My university has a huge, amazing foreign exchange program. I’ve had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. And while introducing my friends from out of the country to my American friends, I began to notice something in particular. My friend SuJung from Korea, whom I met at a party and got along with immediately, ate lunch with me and a group of my other friends. While at the table, SuJung tried to describe something that she ate. It turned out to be a cookie. One of my friends laughed and remarked, “She doesn’t know what a chocolate chip cookie is?” Understandably, SuJung’s English is limited, but, less forgivably, people spoke down to her as if she were a child. My friends even called her cute because she was struggling to articulate her thoughts using English. Struggling with a language isn’t cute. It’s frustrating and embarrassing.
Just the other night, my mom’s friend, Maxwell, invited us to eat at a Mexican restaurant. The waiter was young and nice but had difficulties communicating with us. Maxwell asked the waiter something, the waiter asked him to repeat himself, and Maxwell said, “Never mind, buddy. I think I’m overwhelming your brain.” Then he sent the waiter off with a condescending pat on the back.
Both of these instances were terrible, and both times I said something. It’s not okay, and it’s certainly not funny. It’s rude. I have sympathy for non native English speakers attempting to increase their understanding of the language, because I’m learning Chinese and it is a struggle. My tutor was young —a woman from Shanghai and she would tell me how awful she felt when people couldn’t understand her, and how alone she felt. It’s incredibly scary to be in a foreign place, and lack the ability to communicate as well as you’d like. And just because someone doesn’t know English doesn’t mean he or she is dumb, or someone who deserves your condescension. If you think otherwise, please — travel to another country and try to speak fluently in a foreign language & let me know how easy it is. Let’s be kinder, folks, especially my fellow people of color. We’re in this together.
Justina Greer is a political science major from Terry.
