speaking (language) and ethnic background. Even if their ethnic background is unknown we tend to make an estimation to judge a person. We have to take in mind that this is done intentionally at times. How does culture affect our self-identity? Culture informs perception. Our culture defines our world view, how people view us and how we view ourselves and
others. Richard Rodriguez graduate from Stanford University in 1967, writes “smiling , I’d hear my mother call out, saying in spanish, ‘Is that you Richard?’ Those were her words but all the while her sounds would assure me: You are home now. Come inside. With us.” (Rodriguez 659). He is saying that home was his safe place, away from the people that he didn’t trust or that didn’t trust him. In my own experience this was a similar thing that happened to me. When I was in the second grade, learning to speak english, the kids at school all saw me differently than their friends because of the way spoke and because of the way I looked. My family did not have enough resources to dress me with appropriate clothing and so the children would look at me they saw me with a puzzling face. They were trying to figure me out but in a judging way, and that got to my head. I came from a different culture than all of them. Their perspectives of me were wrong because of the culture views that they have been taught by other people (parents/society). I also saw them in a different way because of their way of speaking and their way of acting, because they were all different than me. Not how I grew up in my own culture. I saw them as just “white kids” who were mean and kids that didn’t understand me or where I come from.The only place I was comfortable in was my house and with my family that had the same views as I did. Donall E. Hall supports this when he writes “Racism and ethnocentrism have been forces plaguing almost every society and region of the world, as differences in appearance, language, and customs have been used to designate groups of us and them (or “self” and “other”), with the unique characteristics of them perceived as a threat to the security and interests of us.” (Hall 268). Racism (the belief that members of each race possess characteristics with abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races) has been used to make groups view one another differently and even oneself, because of racism we as humans sometimes view other groups, “them” as a threat. “Them” being different people, of a different race, or ethnicity.
Racism has been a constant problem for different cultures because of the constant battle for superiority. Being different, coming from another culture, has a great effect on the people around us and their perspective on us, but it also has an impact on our self-identity. In the article “Master of Desire” by Jack Solomon he states, “The nightmare equivalent of America’s populist desire to “belong,” for example, is the fear of not belonging, of social rejection, of being different.” (Solomon 155). I definitely agree with this statement because, when I was young I did see others disparate, but I still had a sense of need to belong. To be accepted in their culture, the society; it was a fear not being understood by my peers because of the language barrier and the cultural differences. This made me perceive myself as if I were subordinate, later on I found out that was not it; but for a while that was my battle. Daniel Munczek Edelman in his short academic journal also writes about the fear his mother had of him being different and not being able to speak the language (English), “My immigrant mother freaked out when I couldn't speak English at the beginning of nursery school.” (Edelman 59.40). His mother knew how hard it would be for him not knowing the language, how the difference of his culture would and could affect him. This article was written in two-thousand thirteen, it is a recent article proving that the differences in cultures are still relevant. His anecdote is essential because he gives background to what goes on in the differences of culture and examples of how culture has perceptions and how it can shape oneself. “My boss, half African-American and half white herself, jokingly called me "half-caste," insisting that I would one day admit that I wasn't totally white.” (Edelman 59.40) This justifies my point that the way we look does have an influence on the way others view “us”. Daniel Munczek Edelman’s boss did joke about his ethnicity because of the way he looked, he didn’t totally look like his other ethnicities and didn’t really involve himself in all the cultures he was from, but that did not make him any less of an “American” or any other ethnicity he defined himself as. This also had an effect on him with how he perceives himself in his own self-identity, the culture he chose to be, or acknowledge himself as. “Checking the Latino box isn't my version of passing for something I'm not. My Latino-ness may be a fraction of my identity, but it is significant enough that I would feel as if I were lying were I to skip it and select just white.” (Edelman 59.40) Some people (bilingual educators) say that the differences in language can cause children to lose part of themselves. This is how language becomes culture. “Bilingual educators say today that children lose a degree of “individuality” by becoming assimilated into public society.” (Rodriguez 664). Losing “individuality” is like losing part of someone’s culture and by not speaking their main cultural language is like losing part of themselves. Bilingual educators believe that it should be something that has to be reminded, language is part of each culture and it should be embraced by everyone because it’s part of everyone’s self-identity. “the bilingualists insist that a student should be reminded of his difference from others in mass society, of his “heritage.” (Rodriguez 664). It can often happen that someone can embrace another culture that they aren’t necessarily from and that is what the educators are talking about when they say they can lose their “individuality”. “At the end of each day I was often bemused, and always relieved, to realize how “soundless” , though crowded with words, my day in public had been. An eight-year old boy, I finally came to accept what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen.” (Rodriguez 662). He started to embrace his other culture when he started speaking the language. This changed how he viewed himself and others. He was no longer the outsider, he didn’t view “los gringos” as a threat anymore. This example shows how someone's culture can be impacted by the other surrounding cultures around them. Although this can happen it is important for someone’s culture to become a part of their their self-identity because it shouldn’t be something shameful. Language in a way becomes culture. Culture informs perception, and for a long time it has been like this, back then and now culture impacts how someone is perceived. Each one of us has their own self-identity and it can be influenced by the culture we come from and live in. It can be changed by the pressure of another culture around us, if the culture around us isn’t the same way as the one we were raised in. To some people it means that a part of one’s identity is lost but it is not always the case, some can just embrace the other identity, but it is crucial for everyone to remember the culture they come from. Each one of us form a perceptions to other culture, and ethnicities.
We always have a bias towards our own culture and ethnicity, we sometimes make ours seem “better” or we view all the other cultures as enemies.
How does culture affect our self-identity? By the way we are branded with our culture, our own culture gives us this identity and since it is given to us then we view and judge other cultures and the people involved with them. That is how racism comes into play. Racism originates from culture and its perceptions. The way we interpret someone when they speak is all our culture and the perceptions in it, all cultures have different perceptions and some can be wrong. A certain culture can not say what is right or wrong in another culture or ethnicity, because they do not have an emic (an approach to gathering data that investigates how local people think in terms of its internal elements) viewpoint. They immediately have a bias due to the etic (an outsider perspective to a culture) approach. They should not have a say because it becomes racism with a
bias.
Our self-identity should not be formed from perceptions of a culture. Self-identity should be what you want to become, something you become naturally, not because of a culture. Obviously culture does have a great effect on how we identify ourselves but it should also be about finding yourself, reaching enlightenment. With no pressures of society and different ethnicities and the barriers of racism, which can cause someone to look down upon themselves. Bias towards outside cultures or ethnicities are not effective to be better people with one another. Therefore, we cannot allow racism to continue moving forward in society.