This is why we fight...

[sabrarosa]

For anyone who thinks I'm exaggerating when I talk about the backlash against Latin@s, here's a little something for ya:

Arizona Expands Its Discrimination: Teachers With Heavy Accents Can’t Teach English, Ethnic Studies Are Banned

Arizona’s supporters of the state’s draconian new immigration law insist that it has nothing to do with race and isn’t

Comments

[kierthos]

Willkommen nach Arizona. Papieren gefallen, bitte.

[sabrarosa]

*starts getting her brown star ready to sew on to her clothing*

[kierthos]

Silly, it's a sombrero. Or burrito.

[sabrarosa]

I look stupid in hats. And I don't feel like eating a burrito. Keep it up and I'll throw some hot spaetzle at you. :P

[chiller]

Oh, FFS. Teaching a kid to speak English with an accent is ... well, for god's sake, we ALL speak English with an accent. The only person who doesn't, technically, is the Queen, because it's her language. These people need to GTFO.

[sabrarosa]

I would like to wield you as a weapon against AZ, ok?

[chiller]

Certainly. I do think they need to realise that there is no such thing as unaccented English. Have none of these fools seen Pygmalion?

I'm not saying the kids shouldn't also be exposed to examples of local American-English accents, but you really couldn't send a clearer signal that those danged Spanish-speakers are socially undesirable, and we don't want Our Kids Sounding Like Them, if you tried.

[sabrarosa]

Exactly. When that asshole talked about why they wanted to pass the law, it was rather telling that he mentioned teachers who spoke with Latin American accents. They aren't worried if they're from east Texas and need a translator. They're just worried about all those damned Messicans.

[sabrarosa]

Throw some bubbly in there and you've got yourself a deal!

[tigron_x]

If kids are learning an incorrect pronunciation, that's a problem -- regardless of race or language. However, if only Latinos are being targeted by this, why is that?

It seems like they're trying to indoctrinate them.

[sabrarosa]

See my ETA.

In the minority maybe, but...

[soubrettic]

As a person who has studied a bunch of languages, I think there should be no place in the public school system for teachers of any second language who can't speak the language in question grammatically and with a good accent.

Native speakers can do fine with an English teacher who speaks grammatically correct English with a foreign accent... but when you're acquiring a new language, it's hard enough to train the ear without also having to later unlearn someone else's poor pronunciation. Difficulty speaking the dominant language is penalizing enough -- that burden is not something ESL students should have to contend with

Re: In the minority maybe, but...

[sabrarosa]

You're kind of missing the point here. This is most definitely not about people being worried abut kids' grammar as I mention in my ETA. This taken along with the other BS coming out of AZ is very much about racism aimed at people like me and I am angry about it. It's personal.

Re: In the minority maybe, but...

[soubrettic]

I'm talking about accent not grammar myself. But I get the personal thing so I'm stopping here.