language

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Last speaker of Native Californian Wukchumni Language

 

Wukchumni is both a Native Californian language and people. They are of the Yokuts tribe residing on the Tule River Reservation.

 

The Tule River Reservation was established in 1873 by a US Executive Order in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is south of Fresno and north of Bakersfield. It occupies 55,356 acres. -Wikipedia

 

“This short documentary profiles the last fluent speaker of Wukchumni, a Native American language, and her creation of a comprehensive dictionary.” -NY Times

 

– Click through for more and [VIDEO] –

 

Source: 500nations.us

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Researching and Writing about Race and Sex – Hidden Power of Words Series, #10

 

Cartoon shows citizens with their heritage split down the middle.

 

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Writing about racialized and sexualized ideas, events, and peoples naturally involves sensitive language. Equally, what is considered appropriate changes over time as one term acquires negative connotations or new language is developed.
For some time now, I almost always use “racialized” or “racialization” instead of “race.” This recognizes the socially constructed nature of how people are raced. People are not White or Black but are raced/racialized as White or Black, for example.
Also, the capital “W” and “B” are deliberate. This helps us remember they are powerful—yet fully arbitrary—social categories.
More recently, I have also started capitalizing the “M” and “W” in cis-Man and cis-Woman because they are likewise powerful—yet fully arbitrary—social categories that are sexualized/genderized.
But getting back to racialized terminology, more recently I’ve wondered over the difference between Black, African American, African-American, and African-American (as an adjective).
First, regarding the hyphen between the “African” and “American,” there are three schools of thought (and the same would apply to “Mexican” and “American”):
1-    some say to always use the hyphen

2-    some say to never use the hyphen

3-    some say to only use the hyphen when the term functions as an adjective (e.g., African-American students)
There is also a debate from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era that looks at “hyphenated Americans” as less than real United Statesians (and yes, “United Statesians” is deliberate – I see ethnical dilemmas with the word “Americans”). This was an era when full assimilation was not only expected but was demanded – but only to the extent that people “looked” and “acted” like a proper White United Statesian, not to the extent that they were granted rights White individuals had.

 

Click through to read more.

 

Source: andrewpegoda.com

 

I prefer the term European-American to White. European-American explains that their heritage is foreign to the Americas.

 

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Students learning English benefit more in two-language instructional programs than English immersion, Stanford research finds

A partnership between the Stanford Graduate School of Education and San Francisco Unified School District examines the merits of four approaches to teaching English language learners.

 

Community Village‘s insight:

 

My daughter has been in dual-immersion (Spanish / English) since kindergarten. She is now in 4th grade and reading English at an 8th grade level.

 

Most bachelors degrees require a second language. It is easier to learn the second language while young. It is an injustice and a frustration to children to delay until college the learning of a second language.

See on news.stanford.edu

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Principal Fired For Trying To Keep Students From Speaking Spanish

 

“A principal who allegedly prohibited students from speaking Spanish will lose her job, the Texas press reports.

 

Administrators voted Monday night to discontinue a job contract for Amy Lacey, principal of Hempstead Middle School, who had been on paid administrative leave since December after reportedly using the intercom to tell students that speaking Spanish is forbidden on school grounds.

 

“When you start banning aspects of ethnicity or cultural identity, it sends the message that the child is not wanted,” Augstin Pinedo, director of the League of United Latin American Citizens Region 18 told the Houston Chronicle. ”

 
See on www.huffingtonpost.com

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Creating Words and Redefining Words – Hidden Power of Words Series, #5

As a writer, I regularly find it necessary to create new words and occasionally to redefine existing ones. I have done this in my academic writing, creative writing, and online writing. I believe w…

 

Community Village‘s insight:

 

I like these examples about paying attention to the suffix of words.

 

“people are not “poor” – they are classed or classized as poor”

 

and

 

People are not slaves – they are enslaved.

 

Saying that people are slaves puts the burden on the enslaved, as if they have a choice in the matter. Saying they are enslaved puts the burden on the enslaver, saying that they have a choice to not enslave.

 

@getgln

See on andrewpegoda.com

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It’s sooooo anooooyyying: Creaky vocal trend part of social hierarchy – Grand Forks Herald

It’s sooooo anooooyyying: Creaky vocal trend part of social hierarchy
Grand Forks Herald
It’s sooooo anooooyyying: Creaky vocal trend part of social hierarchy.

See on www.grandforksherald.com

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Culture of Dependency: Coding Poverty

 

“In America when we speak of poverty we hear terms such as poor and lower class. These words by themselves mean relatively little but once they are coded they take on the connotations such as unwanted, unusable, unable, less than, bad, and/or unworthy. These coded terms then become concepts unto themselves that when used inspire ideas and notions. For instance often when hear about people being poor and lower class we think of them through the connotations attached and we develop ideas such as the thought that those people to whom these terms may refer are in such a place because they are stupid, undeserving, uncivilized, and/or lazy.”

 
See on theangriestblackmaninamerica.wordpress.com

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ethnic contributions

 

“Other cultures are valued only to the degree that they help white people. They do not have value in their own right.”

 

 

Community Village‘s insight:

And how often do we hear about the bad inventions of Europeans? The inventions that kill more people faster.

See on abagond.wordpress.com