Speaking Spanish is seen as a problem to be erased. But in Puerto Rico it is key to our success, say Jeffrey Herlihy-Mera and Héctor José Huyke
During the Civil War, the US Congress provided free land to civilian colleges that offered military training. The university system also projected “soft” government power in territories and states by implementing US holidays, icons, festivals, flags, monuments, working patterns – and English-only programmes.
In Puerto Rico, a US territory, the intrusion of English is key. The imperial structure links English to everything the future holds. It is the language of upward mobility, so to choose Spanish is interpreted as an abandonment of aspiration. Even the rebellious spirit is faced with an extreme choice: English or failure.
Speaking Spanish is seen by the US academy as a distraction, a problem, something to be erased by “inclusion”. Scholars who use Spanish are an awkward quandary rather than people with experiences, abilities and intellects that enrich their communities and expand the limits of knowledge. This is how you colonise a mind.
Hence, the bilingual approach of the University of Puerto Rico’s 11 campuses is tolerated by US “best practice” merely as a transition step. The colonial model demands that assessment, leadership and literacy itself ultimately be filtered exclusively through English.
Already, if we want accreditation, inclusion, research funding or student financial aid, we must apply in English. Even humanities agencies impose this imperative. If a human being sends an application in Spanish to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) or the American Council of Learned Societies – never mind the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation – it will not be reviewed. Such agencies, in effect, refuse to recognise that we exist.