What is Mock Spanish?
EDUC 575 | By: Ben Marklin
Why is it so Important to Cultural Appropriation?
Have you ever been at a Mexican restaurant and seen a white person try to order and talk to their server in Spanish, even though it is obvious they are not fluent and see it more as a joke? If you are not Latinx, have you ever spoken a very whitened version of the words “ay caramba, loco, gracias, de nada” or any other Spanish word? This use of the Spanish language by people who know nothing of it and are not actively trying to learn is called mock Spanish. Mock Spanish is the instance of white people speaking Spanish in the context of their daily lives, even if Spanish is not their first language and they have no connections to Latinidad whatsoever. It is an incredibly detrimental thing to the Latinidad community, as many times it degrades and belittles those who do actually speak Spanish and participate in Latinidad.
Language is such an important part in feeling connected to one’s culture and family, especially in the Latinx community. According to Lina Palancares’ “Spanish and the Construction of Latinx Identity,” “language is the tool with which speakers are able to create and negotiate their identities with others.” This means that many people, no matter what culture or language they speak, can find some part of their identity in the language they speak. It allows them to communicate and be a part of the lives of others who speak the language, helping them to feel more connected to those around them because they have something in common. But inversely, not being able to speak Spanish, while it is a very helpful part of connection, will not keep people from being a part of Latinidad. In regards to this, Palancares says “a Spanish speaker does not stop being a Spanish speaker when they step into a classroom and instruction occurs in English.” In this quote, she insinuates that you can’t simply lose your Latinidad connections once you begin to learn English and use Spanish less, even if it may hinder your connection to the culture.
Due to the fact that language plays such a huge role in feeling connected to one’s culture and family, mock Spanish can easily be taken as non-Spanish speakers making fun of Spanish and Latinidad rather than having respect for it and trying to learn it. It is incredibly degrading to hear one’s language, which represents their culture and family, purposely spoken with a bad English accent behind it and then laughed about by the white people speaking it. Mock Spanish has become a huge part of the American English vocabulary since it is used so much by non-Spanish speaking Americans. I hate that a language so many different people in the world speak, is something that can be made fun of by American non-Spanish speakers so much that it becomes normal vocab. For instance, I know I have heard many people say loco when calling someone crazy or “I’ll see ya mañana” when leaving a group of people. In my own life, I see this regularly with my dad and a lot of the people I knew growing up. I grew up in a majority white and southern town where the local Mexican restaurant was one of the top places to eat around town. Every time my family (or many other families) goes to the restaurant, my dad or other people will try to speak in Spanish to the servers even though they do not know any real Spanish and end up making the server uncomfortable. This small use of Spanish in everyday language as something to be funny and make other English speakers around them laugh is incredibly embarrassing for Spanish speakers and degrades and belittles their language and life experiences.
Mock Spanish has become such a huge part of American societies as white, non-Spanish speakers find it hilarious to try to use a language they do not understand and have no connections to. It is something that I think needs to be addressed in society and widely understood as a microaggression towards Latinxs. To combat the problems that come with mock Spanish I think the first thing we need to do is acknowledge mock Spanish as a racist microaggression and teach about it to those who use mock Spanish regularly. Many times the acknowledgment of a problem can help people to understand the issues behind it. I also think non-Spanish speakers should be taught more about the history and culture of Latinidad so they can understand what it is that they are making fun of in using mock Spanish. I truly think the best way to combat mock Spanish and other microaggressions like it, is to raise awareness of these microaggressions so non-Spanish speakers can understand the problems behind their words and actions towards Latinxs.
References
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yuSuq6wOl0mMF3p1Sgw1wR_l7bxKnx9C/view
