How Heritage Languages Survive

The most familiar type of language planning is associated with language and education. Education policy, an often controversial topic, is only aggravated when language comes into play. We are all familiar with the horrors of the educational policies inflicted on the Native Americans, which when implemented essentially killed their language, or the failures of the general community to understand the Ebonics debate in California. But what happens when a community takes it upon themselves to ensure that through education their language will survive? What resources are needed and what sacrifices result?

Although Mandarin is not considered a dead or even remotely endangered language in the world, it has an unique place in the Finger Lakes region. Linguists would call it a heritage language, and this category still has its own challenges surviving in a monolingual environment. So, how would someone who speaks Mandarin maintain their language in the predominately English speaking Finger Lakes?

The Corning Chinese Association (CCA) may be the answer. Started in the 60’s with only a few families, it has since grown to over 486 members. Meetings began in people’s homes with dinners, but now are conducted at Corning Inc. in more official way. To find out more about the organization I had the pleasure of speaking with the Chair of the Corning Chinese Association (CCA) Cai, Baolin (Paul).

My first impression of Baolin was his openness. It is hard to talk about your language and your community with a stranger, but he willingly shared without hesitation. I got the feeling that I or anyone could join the group and learn a lot.

According to Baolin about 90% of the membership is bilingual. Although the language that the majority of membership speaks is Mandarin, other members may speak other dialects at home. I asked him what language the CCA meeting were conducted in, “a great question” he replied. If the member conducting the meeting sees that everyone in the room can speak Mandarin, he or she will conduct the meeting in Mandarin. But, if they see someone who can not speak Mandarin, then he or she will conduct the meeting in English. Also according to Baolin, there are occasions where he has used both Mandarin and English alternatively, switching back and forth, at various festivals and events.

I always feel a good sign of a language’s ability to survive is the basic services that are accessible through that language. I asked Baolin if Mandarin speakers could access their language outside of the organization. “Yes”, he said, “We have some doctors we can go to and even an optometrist.” In many ways I was relieved to hear this. After living three years in South Korea I knew how important and reassuring it is to find medical care in your own language.

I asked him how important the relationship between his language and culture was…”for us it is natural, many of us come from mainland China, so we can just speak it, but for our children…some parents really want their children to speak it, maybe even force them.” I told him that in the end it was a good idea to make sure the children were bilingual. There has never been any research showing that a child will be harmed by learning two languages, the only research I know about bilingual children shows an advantage.

In addition to donating and supporting to a Mandarin school in Horseheads and working with Kongzi Xueyuan Institute of Alfred University to enhance Chinese language teaching programs, the CCA also runs their own Chinese language school. Currently they have about 50 students and 10 members who can be teachers!

When I asked Boalin why it is important to learn Mandarin he mentioned the general fact that the world is becoming more globalized and in fact China has a greater impact on the world economy, but more interestingly for me, he mentioned that Corning Inc. was becoming more globalized. They now hold Mandarin lessons for workers who want to learn Chinese.

Although the organization has made huge strides in membership, support, and education there are still some challenges. When I asked him to describe the room where they held there meetings, I was expecting him to describe a space with framed plaques or art work, but he informed me that the organization does not actually have their own space. “If we had enough money we would decorate.” It seemed the school, now held in a church, suffers the same circumstances. When you borrow space you can’t make it your own. This is one of the sacrifices that many community organizations make. However, on the bright side, I have found that decorations alone do not make a rich linguistic environment, it is the people. After talking with Baolin I believe that Madrian has its place in the Finger Lakes. For more information on the Corning Chinese Association you can view: http://www.cca-ny.org/

Shifting toward diversity

I have always considered myself as part of the universalist camp, a Chomskyan by heart. I appreciate and value the ability to diagram and break down language into its smallest parts. However, I have started to wonder if this activity is important.

