Being Hispanic

In this day and age, it is sad to see people still having difficulty accepting different cultures.

I am from Hispanic descent. My father and his family are from the Dominican Republic. My mother was born in New York, but her parents are also from the Dominican Republic. I was born in New York, but was raised there and in the Dominican Republic, so I was brought up speaking two different languages simultaneously, English and Spanish. My “native language” is both of them.

I have watched “What Would You Do” enough times to know that there are actually people out there that are against people speaking other languages in the United States. I was taking a sociology class in college, and we watched several of those episodes, so when the professor asked questions, he always wanted to know what my opinion on the situation was since I am a hispanic. I said that I was waiting for something like this to happen to me in real life, because I was ready to put someone in there rightful place.

Well, something did happen to me, and when it came down to it, I was way more calm than I thought I would be.

I am currently in school to become a licensed practical nurse (LPN). I was sitting in my chair, on the phone with my sister-in-law, whose native language is Spanish, and we were just talking about how our days were going. We were on our lunch break, and I was being respectful of the other people in the class and was almost whispering into my phone so it wouldn’t bother anybody else.

The girl sitting next to me decided that it was not okay for me to speak my “native language” in America. Her literal words were: “You cannot be speaking your native language in America.” I was baffled. My friend who was sitting next to her looked at me in shock. I opened my eyes like an owl and said, “I’m sorry, what?”. She proceeded to say, “I cannot concentrate on my med math because you are speaking your native language. You cannot do that.”

My next words were: “Well honey, you are going to have to move out of the country, because welcome to at least 75% of America.” The conversation went on as she said “Well, that is just rude, because I don’t know if you are talking about me.”

I was very surprised with myself, because I thought I would react way worse. I kind of brushed it under the rug, and kept on with my day.

There is another girl in the class who is from Puerto Rico, and she is also fluent in Spanish. Both of these girls (the one from P.R., and the one that sits next to me) are in the same lab group, so I texted her and asked if she ever spoke Spanish in class. She said “a little, why?” I explained to her what had happened and she was very surprised.

At one point, we were going on break, and my Puerto Rican friend stood up and said “Que pasa?” to which I replied, “Nada!”. As I stood up from my chair, the one sitting next to me called me a ‘b!tch.’ That was where I drew the line.

Remember, we are in this class to become professionals. Professionals in an industry where not all people are going to be English speaking. I know this because I am a medical interpreter, and I know the demand we have for Spanish speaking patients. So, what is going to happen when she is working and a patient who does not speak English walks in? Is she going to refuse to take care of them because “this is America and we are not allowed to speak our ‘native’ language here? What even is America’s official language?

It is very depressing and disappointing that we still live in a society where we are being judged and discriminated against because of our culture.

Please be kind to others. Be respectful to everyone.

Respect for the rights of others is peace. -Benito Juarez.