It only takes a few minutes to call someone out. But by changing and challenging this normalized language, you can actively work against behaviors and ideologies that are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, elitist, ablist, sizist and overall, oppressive. Language oppression is any word that uses an identity or an identifier of belonging to a certain group (class, race, sexuality, ability, gender, etc.) as a negative or undesirable quality. It 's a form of verbal violence that exposes someone 's privileged view of the world. I believe that linguistic oppression is not fair no matter what language you speak or what religion you are a part of. Different people grow up in different areas in the world which has an influence of the language they speak or accent they have. When I was 13 years old, my family and I took a trip to Karachi, Pakistan. This was where I realized that my form of Urdu was not accepted and stood out in the country where my parents grew up.
The summer of 2008 was when my family and I decided to take a trip to Karachi, Pakistan. I’ve always wanted to visit my parents’ hometown so I could experience how they grew up. Out of the five members of my family, I was the only one born in the United States and I also started the beginning of grade school in America. My two older sisters came to America at a fairly young age. They had also come just in time to start grade school in America so my sisters were also much Americanized. They were raised in America and also spent most of their childhood in the United States. We have a common language we use at home. Urdu is the language in which my parents were raised into in their families in Pakistan. My sisters and I always talked to my parents in Urdu and also when we went to church. Besides that we mostly spoke English with our friends and society in general so our Urdu was much more modern. In the year 2008, we decided to travel to Pakistan so I could experience how my parents grew up and what their culture was like compared to America.
Pakistan isn’t very much like the United States. It is a heavy poverty based country that most people struggle to earn a living in. People in Pakistan take much pride in their culture. They aren’t very welcoming to outsiders and you will stand out if you aren’t a resident of their country. This is where I was shocked. I was raised in a house where religion was a very big deal. We would always go to church on special days and say prayers on time. In my house, culture was extremely important and strict. Therefore, I thought I wouldn’t have a hard time fitting in with the people of Pakistan since my parents raised me as one. Turned out I was wrong. As soon as we got there, people knew that I was from America. At first, I thought maybe it was the way I dressed. Later on I found out that it was much more than that. It was the way I spoke my “home tongue”, Urdu. (Anzaldua 46)
One day we went to the local market. Our whole family stayed together because it is not safe to roam the streets of Karachi alone. We stopped at a toy stand at the market because I saw something that I liked. I told my dad that I wanted it in Urdu. The man who was selling the toy gave my dad a ridiculous price for the toy. I saw my dad react to the price. I thought to myself “why is this guy charging us so much for this toy?” I kept thinking and thinking. Then my mom told me it was because he figured out that we were from the United States so he jacked up the prices. The man selling the toy knew we were from the United Stated and he also knew we had money to spend which to me was very stereotypical. My dad then bargained with the man and finally got me what I wanted. The only way he could have figured out that we were from the United States was when I asked my dad for the toy in Urdu in front of the man. I then learned that I had a more modern way of speaking Urdu that stood out tremendously and was not accepted in Pakistan where most of the people speak it the traditional way.
Another incident happened one day when we went to church while we were still in Pakistan. We had attended church on time. After church was over, my parents took me to a room where all the kids would play games with each other and do different activities. Many of the activities were of ones that I didn’t know about. They were activities where only the people born here would know how to do and play because they were raised playing these games from a young age. Such as if these kids came to the United States, they wouldn’t be so great at basketball or football since it wasn’t brought upon their society at an early age. Anyways, I tried learning the games that the kids my age were playing. I asked one of the kids how to play this game. The kid looked at me and told me to “get lost” in Urdu because I didn’t know how to play the game. And then a couple other kids started laughing at the way I was interacting or talking to them. I understood everything they said. I was very disappointed in the way they treated me just because I spoke differently than them. Instead of saying something and start something big that involved parents, I just walked away and went to my dad. I told myself that “I am smart. I am arrogant.” (Alexia, 42)
These two incidents, which happened about five years ago, offended me greatly. I was not happy with the way the people of Pakistan treated me just because of the way I spoke their language. The Urdu I speak is influenced by American society and how I was raised. People in Pakistan may think I have an American accent but to me it’s just my natural tongue and how I have spoken the language for as long as I can remember. I believe it is wrong to treat someone differently just because of how they speak a certain language. To me, linguistic oppression should be illegal as it basically restricts a person’s view of this world. If someone is raised a certain way and taught a certain way of speaking a language, I believe that we, as human beings, should respect that and not judge them based off of that.
