[lbo-talk] U.S. Racism & the Spanish Language

[Carrol Cox]

Ravi: "I am not sure this is true of India. This (http://l.ravi.be/wytbXb)
ToI article says 125 million Indians list English as a language (primary,
secondary, etc), which is a far cry from virtually everyone (1.x billion
counting children). On the other hand, English is highly integrated into
local languages making it possible to communicate with a large number of
people in cities on simple matters. I would also consider English a
near-native language in India. The language has been in use for 250 or more
years, it is the official language of India, and the language used (among
others) in many forms, road signs, etc."

Ravi is usually a bit more cohrent than this.

The issue concerns SPANISH, which is a major _American_ (Yankee) language.
In other words, this nation is a bilingual nation, and Spanish is one of its
two languages.

But racism prevents that fact from being recognized, and for that reason
schooling is not bilingual FOR ALL, from the beginning.

Check out the outrages going on in Arizona. The situation there is as bad as
Jim Crow was in the South. _Overt_ racism, personal racism, is at present
(reference Latinos) as much of a problem as structural racism.

You simply cannot begin to understand the U.S. unless you grasp the
continuing centrality of racism.

Carrol