As I reflect on the introduction and the first two chapters of The Skin That We Speak, a single comment sticks out: “I invented a character who wanted to please her teachers and her dead mother”. This comment was from the author in the first passage, Ovuh Dyuh. The reason this comment stays in my mind is because I can’t help wondering how it felt to grow up and feel this way all through high school, which is a tough time to go through because of the battles we face. I felt sorry for the author after reading that, she speaks about being able to create the character because of her acting desires, but I’m sure no one regardless of their desires, enjoys creating a character that doesn’t represent her beliefs in order to do well in school. But then I wonder, when she “played the character” did she still represent her beliefs? They may have because of the way her mother’s beliefs influenced her, she may have felt it was a necessary part in achieving her goals. After she did was she needed to do to succeed in school, and got the job at a television station she described how she had a new opportunity in life and “the chains fell from around my tongue, and my brain began to feel as if it were oiled and moving along…” I wonder if she immediately felt that way. Maybe she did not feel this way until she reflected on her past? I would compare this to my experience during student teaching and other internships within the school system, but they were all in the mountain areas and the only thing I could think about are the students who have the “mountain accents”, and those accents seem to be accepted more so than the language Dowdy was describing.
I enjoyed reading both excerpts because the authors had two different feelings towards speaking the language that was deemed proper. (At least I felt they had two different view points.) I think they were so different because Dowdy experienced success in school and rejection from her peers at times, instead Smith appears to refuse to succumb the pressure. He experiences a lot of rejection from the school system as he was tested for mental disorders and received suggestions to attend the speech clinic for therapy. I think there are families that would be outraged today if their child had to attend separate schools because they scored low in English Comprehension, instead of teaching them at the neighborhood school. Smith makes a comment about his label in high school: “by the time I reached the ninth grade at Edison, I was labeled anti-social and described acting out”. I read this and thought who wouldn’t act out and be anti-social? Based on both stories it seems that both author experienced success, which is amazing to me because after all of the negative comments and suggestions from educators and other school personnel, they pushed on. I hope it is success in their eyes.
Elizabeth Griffin
Comments (3)
Elizabeth-
I would have to think that both authors feel that they have achieved success. They clearly have overcome the burdens they were dealt and learned to function in society. What I wonder is are they both happy? For two are not always synonymous.
I too feel that parents would be outraged if their children had to attend a different school because of their language. Although I know several people where I work who think all Hispanics should go to school together till they can speak the language. Fortunately these people are not the ones making the decisions.
SuSu Watson
Posted by SuSu Watson | January 26, 2009 6:32 PM
Posted on January 26, 2009 18:32
Elizabeth, I too would be outraged if my child was sent to a different school because of the way they speak. Contrastingly, though, what if we had a child in one of our classes that chose and had learned to communicate by swearing at us or others? Would we think that that child was antisocial or perhaps suffering from Oppositional defiance disorder. I think we need to think more about what is accepted now. We would never punish a child for speaking Spanish or scorn a child for not ordering their words correctly like they did in Ernie's story, but what if they responded only in curse words? Just a thought.
Posted by Whitney Gilbert | January 26, 2009 6:57 PM
Posted on January 26, 2009 18:57
Elizabeth,
What a dramatic point you make about students' being segregated if they fail English Comprehension tests -- but it is illustrative of the divisive impulse that schools and society have regarding language! I agree that many students' labels are based on categories such as race, class, and language rather than their true ability. Thanks for such a provocative post.
Posted by Alecia Jackson | January 28, 2009 9:12 PM
Posted on January 28, 2009 21:12