Sophia Zeitz 2-5-16

Advanced College Essay

Essay 1 draft 1
Professor Souffrant
How to Tame a Wild Tongue?
America is home for many people from different national origins. The U.S it known as

the “land of the free”, for its laws of guaranteeing freedom of religion, freedom of speech and

that all man is created equal. The country also has a growing multiracial identity movement, and

it has been proven that in 2008, 2.3% of the population is made up of multiracial Americans.

These are people who don’t identify with just one race or one ethnicity, but rather a combination

of the two. For example, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans.

Mexican Americans or Hispanics make up the largest ethnic minority in the country. They are

very racially diverse and as a result form an ethnic category instead of a race. There are many

different categories which include, Chicanos, Latinos, Mexican Americans, and many more. In

Anzaldua’s essay she addresses the struggles with identity, language and respect that Chicanos

face. Which makes me wonder, how exactly does one identify as group? How does language

affect someones identity?

In Gloria Anzaldua’s essay, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, she addresses the difficulties

both cultural and social that Mexican Americans faced, while living in the U.S. Anzaldua

focuses on her culture, Chicanos, and discusses the struggles as a diverse group they

encountered. A Chicano is a U.S citizen from Mexican decent and is often looked down upon by

other Latinos as a “bastard language”. Chicanos struggled immensely throughout the years with

the struggle of identification, who they are and their origin. In Anzaldua’s essay, she addresses

the various issues with identity and identification that the Chicanos faced as a population. One

issue that she was immensely passionate about was the issue of criticizing one’s language and

how that affects the individual themselves. She calls this linguistic terrorism. Anzaldua strongly
believes that there is a connection between language and identity. The author writes “Ethnic

identity is twin skin to linguistic identity- I am my language.” (Anzaldua 8) This shows that

Anzaldua strongly believes that language is what defines you the most. And by criticizing one’s

language you are criticizing their identity as well.

The Gloria E. Anzaldua foundation helps give a clearer definition of what this terrorism

is. They write that “the way a person speaks also illustrates who they are and is intertwined with

their identity. Ethnic identity is a twin to linguistic identity, therefore the critique of one's way of

speaking also criticizes who the individual is. Not only does language shape individuals but it

also shapes the environment.” (The Gloria E. Anzaldua Foundation) Anzaldua defines linguistic

terrorism as an attack on the individual to shape what is acceptable and what is not, this also

creates hierarchy. The act of this terrorism is taking away an individuals identity. Anzaldua

writes “if you want to be American, speak American. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico

where you belong. I want you to speak English my mother would say… All Chicano students

were required to take two speech classes. Their purpose: to get rid of our accents.” (Anzaldua 3)

This quote is an example of how Anzaldua was a victim to the linguistic terrorism. The act of

limiting her language is taking away her identity. Chicanos were always oppressed for their

language, and this made them all feel embarrassed to speak their language, to express

themselves. She writes, “Shame. Low estimation of self. In childhood we are told that our

language is wrong, repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self. The attacks

continue throughout our lives.” (Anzaldua 8) Anzaldua is implying that the act of linguistic

terrorism, does not just impact a person’s accent but also a person’s perception of themselves.

Anzaldua strongly believes that there is a strong connection between language and

identity. “Identity is something that we are constantly building and negotiating all our lives
throughout interactions with others.” (Slideshare.net) What this quote is implying is that the way

we communicate with one another has a major affect on our identity. Ones language can reveal

many aspects of ones’ identity. It can reveal your nationality, culture, and even age. For instance,

the use of a language may represent the national identity of a nation by the sound of your accent

or the types of words you use. For example, if you use the word mate, is can be assumed that you

are from Australia. “Also there is often a particularly strong link between language and a sense

of belonging to a national group.” (Slideshare.net) Usually there is one national language that is

spoken by everyone which relates to the same national identity. In other cases, there is

involvement of two or more languages and often some languages are linked to more than one

national identity. This was the case for Chicanos. In their situation there was not one language

that belonged to them, it was a combination of both, which led to the struggle of others and even

themselves to accept and respect their identity.

