Mother Tongue Amy Tan: American Immigrants’ Struggle With Assimilation

Incredible pressure strangles American immigrants, from the moment they step onto United States soil, throughout their struggles to make better lives for themselves, all the way to watching their first-generation children begin to understand their alienation among their stark- white peers. With verbal abuses echoing in their minds, such as, "if you're in America, learn to speak 'American"" and "go back to your own country if you can't handle it here", the understanding of American assimilation becomes clear-conform or experience intense ostracization. Language barriers epitomize the obstacles that those of other cultures must overcome in order to reach true conformity to the American culture, in order to acquire the respect of the masses, a respect which is seemingly reserved for "true Americans".

One of the first criticisms which immigrants and people of color repeatedly face is a common one: "if you live in America, you need to speak English". This has been a widely held opinion since immigration to America began. Recently, I spoke with my grandmother about this topic. She grew up in the deep south during the Great Depression, so, consequently, she does not have a positive opinion of people of color; the environment in which she was raised negatively shaped her judgment of people who are not white. Although these quotes are not politically correct or pleasant to read, they unfortunately demonstrate an incredibly common view of assimilation.

"I don't understand why those 'Arabs' need to cover themselves. They live in America now, so they shouldn't dress like they did wherever they came from. I also hate it when those Mexicans can't speak English correctly. It's so frustrating, why can't they act like the rest of us?" My grandmother's view is the view of many. In Richard Rodriguez's "Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood", Rodriguez himself was one of "those Mexicans" which my grandmother chastises. As a child, Rodriguez was incredibly hesitant towards learning English, since it was seen as the language as los gringos, the people who were continually domineering and controlling over all aspects of his life. Spanish was the language of intimacy and love; he notes that the fierce separation he experienced at the hands of los americanos further demonstrated the intimacy which his family's language helped reinforce.

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Rodriguez considered English to be a public language; he writes that "I couldn't believe that the English language was mine to use. (In part, I did not want to believe it.)" (328). The language used by the public was the language which constantly revealed him as an outsider, and he could find no comfort in it. However, in order to be respected by los gringos and to see himself as an American citizen, he had to overcome his premonitions regarding Inglés, and truly assimilate into the American culture. He reflects that "the social and political advantages I enjoy as a man result from the day that I came to believe that my name, indeed, is Rich-heard Road- ree-guess." (334). In order to be treated with dignity by the majority, he had to renounce his identity as a minority; this, unfortunately, directly contrasts with the supposedly fundamental American belief that "all men are created equal". In fact, in order to be treated as an equal, all men must conform to the white standard.

In her essay, "Mother Tongue", Amy Tan describes her mother's relationship to English, how many people saw her mother's English as "broken", and how others' perception of her mother therefore negatively warped Tan's perception of her as well.

"I had plenty of empirical evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her." (419).

This is an exorbitantly commonplace occurrence. Rather than treating all customers with identical quality of service with the view that all people are equal, immigrants and people of color without a perfect fluency in English are frequently pushed aside for those who are more easily understood. Tan notes that many believed her mother's "broken" English "reflected the quality of what she had to say" (419), and consequently treated her as though she didn't deserve their attention.

People of color and immigrants in America have had to scale these hurdles for generations. In the upcoming movie, "Hidden Figures", one of the main characters - a female, black scientist for NASA - expresses, in relation to white men, "Every time we get a chance to get ahead they move the finish line. Every time." This quote illustrates the struggle which people of color face in regards to their acceptance as a "real American"; in many cases, they can fulfill, or even succeed, the expectations laid out by white people, only to continue to face criticism merely for being a person of color in a white world.

When Judith Ortiz Cofer, a Puerto Rican writer and poet, was mistaken for a waitress, rather than a professional in a restaurant in which she was reading her poetry, she reflected that "it reminded me of what I had to overcome before anyone would take me seriously" (108). In this essay, "The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria", Cofer illustrates the American Latina stereotype of a "whore, domestic, or criminal" (109). She understands that in order to be treated with the same respect and given the same equal treatment as a "true American", she must put in exceptional effort to break through this stereotype set in place by those who consider themselves to be "true Americans".

A majority of Americans view themselves as open-minded and accepting of all people, regardless of race, yet those in the racial minorities express that this is not always the case. In order for immigrants and people of color to truly be treated with respect for their "unalienable rights", those who are in the racial majority must take the time to understand the perspective and struggles of the minority. Those who identify as an American are a real American. Language barriers and attitude towards assimilation do not define what it means to be an American; true, undeniable respect for equality is the definition. In order for all to achieve the American Dream or experience American principles, everyone must put in the effort to uphold these values.

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