When I first got into linguistics, I saw the concept of generative grammar, defined as an innate set of linguistic principles shared by all humans, as the great equalizer. I still strongly believe that humans are hard-wired to absorb any language, if exposed to it as children, in a very short amount of time. No matter if we hear one or ten languages, we will acquire them with little effort (note: it is common for multilingual children to start speaking later than their monolingual counterparts, but they will quickly catch up later). If one doubts my statements, one only needs to look at their own child and reflect on their rapid language advancement despite little to no formal instruction.

However, what generative grammar reveals about language acquisition also impacts how we view language itself. Since Chomsky excluded the meaning of language from generative grammar, we can diagram any sentence in any language in the same way. As a result, we can demonstrate that every language is composed of the same parts, essentially striping the language of individuality. This has been a very useful tool in revealing how humans can spontaneously create and understand language interactions rather than just memorizing sentences.

However, I fear by not recognizing this individuality of each language we are working ourselves out of a job. Some estimate by 2100 more than half of the current languages spoken will disappear. If this is true, we will have no languages to test our theories. So, we have to ask: should our primary duty of linguists be to simply classify and break down language? If we view all languages as equal, does it matter when one dies? Does it matter that some languages classify knowledge, such as varieties of medicinal plants, differently than we do in English? A pure Chomskyan would say it does not matter. I am starting to think it does.

So, now that I have started to question the view of universal grammar and find myself attracted to linguistic diversity rather than simplification, which makes me feel like I am leaving a church, where do I go? I have found a home in the areas of language planning and ecology.

Linguists have only recently started to investigate the ties between planning and ecology. In contrast to traditional language planning, which often refers to top-down government language polices, language ecology takes a more holistic approach that includes multilingual, community motivated, bottom-up planning. In addition, many language ecologists adopt the concept of linguistic human rights (LHR), which states that humans have the right to access their mother tongue, the ability to fully develop it, and the right to speak it. LHR also includes the right for people to access the official language of a country. A final aspect of LHR is related to language planning where there should be no forced language-shift, or rather a government does not have the right to force people to speak one language over another.

There are strong opinions about language and what languages are acceptable. We as individuals suggest how to regulate language all the time. We can find examples of emotional responses to language in the local chat-rooms where people complain about the language options given for automated telephone services. “Why should I have to push “1” for English? Isn’t this America?”

So, what are the arguments for accepting linguistic diversity? As put forth by Mulhlaulser (a champion of language ecology) there are four points to take into consideration when thinking why we should preserve language diversity: moral, scientific, economic, and aesthetic. First, if we accept the significant decline of linguistic diversity, we are severing future generations from the knowledge embodied in the world’s lesser-known languages. Second, by allowing languages to die, we are loosing medicinal knowledge and theoretical knowledge that could lead to potential scientific discoveries. For example, the study of some Australian Aboriginal languages concept of environment “could contribute significant insights to its understanding by white mainstream scientists” (Mulhlaulser, 333). Third, many will suggest that it is economically smart to reduce all administrative tasks into one language. If you prefer only short-term solutions, this would be a good solution. But, how many people can get jobs speaking Japanese or German? “ In a country with a population of 20 million, there may be room for 10,000 leaders with fluency in Japanese but perhaps not 100,000” (Mulhlaulser, 334). Finally, as with any area, we should value diversity going beyond “need” and “profit” adding an aesthetic appreciation for languages.

I hope in my following blogs to look at the linguistic diversity of the Southern Finger Lakes. If you are a member of a language community in our area and would like to be featured in this blog, please contact me.

Further things to look at and read:

National Geographic’s Webpage on Disappearing Languages
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/mission/enduringvoices/
Terralinga:

Organization that focuses its efforts on lingustic and biological diversity. http://www.terralingua.org/html/home.html

Language Account: A webpage I created where you can learn about language diversity through articles and videos as well as share your language stories http://languageaccount.wetpaint.com/

Native American Cultures Celebrated @ The ARTS

A traditional mexican ofrenda and sculptures by a native american artist are currently being featured in the windows of The Gallery @ The ARTS.

El Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican feast occurring on November 1 and 2, which commemorates deceased family members. The souls of the dead are believed to visit their families at this time of year, guided home by the odors from special foods and flowers placed on an ofrenda or altar. The ofrendas (altars) feature pictures of the deceased, traditional foods such as pan de muertos (the bread of the dead), tamales and mole, and objects such as papel picado (cut paper decorations), sugar skulls, and flowers.   The traditions accompanying El Dia de los Muertos developed from indigenous cultures especially the Aztec, but after Spanish colonization, Roman Catholic elements were incorporated as well. The ofrenda at The ARTS has been created by artists Sandra Luz Lopez Ramos de Perkins, Maria Guadalupe Garcia Salinas de Martinez, and Reyna Sandoval, in conjunction with the El Dia de los Muertos program at the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, 111 Cedar Street, Corning, which will be held on Sunday, November 1, 2009 and includes an ofrenda demonstration, as well as Mexican folk dances and songs. Concurrently, the Rockwell hosts the exhibit, Las Artes de Mexico through January 3, 2010.

The other window at The Gallery @ The ARTS features the work of William J. Underwood, a Native American biologist and wildlife sculptor of Abenaki ancestry. The Abenaki are a Northeastern woodland people skilled in all phases of woodcraft.  Traditionally, they used wood extensively for both utilitarian and artistic purposes.   Wooden decoys have been used for many hundreds of years to draw waterfowl.  To be useful, decoys must float.  The fowl come to a body of water believing that others are resting there and are then close enough to hunt using a bow and arrow or nets.
Underwood’s primary subjects are birds, animals and fish set in their natural environments.  All of nature is part of the great circle of life and held in great esteem by Native Americans.  Many are powerful clan symbols and key figures in Native mythology.  Underwood strives to make each piece as realistic as possible.  His goal is to capture the spirit of each creature in all his sculptures.

The ARTS is celebrating Native America cultures in conjunction with the library sponsored “Big Read”, a program to encourage reading.  This year the “Big Read” highlights Love Medicine, a novel by Native American author, Louise Erdrich.  Please stop at the Southeast Steuben County Library for a complete listing of their programs.

For more information please call The ARTS 607.962.5871 x 222.

Family Stew: A Recipe for Love

            Family, as defined by Webster’s Online Dictionary, is “the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children.”

            If I were a sitcom mom from the 50’s, when the nuclear family was made up of a mother, a father, and 2.5 children, this rather limited definition of family might have served to help my children better understand their place in this world.  But, I am not June Cleaver, nor do I, or my family, fit into Webster’s canned explanation.

            I am a child of divorce, yielding both step-parents and step-siblings.  I am a lesbian raising two daughters.  They are my biological children, but know no father in their lives.  Sharing in the responsibility of raising these beautiful girls is my long time partner of 11 years, with whom I have had a commitment ceremony which is not yet recognized as a legally sanctioned wedding in our state.  My partner has adopted both our daughters, and is as much their mother as I am, despite the fact that they are not biologically related to her.

            In today’s society, where 40-50% of all marriages end in divorce, an estimated one million children in the United States live with adoptive parents, and 6 of our 50 states legally recognize gay marriage, with more to follow suit, the traditional view of the American family no longer suits most of us, challenging perspectives and pushing the boundaries of social and political views that the concept of family has often been held to.

            Legally and politically, I am, for the most part, not deemed worthy, or even worse, perceived as a threat, to the meaning, tradition and sanctity of a legal marriage and all the “perks” of such a union.  I cannot be carried on my partner’s health insurance.  We cannot file joint tax returns.  And we have had a myriad of legal documents drawn up by lawyers, including the adoption of our daughters, to legitimize our relationship, and ensure my partner’s place in our children’s lives.

            However, when we have sought out any type of social assistance (WIC, financial aid, Medicaid benefits) our relationship springs to life, and we are obligated to name each other, claim each other’s income, and share each other’s debt.  I struggle to understand and accept this duplicitous hypocrisy.  And, I struggle even more to explain to my children where we, as a family, fit. 

