Speaking Spanish in the USA

NiLP Guest Commentary

Speaking Spanish

In The Usa: Past And Future

By Frank Gómez and Marcela Miguel Berland

The NiLP Report (May 23, 2018)

Recent accounts of rants against Spanish speakers in public places evince in some measure the lifting of a veil of formerly suppressed anti-immigrant sentiment. The coarsening of public discourse relating to many issues – not just language and ethnicity – is troubling.

Mobile phone videos that capture such rants are rare. Far more common are the unrecorded displays of intolerance toward speakers of other languages, whether Spanish, Haitian Creole or other languages not understood or even valued by monolinguals. Those who harbor such views would be well advised to do a bit of research into the intellectual, creative and other benefits of multi-lingualism. But that is a subject for another day.

Now, the assumption that Spanish speakers are undocumented or people who “got off the boat yesterday” is a sad commentary on the state-of-affairs of these United States. In recent years we have recognized the tragedy of anti-immigrant, anti-ethnic sentiment such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the interment of Japanese Americans in World War II and anti-Mexican laws. Were we not past that?

It seems not.

Well, as for the Spanish language, here are some FACTS!

Spanish was the FIRST non-native language spoken in what is now the United States.
Native Spanish-speakers worldwide number more than 500 million, second after Mandarin and more than native English-speakers.
About 40 million people in the USA speak Spanish, making us the 5^th largest Spanish-speaking nation (after Mexico, Colombia, Spain and Argentina).
Corporations and government agencies communicate in Spanish.
Spanish-speakers account for the growth and vibrancy of Miami and other cities.
Spanish-speakers contribute largely to California’s rank as the world’s fifth largest economy.
Spanish of the United States is shaping Spanish elsewhere (seewww.RIUSS.org).

Folks, demographic change is here to stay. In little more than a generation – by 2040 – we will be a majority minority nation. California and many major cities are already there. And, we ask, are they suffering from the presence of Spanish-speakers? No! Quite the contrary. They delight in a Spanish-speaking workforce that is willing to do the hard work, to sacrifice, to educate their children.

Those who are recent immigrants and may be Spanish-dominant take English classes, encourage their children to learn English and to study hard to become a part of the American Dream. Check out the work of Dallas-based Parents Step Ahead, a model of parental engagement focused on Latinos (www.ParentsStepAhead.org).

The persons whose rants have gone viral may one day find themselves or a loved on in an emergency room, a hospital or an ambulance in which the person on whom their care depends may be a Spanish speaker who also relies on Spanish-speaking colleagues to get the job done.

Speaking Spanish is not just about being customer-friendly to sell more coffee. It is about a strong, historic fiber in the fabric of the American mosaic.

Marcela Miguel Berlandi (mberland@latininsights.com) is the founder and president of New York City-based market and opinion research firm Latin Insights. Partner Frank Gómez ( fragobf@gmail.com) is a former senior Foreign Service Officer, corporate and nonprofit executive and is a veteran Hispanic activist. They speak Spanish and use it in their work here and in Latin America!