Critical Reading Journal: "Laotian Daughters: Working Toward Community, Belonging, and Environmental Justice"

Reading: Laotian Daughters

One of the key issues discussed in the reading was language barriers which

was related to the event of the explosion at the Chevron refinery in west Contra

Costa County. The emergency response warning systems was projected out in

English only. A majority of the Laotian locals did not understand the emergency

warnings which put them and their families in danger. Those who created the

emergency contact system did not take into consideration the different

languages that were spoken in this community. I believe this situation displays

how higher society really perceives minority groups which is little to no

acknowledgement of their social realities. In our present day, language barriers

still continue to produce problems in our vast multiethnic society. There are

solutions that have been created  to combat language barriers. For example,

maps in multiple languages, translators in the workforce, and the option of

what language to receive information in. Typically the language options are

English or Spanish. Though there are solutions to language barriers, not

every language is included in these solutions. I believe that having a language

barrier is not the main issue. Yes, it can be difficult to handle but I believe the

real issue is how people deal with a language barrier hands on. I have

experienced situations too often where a person  with a minority ethnic

background was looked down upon due to their lack of English proficiency.

The most common phrase that I have heard of is “Why don’t you speak

English? You’re in America.” In my opinion, this is a very inconsiderate

question to ask someone. For immigrants especially, learning a new

language is very difficult and time consuming. Most of the parents and

grandparents of my friends are immigrants. When talking to them about

language barriers, a common reason for them not being fluent in English was

having no time to learn because they needed to go to work in order to support

their families. I believe blaming members of minority groups for the language

barriers causes further alienation of minority groups. This alienation adds on

more issues to the already many social and economic issues minority groups

face.

Another key issue brought up in this reading is Proposition 227 which called

for a monolingual education system using English only. Proposition 227

brought up the question of sense of belonging for those who struggled with

English proficiency which can be many members of minority groups. This

event has a relation to the language barrier problems. Immigrants will continue

to come to the United States and language barriers will continue to persist

causing major issues if the youth of the future only speaks English and will

promote additional alienation of minority groups in America.

Film: Monkey Dance

This film displays the lives of Asian American youth who come from

families that have escaped the Cambodian genocide. The parents of the youth

wanted better lives for their children and really believed in the education

system to success. This community showed cultural hybridity with the addition

of hip hop in the cultural monkey dance. This community also promotes the

continuation of the traditions of their culture in order to maintain their culture

due to the mass loss in the Cambodian genocide and this displays cultural

resistance. In this film, you can see the struggle the Asian American youth

encounter between assimilating to the norms of American culture and maintain

their own ethnic culture. The youth are under pressure to do well in order to help

their families and make their parents proud. Their success will also improve the

communities' perspective of their families which have become negative due to

their siblings going to jail. The model minority stereotype depicts the promotion

for success of Asian Americans as part of their culture whereas the reason for

success being promoted in many Asian American communities is so they can

escape the harsh social and economic realities they live in.