            What I have come to realize is that we are not defined by DNA, bloodlines, or marital contracts.  Because these things don’t always apply to my family, we have chosen to define our family in love.  The girls grew in my belly, but they grew in my partner’s heart.  We have been fortunate enough to find a school that welcomes and supports us, a church that accepts and embraces us, friends that have become aunts, mothers, Grandparents…family.

            Me, my partner, our girls…we are the meat and potatoes of our family, but we are but a small part of what we call our family.  We are immersed in the rich gravy of our community, tossed together with the colorful and nourishing vegetables that are our friends, our faith, our support.

            We are family stew:  a recipe made with love.

I am Peanut Butter, hear me Roar!

  

 As I stood at my kitchen counter today, making my youngest daughter her typical lunch, peanut butter on white bread…no crust, I recalled how many times I have made that very same sandwich, not only for my daughters, but also for my mother.  It’s a simple sandwich really; very plain, nothing extra, easy to make, and in that moment of consideration, I found myself relating to the peanut butter.  Am I crazy?  Has my life really been reduced to empathizing with peanut butter?

 My name is Kirsten VanAtta, and I am what “they” call the sandwich generation.  I am just one of a generation of adults caring for an elderly or ailing parent, while simultaneously raising young children.

 Eight years ago, my mother was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disorder, with an inevitable death sentence within 2-5 years.  At 56 years of age she was retired, living alone, her children grown with children of their own, and facing the inevitability of her own death.  She had already begun to lose her sight, her memory, and her ability to perform simple daily tasks.  Three years later, my mother was very much alive, but had lost so many abilities, that caring for her self had become a safety issue, which begged the question, what next?  With both my sister and I opposed to a nursing home, my partner set to work designing and building an addition to our home, to move my mother in and attend to her growing need for care.  Eighteen months later, she moved in.

 In a society where our elderly are a disposable commodity I took the road less traveled; the higher road.  I did the “right” thing, didn’t I? 

 I was a life partner, home-maker, stay at home mother to two girls, aged 2 and 5 at the time, operating a small business from home, volunteering at school, running, playing, living…My life was full.  What I soon discovered was that I really didn’t know what full was.  All these roles, by which I had lived and defined myself, were suddenly and abruptly replaced by the all encompassing role of caretaker.  Now, I was tired, over-wrought, over-taxed, impatient, angry, empty, and stretched beyond healthy limits.  It is in this way that I spent the next three years.

 It has been seven months since my mother transitioned into “the dreaded” nursing home.  She is content, taken care of and safe.  Even now, I still struggle to balance the weighted scales of the roles that I have chosen to play, but I see my place through a new, and more forgiving viewfinder.

 As I look back on my experience, I know I didn’t do it perfectly, but I have come to understand that I did it to the best of my ability, and with all the fallibility of being human.  Even with all the loss and sacrifice, I have gained and benefited as well.  I may have lost spontaneity, romance, easy-going days, and time for myself, but I gained immeasurable time with my mom that I would not have probably taken otherwise.  I may have lost my sense of self, but I really found myself too, in many ways I didn’t know existed.  I may have felt alone and lonely at times, but I have gained love and devotion from my friends, and family, that I didn’t realize I already had.

 I have tried, failed, fallen, cursed, wished, hoped, dreamed, fought, cried, laughed, given up, and made it through.  I have come to accept myself as the thick, sticky, nourishing gob of peanut  butter that holds the bread of my life together.  After all, a peanut butter sandwich, without the peanut butter, is just…bread.

The Need for Music Programs (not just schools)

If one has a music degree but has not majored in music education, finding places that appreciate the arts, need your services and will provide you with a salary and benefits can be an interesting journey. There are many places that have the need for some type of music and art programs but, not all recognize the need or see it as a high priority. Many private art or music schools are not able to offer a 40 hour work week and benefits.

Outside of public schools, there are  facilities or organizations that assist needy segments of the general population in realising their full potential. The idea is that these people can either continue to be, again become or for the first time become, a recognized and contributing  part of  society. Many recognize the arts as an  important part of making this happen. 