My experience in Pakistan brought me to the conclusion that linguistic oppression is wrong and people should realize that some people come from different backgrounds. I believe that linguistic oppression is not fair no matter what language you speak or what religion you are a part of. Different people grow up in different areas in the world which has an influence of the language they speak or accent they have. My experience has taught me that if you were to come into my country, I would not treat you the same way I was treated in Pakistan. Instead I will respect your culture and the way you speak a certain language no matter what language you are speaking.
References
Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Problem Posing. N.p.: Aunt Lute, 1987. 44-54. Print.
Alexie, Sherman. The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me. N.p.: Milkweed Editions, 1997. Print.
References: Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Problem Posing. N.p.: Aunt Lute, 1987. 44-54. Print. Alexie, Sherman. The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me. N.p.: Milkweed Editions, 1997. Print.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In “The Ways of Meeting Oppression,” Martin Luther King Jr. primarily uses ethos to promote the practice of non-violent resistance against the struggle of oppression. In this persuasive piece, King uses ethos to appeal to the African Americans' sense of responsibility. By encouraging them to step up instead of passively accepting injustice, he is implying that he trusts they can do it. His argument is based on moral obligations rather than the practicality of the issue. His use of shared values or ethos such as “religion reminds every man that he is his brother's keeper,” enables the argument to remain in the realm of abstractness, which in turn remove the human tension. That makes it easier for him to change the attitudes of people, making…
- 413 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Sherman Alexie is a Native American from the Spokane Reservation. He is the author of “Superman and Me.” An essay about how he taught himself to read at an early age and how he advanced very quickly. Alexie learned to read with a Superman comic book. Before he knew how to read he would look at the narrative above the picture and he would pretend to read the words aloud. He would say aloud,” Superman is breaking down the door.“ Alexie learned quickly. While his classmates were reading “Dick and Jane“ Alexie was reading “Grapes of Wrath.” Stereotypically, Indian children were supposed to fail in the classroom. Alexie was one of the few to not live up to those expectations. Alexie did anything but fail. The essay states, “As Indian children, [they] were expected to fail in the non-Indian world.” Alexie told himself, “I refuse to fail. I am smart. I am arrogant. I am lucky.“ Alexie read anything that had words and paragraphs. He read everything everywhere he went. His father bought hundreds of books, Alexie read them all. “If he’d been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation he might have been called a prodigy.” These were the words Alexie used in his story. In Alexie’s adult life he became a writer and now visits schools and teaches creative writing to the Indian children. Alexie is the author of hundreds of poems, stories, and articles now. Most of the children read his stories and write their own, He is trying to save the Indian children’s lives.…
- 294 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Knowledge is power. For Sherman Alexie learning to read gave him the power to rise above the stereotype for native americans. In his essay, “Superman and Me”, Alexie reveals the story of how against all odds, he learned to read, and how it changed his life. He builds a persuasive argument by proving his credibility as an impoverished child and the use of strong emotional appeals to convince the reader on the importance of the difference an education can make in someone’s life.…
- 394 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Confucius once said, "Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. " This concept applies in my life along with Sherman Alexie's. Starting with Sherman Alexie argues Education is vital to make your lift more successful, as well as pulling yourself from the grasp of poverty stricken culture. Sherman joseph Alexie Jr was born on October 7, 1966 into a Spokane Indian tribe. Alexie wrote a short story “Superman and Me” which was published in Milkweed Edition, entitled “The Most Wonderful Books: writers on discovering the pleasures of Reading in 1997 depicting his lift as a native American child growing up on a reservation. “ Superman and me” explain Alexie’s life as an Indian boy. In the first paragraph, Alexie explains that he first learned to read with a Superman comic book. But before he could read the comic, Alexie taught himself about paragraphs and how they relate to the real world. He thought of everything as paragraphs such as his reservation he lived on was a paragraph to the United Sates, his family as an essay of paragraphs, and each family member being a paragraph. He taught himself how to read the text by looking at the pictures, dialogue and pretending to say aloud what he thinks the story might be saying. Alexie learned quickly while many of his Indian classmates struggled to read basic words and vocabulary.…
- 847 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
2. Wilson, Richard and Shaffer, Edward. Reading Comics to learn, The elementary School journal, 66(1965).…
- 3170 Words
- 13 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Cited: Anzadula, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Herencia. Nicolas Kanellos. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. 254-262. Print.…
- 1291 Words
- 6 Pages
Best Essays -
Most people may have some form of language barrier, no matter what background they came from. Difference are what define the world around us. Whether a soft contrast of two colors or a comparison of nations, the diversity shapes our identities. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldúa and “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, both have similar subject as they both discussed how different forms of the same language are recognized in society. They emphasize the fact that a person can unconsciously develop different ideas through a language and categorizes an individual by the way they speak. How can identity be molded by language? Language is part of one’s identity.…
