Introduction
Globalization makes people of different cultures converge and live together. However, the striking cultural difference divides people into dominant and minority communities. Minority communities suffer discrimination and may be deprived of their fundamental rights because of their cultural identity. How to Tame a Wild Tongue shares a story of a young girl whose identity of speaking a different language makes her an imposter in American society. Conversely, the assigned chapter discusses outgroup biases different cultures exhibit toward one another. To shed light on the problem of discrimination, the texts of the chapter and the essay examine cases of linguistic and tradition-based intolerance.
Discussion
The chapter and the essay share a theme of intolerance for unfamiliar or underrepresented cultural identities. In How to Tame a Wild Tongue, the concept of language is presented as the critical determinant of a person’s identity. The protagonist’s dialect prevented her from being identified neither as an American or Spanish, making her a minority and emphasizing a need for distinct identity qualifiers. One such qualifier later became the Chicano Spanish. According to Anzaldua (1978), “Chicano Spanish sprang out of the Chicanos’ need to identify ourselves as a distinct people” (p. 36). This way, language is a cultural construct necessary to form a shared collective identity. The chapter, on the other hand, represents the phenomenon of outgroup bias. As implied in the reading, outgroup bias can be described as a judgmental projection of one’s cultural values on the members of other groups. The two concepts relate as they both directly connect to the issue of diverse cultural identities. While the essay focuses on the hardships of finding authentic identity as a minority, the chapter examines how people project their cultural values onto outgroup individuals.
Conclusion
As globalization increases and people from different cultures continuously live together, they must understand the importance of language and culture and observe the verbal and non-verbal cues required for identity. The cultural aspects that divide people based on ethnic origin, customs, and language are significant causes of discrimination. Segregation based on culture may make minorities feel inferior to the cultural majority, lowering their quality of life. Being vocal on the issue of intolerance is required to eradicate prejudice and unfairness across cultures.
Reference
Anzaldua, G., (1987). How to tame a wild tongue [PDF document]. Web.