As far as working in a music program, my (non-music education) music degree has taken me to public schools (as a substitute teacher and pit orchestra player), psychiatric centers, children’s day care, a state prison, skilled nursing units, long-term care facilities and organisations that assist the developmentally disabled population.  Of these,  only public schools appear to mandate music and art programs from the highest levels (though as far as resources go, the level of importance placed on music and arts is sometimes questionable).  The music programs in New York State prisons were discontinued in the early 90’s and to my knowledge have not resumed. The thought at the time appeared to be, “if the public schools are cutting back, why are we financing programs for inmates”? “Lets not coddle these people”.

In the 1980’s, working with a recreation department manager at a psychiatric center, I volunteered to provide a music program for their children and youth unit.  My hope was that the managers would recognise  the success of the program and would provide the resources for their own program. The importance was recognized at certain levels but resources were not made available. (This did result in me being hired as a Recreation Leader in a skilled nursing unit a few years later).  At  skilled nursing or long-term care facilities, the music programs are often a small part of a larger recreation or activities program. Musicians are often hired or volunteer to perform occasionally because it is not in budgets to have someone on the payroll providing a regular music or art program. Some facilities may hire an employee for art but not have a music program. This is the case with the psychiatric center I referred to. It is a similar situation in children’s daycare or preschool. There is often no one person specifically hired to provide regular music programs.  

These non-school organizations or facilities often provide some resources to facilitate programs in music and the arts but, it is often up to the local leadership of these organizations to recognize the need and make the arts a priority.  It may be a large portion of time and resources  at one facility and non-existent in another.

This can be slightly precarious for the  person who is heading these art programs and the people in the programs. If there is a sudden change in leadership, the entire program could be done away with if the new leadership does not understand the importance of the art programs. There are people in management positions that feel the results of the arts programs are not tangible or that there are higher priorities for their resources.

Art itself is interpretive but the idea of whether to offer or require art programs is not. The question should be, how good are your arts programs?  Not, do you offer any art programs?  Fortunately, I have had a great deal of support for music programs as I have ventured outside of the performing and private lesson aspect of my work. There have been times when I have dealt with managers that had little understanding or appreciation for the arts but that has been infrequent.

Artists should always be accessible to people. We need to be ready at a moments notice to “convert” people who may not understand the need for the arts. Any question is a good question because it shows some interest or curiosity. Instead of frustration at having to explain ourselves or something that seems so obvious, it must be looked at as a teaching moment. 

I am currently working with an agency that assists developmentally disabled adults.  This agency makes the arts a  priority. Here, the arts are used therapeutically, to foster self-expression, as a training tool, as entertainment or for leisure and, as a tool to facilitate community inclusion. The finding here is that the arts are useful in many ways and the programs work. 

Music and music programs are needed and useful in may situations from birth through the end of life. There is nothing that facilitates “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”  more than music and the arts. I hope more agencies, organisations and companies begin to realise this and provide the resources needed to develop programs in music and the arts.

Striving For That Fingerlakes Sound!

Is there such a thing as Finger Lakes Music, or that Central New York sound? Is there any defining style for this area? Can you listen to a musician who is from this region and hear it in his or her style?  Do the styles of Chuck Mangione or Woody Woodhull define this region’s sound? (Anyone remember Woody)? How about Orleans who had band members from this area or, Elmira Heights Metal guitarist (formerly with  Overkill) Robbie Cannavino. Spyro Gyra or 10,000 Maniacs? Well, I guess those two are the sounds of western New York or Buffalo (along with Polka music).

Eastman and Ithaca have cranked out some great musicians. Of course the music schools (my own included) give students established repertoire and techniques to develope their “chops”.  But, what will set a musician apart? How do you take the influences of your hometown and family and make that a part of  your sound and style. Certainly New Orlean’s music and musicians have an identifiable sound and there are music styles unique to any of the large cities in the USA.  Many regions claim a blues style such as East Coast, West Coast, Chicago, Memphis, Missisippi Delta. Guitarist Pat Metheny came up with a midwestern Jazz sound. Rochester has some great artists like drummer Steve Gadd but when I hear him, all I think about is how great he is, not if he has a regional sound. 

