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Summary Of The New Classroom Policy At English High School

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As the child of two first-generation immigrants, I’ve witnessed harassment against my family and me for who we are and our culture. The rise in hate crimes against people of color is something imperative that we should be fighting to abolish. Despite the countless fights and protests for our rights and lives, nothing seems to really have that much of an impact. Hate speech and crimes continue to this day. In Espada’s “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, he’s seen fighting strongly for Spanish in many ways. This fight is something we should continue not only for Spanish but for other languages and cultures. Learning the public language will always be something beneficial. However, culture, language, and our voices are things to …show more content…

In his essay, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, Espada speaks about his time at META, a non-profit, public-interest law firm specializing in bilingual education. He was involved in a protest at the State House about a bill that was introduced in the Massachusetts legislature to make English the state’s official language. As he was waiting to make his speech, Espada noticed a man racing out of the State House. Reflexively, he spoke in Spanish, “‘¿Cómo estas?” He (the man running out) squinted with rage, then threatened to rip my tongue out for talking to him in Spanish,” (Espada, 88-90) Espada, still shaken, found himself speaking to the audience about what had just happened rather than reciting poetry, “‘That’s what they’re trying to do to all of us... He can rip my tongue out if he wants. But it won’t work, porque yo hablo español con el corazón (because I speak Spanish with my heart).’” (Espada, 96-99) Espada, who was only there to recite poetry, became the victim of hate speech. This encounter is just one of many similar encounters that happen daily. The more incidents like these spread, the worse lives for people of color will be. Like Espada says near the end of this excerpt, “...like the crazy uncle at the family dinner table yelling about independence or socialism, we must refuse to be silenced.” (Espada,

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