Blog #3 Aria

In Aria by Richard Rodriguez, he argues that to achieve public individuality one must  assimilate into the current cultural norms. Assimilation into the public society requires a diminished sense of private identity.

Rodriguez makes this argument by connecting it to his own life. He was born into a spanish speaking family in an english speaking culture. At a young age he had to fall back onto his family members for outside support since, not many people around him spoke spanish. He felt that this made his family close. However, the educational institutions in America required him to speak English in school and home settings. His parents were forced to speak english at home so that Rodriguez and his siblings could flourish in school. As time went on, Rodriguez surpassed his parents level of english. English had become his primary language. The disconnect no longer came from the public to Rodriguez but from his own family to himself. Since his parents knew less and less english, they spoke to each other less and less. Rodriguez was forced to assimilate to America’s cultural and institutional norms. This assimilation revoked his private identity as a spanish male, distancing him from his family members and first language.

Rodriguez’s main point is to show the injustice in forcing children to assimilate into the inferior culture. His family life was changed dramatically and he had lost his sense of personal identity.

I think Rodriguez’s situation can be traced back to Lisa Delpit’s article, The Silenced Dialogue. Delpit discusses how the inferior cultures control what is being taught. A great quote from her article states,

“This means that success in institutions—schools, workplaces, and so on—is predicated upon acquisition of the culture of those who are in power. Children from middle-class homes tend to do better in school than those from non-middle-class homes because the culture of the school is based on the culture of the upper and middle classes—of those in power.”

This quote represents the power someone born of the American culture has within the institutions. On the other hand, it shows how someone born of a different decent may have trouble within these institutions. Rodriguez is a great example of this! He was a spanish speaking child trying to succeed in an english speaking world. He struggled to feel comfortable within school, talking to students, and participating in class. His english didn’t level up to his peers and he was required to attend daily tutoring sessions. Rodriguez was forced to assimilate into the institutional culture in order to succeed. In doing so, he had to remove himself from his family and spanish culture.

Delpit believes to fix this issue we must teach with the students not to the students. A great way of doing this is through bilingual schools. A Bilingual Boost by Jim Pierce, informs readers on the schools offered in Rhode Island that have a full immersion curriculum. Students are taught through their language spoken at home and their language spoken at school. These schools are a great way for students to assimilate into the public society as well as, keep their private identity. This is truly a remarkable advancement in teaching for every student.

Rodriguez argues that to assimilate into the public society one must give up their personal identity. This is an issue in the institutions giving privilege to the inferior culture and a lack of opportunity to the subordinate culture. However, the implications of Bilingual Schools are changing this issue. Curriculums are being made to work with the students rather than against the students.