Not only is there a strong connection between language and identity but there is also a

strong connection between language and power. “According to philosopher Michael Foucault

language controls because it has the power to exclude.” (The Gloria E. Anzaldua Foundation)

Foucault understands that our society is shaped by languages which in turn reflects existing

power relationships and creates hierarchy. For instance, institutions like educators or bosses

control us by language which then creates barriers by separating those that are in control and

those that are not. Foucault’s idea is similar to Anzaldua idea that society is controlled by

language because it forms a barrier and sense of one is better then another. In relation to the

essay, the Latinos and English are the dominant powers and are excluding the Chicanos because

they think they have the overruling power. Anzaldua writes, “Chicanas who grew up speaking

Chicano Spanish have internalized the belief that we speak poor Spanish. It is illegitimate… and
because we internalize how our language has been used against us by the dominant culture, we

use our languages differences against each other.” (Anzaldua 7) What she is implying here is

because Chicanos are viewed as the powerless language, they too view themselves that way.

Another critical issue that Anzaldua discusses in her essay is the struggle of the

Chicano’s identification. She writes, “Chicano Spanish sprang out of the Chicano’s need to

identify ourselves as distinct people. We needed a language with which we could communicate

ourselves, a secret language.” (Anzaldua 5) Chicanos have struggled with the identification of

which culture they are apart of. “Nosotros los Chicanos straddle the borderlands. On one side of

us, we are constantly exposed to the Spanish of the Mexicans, on the other side we hear the

Anglos’ incessant clamoring so that we forget our language” (Anzaldua 11) This quote helps

depict the struggle of the Chicanos of not knowing which side to identify more to. On either side

they are both pushing for their own culture. Chicanos is most popularly used in relation to

Mexican Americans who want to identify themselves as a fresh new culture. They speak a

combination of Spanish and English; they don’t identify with just one. Anzaldua believes that the

linguistic terrorism she faced created a sort of dual identity. “This voluntary alienation makes for

a kind of dual identity- we don’t identify with the Anglo-American cultural value and we don’t

totally identify with the Mexican cultural values. We are a synergy of two cultures with various

degrees of Mexicaness or Angloness.” (Anzaldua 12) This quote relates to the title of where this

essay is from “Borderlands La Frontera”. The borderland is symbolic of the struggle that the

Chicanos are faced with, the struggle of which nationality they are. Chicanos have realized that

they don’t totally identify with just one, they have shared values from both.

Anzaldua writes that she no longer will be ashamed of who she is, she is proud of her

heritage, and won’t succumb to the linguistic terrorism she is faced with. “I will no longer be
made to feel ashamed of existing.” (Anzaldua 9) She has hope that they will be respected as a

language and as people. Anzaldua’s desire has made progress over the years. In 1965, the

Chicano people started to recognized themselves as a population when a political party was

formed, “La Raza Unida party” and the first book ever was published in Chicano Spanish. “With

that recognition, we became distinct people.” (Anzaldua 12)

Chicanos’ still struggle with their identity but nonetheless true progress has been made

for them as a culture. “Now that we had a name, some of the fragmented pieces began to fall

together- who we were, what we were, and how we evolved.” (Anzaldua 13) Anzaldua also has

hope for her culture, she knows that Chicanos won’t give into the oppression that still exists. She

writes, “we know how to survive. When other races have given up their tongue, we’ve kept

ours.” (Anzaldua 13) What this statement implies is that by the Chicano’s keeping their

“tongue”, their language, it is the foundation of their community. Anzaldua has taught me that

the language we use forms an important part of our sense of who we are- our identity. The

Chicano culture has used their creation of their language as a way to identify themselves as a

distinct culture.

Work Cited:

Anzaldua, Gloria E., Foundation. "What Is Linguistic Terrorism?" The Gloria E. Anzaldua

Foundation. Weebly.com, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016.

Farooq, Aleeena. "Language Identity." Language Identity. Slideshare.net, 23 Oct. 2014. Web. 09

Feb. 2016.