As a Guitarist who has lived in the Elmira area most of my life and was trained in jazz at Boston’s Berklee College of Music,  I often think about how I got from Hank Williams, Sr. and the Beatles to Miles Davis and Pat Metheny. At 4 and 5 years old, I was actually into Hank Williams, Sr thanks to my father. My father’s Appalachian heritage and love of country and folk would have to be the  first influence along with what ever the television and radio stations hit my senses with. At that time, I remember hearing the Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and Dave Brubeck all on the same AM radio station.  Though I never got to hear him, my paternal grandfather played hillbilly banjo with a guitarist in the western Maryland area before settling with his (my) family in Elmira. If I have a central New York sound, maybe it’s from my maternal side as I often heard that grandfather play guitar or uke while singing old folk songs. This was on his Breesport, NY farm. The ancestors on that side of the family were early settlers of the Horseheads, NY area and their ancestors early settlers of  Auburn. (I have central New York running through my veins!) 

Once in college, I tried to suppress those childhood and teen influences and become close in sound to  jazz guitarists like Jim Hall or Joe Pass. (I am in no way comparing myself to those guys).  This began to change a few years ago and now when I play the jazz standards, I  feel fine with letting a little Appalachia and upstate farmland into my playing.  I guess that comes out a little like blue grass, flat picking, pop over some jazz chords.?.  I know when I perform,  the rock, blues and British invasion influences of my child and teen years has to show up in my playing.

Another influence on my style is the music I must play (or have played) in order to make a living such as the wedding and function band repertoire. As a young musician coming out of college all “psyched” to play jazz, I ran smack into the disco craze and had to make  money playing “Boogie, Oogie, Oogie”  in downtown Boston every weekend. (The syncopated Disco guitar  rhythms did help with the Jazz- Latin tunes, however). One of the first gigs I did coming back to Elmira was  a Country- Western “fill in”  job in a  northern Pennsylvania (Canton) bar with a great bass player who turned out to have played with everyone from Art Blakey to Jefferson Starship to Ray Charles. His partner who sang and played drums was a great guy but can only be described as the son of Pa Kettle. Of course, I said this was northern PA and they must have their own distinct sound. 

 So what is it one thinks of music wise when thinking of the upstate, Finger Lakes, Central and South Central New York area?

I think of HeavyClassicalDance RapRockJazz …and FunkWestern!

Reflections on Diversity in Schools

Reflections on Diversity in the Schools

Accepting and embracing diversity should be better modeled in our schools. In fact, it’s my opinion they sometimes, inadvertently, teach the opposite. How many times have schools told their students such unthinking things such as ____(insert your school name here)___is number #1? It’s a cheap way of trying to build community or foster group identity. But I think it’s dangerous, because it’s the thin end of the wedge. It teaches that our group is unthinkingly good, for no particular reason other than it’s the one you are in. By implication, it defines the group you are not in as inferior. This is teaching racism, rather than diversity.

As a parent, I regularly get mail and other pieces of written communication from a school principal who signs everything with the slogan “West is Best”. To that, I would want to say grow up! Are you saying that East High is somehow not as good? (Was it the US News and World Report that has ranked East higher 2 years in a row?) Are you a professional who puts down your co-workers in the district who work at other schools? What message are you sending about team work in the district as a whole, how you view other schools and most importantly, how you role model for students how they might handle things as adults?

And if that weren’t enough to be controversial and have people dislike what I said, I am going to complain about no tv week in school. It’s a bit like saying I dislike motherhood and apple pie. How can I not like it? But here’s the thing: no tv week (no screen week) seems to be designed for people who have never been exposed to a day without television and would have no way to amuse themselves without it. Ok, those people need a week without it to get over the withdrawal, eat together as a family, learn to play a board game every once in a while or (drum roll….) read a book. Those who participate get an ice-cream cone purchased with money for the program. They also are encouraged to wear odd things at school that week, such as crazy hair one day, tie dye clothing the next, Hawaiian things, etc all week. I am not sure that dressing in crazy ways teaches kids to not watch tv, but it probably gives them something to do for a half hour and something to talk about. How about the ice cream? I don’t know – is it a bribe, sorry, incentive? Don’t worry, kids, you can stop watching TV this week and still become obese. But what does this have to do with diversity, you may ask?

What about the kid who doesn’t want to participate this year because her household already has a lifestyle that includes only limited TV watching and screen time already? Why are the people who run the school encouraging her to give up her not-quite weekly viewing of the educational Nature Show on Public Television that she enjoys with her Dad? And what is wrong with her exchanging one email with her Aunt who lives in another country to try to keep up a relationship in between the few overseas visits that are possible? But the peer pressure is incredible. Why are we putting kids under peer pressure situations in elementary school to make them conform and then we are upset when they give in to peer pressure when they are teens? Are we creating our own problems or making natural tendencies worse?

Now you may be thinking that peer pressure is not the same topic as diversity. Obviously they both have other elements in them, but here’s where it overlaps. If you teach diversity in all the many aspects, then children grow up with the concept that people are diverse for all kinds of reasons, some that come naturally like skin color, sexual preference or race and some that may be chosen such as religion or hair color, no wait are those chosen? Some people choose and some people are born into them. Who knew there was so much gray? (That’s both the gray area of the topic and hidden gray hair, but I digress.) Or is that another diversity topic? But my point is, if we teach children about all aspects of diversity, then it doesn’t matter if the diversity they encounter is what people are born into or about the chosen lifestyles of others they encounter, they will not feel they have to always conform to the norm. I once tried to explain to an art teacher (who no longer works here) that having kids all draw the same burger with cheese on a bun picture is not being respectful to vegetarians and those who don’t mix milk and meat. (I’m not even sure it’s a good art practice for 6 year olds, according to a PTA brochure on good practices of teaching art I had picked up in the same school, but that’s another topic about art.) When she didn’t understand this, how could I explain why some parents are not thrilled to display the offensive artwork a child brings home? You can’t and it’s a no-win situation. Teaching diversity is not what my daughter learned in kindergarten when the teacher seemed to mantra “we are all the same” which had the effect of further alienating those few who did feel they were different. It’s more about what she learned in first grade from another teacher in the same school who said, “We are all different and it’s all good”. Diversity has many different aspects to it, but in the end, we need to work on respect for differences. That’s what we should be teaching, not the clichés of seasonal decorations I am told come from Wal-mart. Who would choose to teach children to decorate a spring classroom with non-biodegradable plastic Easter eggs when there are spring peepers living and growing near the school grounds to be studied?

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program with its global approach should help our schools address some of these issues. We have a certain diversity of students, we have a rigorous new curriculum, now we need the whole school district staff (teaching and non-teaching) and parents (especially those who volunteer in the schools and for after school activities) to challenge themselves to think in terms of diversity, inclusiveness and respect for differences. It is imperative that our schools strive not to reflect the mediocre norms of society but to mirror the highest ideals that the world can offer the children. And in what better place can you expect to have a well-built mirror than here in the crystal city?

The Gospel Truth

A friend of mine and I were talking about music and the friend happened to say, “And who doesn’t like gospel music?” At the time, I agreed that it is widely enjoyed. But I kept mulling over the conversation in my mind in the days to follow. I do like gospel music. Sometimes. I like the feeling of it, the sound of it, the sometimes abandon of letting it all out and singing it, like you mean it. But the problem for me is, I don’t mean it.