- 833 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
This essay “Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie was about how he learned to read. For Alexie, he picked up the habit of wanting to read from his father. He explains how long before he could even read he would pick up his father’s books and just look at them. Looking at how the books were structured allowed him to grasp the concept of books and paragraphs but it also allowed him to relate it to his own life. He looked at his own life, his family and thought about how they are each like their own little paragraph. The very first time he started to read was with a superman comic when he was a younger kid. Throughout his essay he talks little about learning to read from the comic book but more of how hard it was to fit in wanting to be a smart indian. He felt it was hard growing up because indians didn’t approve of him being smart, they were supposed to be stupid to society. But it was the books, and ambition to read…
- 546 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Sherman Alexie makes his life seem interesting by telling us, in his story, the joy of reading and writing: superman and me. In his story he tells us how he grew up, what he grew up doing, how his life style was, and how he became the man he is today. Sherman also talks about teaching himself how to read. He was a very smart Indian boy who loved to read just like his father did. He stated that he loved his father so much, and his father loved to read, so he said he would love reading too. He was only three years old when he started reading, but taught himself how to read by saying words with the pictures that he seen. “Aloud, I pretend to say the words” Sherman said. When he was able to understand the meaning of paragraph, Sherman said “The words inside a paragraph worked together for a common purpose.” His examples were his house, the reservation, and other family's houses too. To him he could see each family member of his as their own paragraph.…
- 327 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Reading “The Joy of reading and Writing: Superman and Me,” gave me a different perspective of reading and writing. Sherman Alexie, who grew up on the Spokane Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington, explains his life as an Indian boy, and how reading and writing helped his life to succeed. Alexie purposes is to discuss how he first learned how to read and write, his intelligence as a young Indian boy, and Alexie as an adult teaching creative writing to Indians children. Alexie learned not only how to read but to love reading. He used his love of reading to propel himself through the school system, removing himself from the stereotypical to be dumb, quiet, poor, and to fail in life.…
- 665 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Language was not always easy to speak, write, and understand when I first moved here from India. Understanding two different culture shocks from Indian culture and American culture, was surely one of the toughest part about moving to the United States was. Everything was very different from my skin color to the way I spoke English. Every time I passed by people in the hallway, everyone would stare at me because they all knew about “the new girl from India.” Slowly as months passed by I started realizing the difference in culture, lifestyle, and behavior. Looking back before I moved to the US, growing up with a single parent impacted my view in society. My mom always taught me to be the hardest working person in the room. She always told me…
- 410 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Sherman Alexie recalls his childhood memory of learning to read, and his teaching experience in “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”. He devotes his interest to reading. By this way, he breaks the stereotype that Indian boys are expected to be stupid and dumb, and later on he becomes a successful writer because of his endeavor to read. Alexie vividly narrates his younger life by using metaphor and repetition with a confident tone, in order to strengthen his description of his reading talent, his influence to the other Indian boys and how he struggles in poverty to change his life.…
- 828 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Sherman Alexie’s essay, “The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me” describes how his childhood experiences of learning to read and write influence who he is today. He discusses how he learns to read and how his love of reading propels him through school. He talks about the cultural attitudes and expectations that inhibit Indian children from succeeding in the classroom and how these experiences influence his decision to become a writer.…
- 636 Words
- 3 Pages
Better Essays -
In her essay “Oppression,” Marilyn Frye argues that women are oppressed simply because they are women, while men are not oppressed because they are men. To give an example for her claim, Frye mentions that men think they are oppressed because they cannot cry. This, however, is an example of suffering that men might feel, and it is not a legitimate reason to call the male gender oppressed. She argues that men are not oppressed because society does not restrict men with the double bind, while it does for women.…
- 502 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
“The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me”, is written by Sherman Alexie, showed that reading can help children to be success and save their own life like Alexie by his own experience. He is born into a family that is not rich, they could not afford to buy luxury goods. However, since his father is fascinated by reading and book, he bought a lot of book that made Alexie was able to read and fascinated by reading since he was young. He used those book to teach himself what “paragraph” is and how to write.Since he was a child, he is able to use “paragraph” to symbolize his family and the world. Because of reading, He learned to be a person who has good attitude for reading, not like some of the other Indian children.He learned to be different…
- 213 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays