In Gloria Anzaldúa’s passage How to Tame a Wild Tongue, she actively demonstrates the Anglo teacher’s discrimination against her for simply being Mexican. “I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. “If you want to be American, speak ‘American.’ If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (69). This environment creates a sense of unwelcomingness towards those with different cultural descents. 

When I hear the phrase “I am my language”, it really doesn’t mean a lot to me. Since I come from a mixed family where my mother is Dominican and my father is Pakistani, there are complications in terms of traditional phrases. The particular reason for this circumstance is because neither parents communicated within their language to me ever, and I can not relate to Anzadula’s experiences. In my case, I am discriminated against by my own culture rather than an American. I experienced living in Pakistan for a year unaware of the communication techniques of the Urdu language. Hardly any Pakistani citizens spoke English at the location I was residing at. It would be absurd of me to expect them to speak English in their native country! Despite it being a place of cultural familiarity, I still felt unconnected with my cultural roots. I eventually found a way to enjoy common interests with my non English speaking relatives like movies, music and sports. Us human beings do not need to have a common language in order to understand one another.

I believe my mixed heritage does not define who I am. Although I am unable to provide information about phrases or words that only my culture can understand due to my unfortunate illiteracy, my mother has educated me on how Latina/o immigrants faced discrimination to the point where they must create their own sense of home within the states. It is also to my understanding that diasporic cultural practices are to demonstrate to the larger community the affirmation of belonging as cultural citizens. According to my mother’s experiences with being treated with disrespect, violence, and seen as a threat to others,  the diffusion of migrant Latina/o communities arose in cultural and religious rituals to help them maintain connections to their historical backgrounds. If I were to choose ONE phrase that outsiders wouldn’t know—a foolish example—it would be “gg“. I use this term amongst other teenage friends regardless of our cultural backgrounds when we win a game on the playstation. It symbolizes superiority because of the minimal effort to type out “good game”, and its subtle insult to the opponent.