Mother Tongue, Se Habla Espanol, And At This Academy

In this paper, I will discuss how articles, a “Mother Tongue,” “Se Habla Espanol,” and “At This Academy, the Curriculum is Garbage,” are similar and different in many ways within violating equal rights. These essays have a common connection with people not being treated equally because of their occupation or culture, but equal rights are expressed differently in each article. The concept that every person is to be treated equally by the law is having equal rights. A “Mother Tongue,” is about how Tan’s mother speaks “limited English” which made it challenging for Tan and her mother because others started to judge and treat them poorly. “Se Habla Espanol,” was to express to other minorities that it is ok to embrace your heritage in a world
Some people would judge her by her appearance and assume she could speak Spanish, but people would soon realize that she could not. Barrientos writes, “In class, I will sit across a table from the “native speaker,” who will wonder what to make of me. “Look,” I’ll want to say (but never do). “Forget the dark skin. Ignore the obsidian eyes. Pretend I’m a pink-cheeked, blue-eyed blonde whose name tag says ‘Shannon.” Barrientos felt that she did not have the same rights as other Latinas since she could not speak the Spanish language. To her, the language was the glue that held the culture together and made a connection between them, and this was something that she could not share with them. She wanted to explain to everyone the reason why she could not speak Spanish, but she didn’t feel like having to explain herself every time she met someone, Barrientos writes, “Should I explain, the way I have to half a dozen others, that I am Guatemalan by birth but pura gringa by circumstance?” Her parents wanted her to be able to fit in America and to be treated equally, so that is why they did not teach her Spanish in her household. Barrientos writes, “My parents (a psychology professor and an artist) wholeheartedly embraced the notion of the American melting pot. They declared that their two children would speak nothing but inglés. They’d read in English, write in English, and fit into Anglo society beautifully.” Since her parents tried so hard for Barrientos to be accepted in America, I guess they did not think about her being accepted into her