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Exploratory Writing #4
A. In “Defining Racism: Can We Talk?” Beverley Tatum argues that the way we define words impacts our understanding of our own experience. Define the following terms according to Tatum and then sketch how her definitions change your perceptions of prejudice, racism and privilege.
a. prejudice
b. racism (2 definitions)
c. cultural racism
d. white privilege
e. internal oppression
f. active racism
g. passive racism
B.
1. Describe the linguistic situation in your home town. What languages do you hear spoken? What languages do you see in print (signage, newspapers, newsletters, etc?) What languages were represented in your schools? Describe the language education available for multi-lingual students. Describe the various attitudes that you have heard expressed towards multilingualism.
2. Summarize the data that Portes cites illustrating the continued strength of English as the dominant language in the US.
3. “English Only” supporters construct English and mono-lingualism as the “norm” and other languages and multilingualism as outside this norm. How does this construction shape the debate about language in US society? Given the findings presented by Portes extolling the benefits of bilingualism and the secure status of English as the de facto national language, speculate on the motivation of organizations such as “U.S. English” to continue to characterize multilingualism as a threat to American culture.
