I wanted to post this video we watched this semester because it was extremely impactful as I reflected on my own experiences with language in education. When I was writing my autobiography, I felt stuck, at first, because I only speak English and could recall being very catered to in the classroom. I had a lot of privilege.
But when we watched this video, it made me remember several things.
First, it reminded me of the “Kill the Indian, save the man” mentality that colonizers used to justify their bigotry, hatred, and abuse towards Indigenous peoples in America. Stereotypes and bigoted judgments against BIPOC and people who speak languages other than English have permeated the history of our education system, and I saw how that mentality easily transformed into bigotry against Latinx people specifically in my elementary school.
That was the second thing this video reminded me of — how Spanish was replaced in our curriculum when I was in elementary school for an additional science class instead. I talked about this in my autobiography, and how my best friend who was an emergent bilingual student felt a real lack of representation when that class was removed.
Overall, these concepts that we covered and the memories that I reflected upon have inspired me to advocate for bilingual education programs and cultural studies courses. The ones we learned about in the “Precious Knowledge” documentary, for example, would be classes that I’d be more than happy to advocate for, sponsor, or otherwise support in any way as long as it brought some peace, joy, and enrichment to my students.