I am not a Christian, living in a town where it seems many are or many claim to be one form of Christian or another. I am not a Christian in a town where many don’t really understand why I object to an assumption that Christian practices and Christian ideas about God should be the norm for everyone. I often find myself in situations where I am having Christianity forced upon me or upon my family. It seems unavoidable at formal public gatherings, at public meals, in public schools, at public school concerts, at graduation ceremonies, in shopping districts, town parks, everywhere outside of my own house of worship with the exception of private homes. (If you invite me into your home, for a Christmas party, I expect you can be as religious as you want and it’s my choice to attend and share your traditions with you or not, but in a public gathering, diversity is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.)

Yes, there are enlightened people who understand diversity and they have helped some institutions change the name from a Christmas concert to a holiday concert in school or at the holiday party at the workplace. In some towns far away from here, that change actually means something. But around here, nothing seems to have changed except the name. The food served is still traditional Christmas fare, there are Christmas trees with Christmas decorations and the napkins and cookies are still red and green. For all intents and purposes, everything is still about Christmas. And if Santa comes, that makes it a Christmas party in my book. Don’t just call it a holiday party if it’s really a Christmas party – you are not fooling anyone. Don’t put dreidels on a Christmas tree at school to prove you are being diverse. It’s still a Christmas tree and putting Jewish symbols on it is still offensive, non-inclusive of some, and showing a lack of understanding about diversity. Leave the Christmas tree, the red and green decorations, the Christmas word puzzles, the Christmas cookies and songs, the Christmas films out of the school and stop complaining that you can’t get the students to concentrate on their school work just before the holidays. Duh!

I do comfort myself with knowing that some of the things people do at Christmas time are really adaptations from pre-Christian, Pagan traditions. But most people don’t see the trees and wreaths that way. It’s odd to think that really devout Christians are following pagan customs and might not even know it. But the leaders of old knew that people don’t like giving up the fun stuff, so they found ways to incorporate pagan ways into the Christian ways, to keep the people happy. Because many people then, as now, don’t like change, even when it comes to matters of diversity.

Do teachers really have to keep reminding children, in the classroom, about the upcoming holidays? Do you think they’d forget to tell their parents about Christmas coming and then the whole holiday would be ruined for hundreds of families because they always relied on the schools to remind the children? The local economy would suffer because without daily reminders in the classrooms of the children, the parents wouldn’t know to start Christmas shopping on time and stores would have unsold merchandize? C’mon.

I once had a discussion about Christmas music in the school concert with a local music teacher whom I respect very highly for that teacher’s teaching skills. When it came to Christmas music in the schools, though, we had to agree to disagree, as that teacher’s solution to me was for me to go back to school, get another master’s degree and become a music teacher myself and do things differently in my own classroom. What is so hard about leaving God and Christianity out of the music program at a public school? There is plenty of music for kids to sing, why is one whole concert, out of only two school concerts in a year, devoted to Christmas music? Granted, some teachers try to incorporate one or two Hanukkah songs or other non-Christian songs into the program, but why not just sing about winter or other non-religious subjects, and allow maybe just one Christmas song? Chanukah is a very minor Jewish festival, not even a holy day and not even a biblical holiday. If you were to ask any learned Jew what is the most important holiday, no one would answer Chanukah. The teacher politely argued that they have a tradition of singing these carols. Now I very much like to honor tradition in many ways, with some exceptions, like slavery, oppression of women, child labor, stoning people for their sins, etc, but that would be another blog entirely. My reply was that my people have singing traditions, too, but when I want to hear them, I go to my house of worship; why couldn’t all the Christian kids go to church to sing the traditional carols at Christmas time? That conversation was probably close to 10 years ago. I still would choose that same teacher for my kids, if I were able, because s/he is someone I admire; we just didn’t agree on this one issue.

This past year at a school concert, a retired public school teacher from our district, wrote a piece for an elementary school choir to sing. It was blatantly religious and inappropriate for a public school teacher to write for a public school. (Although musically, very lovely.) My child’s friends objected to the song’s words, but only to each other. None of the 4 girls practice Christianity at home, although two or three have Christmas for fun with trees and gifts, but not religiously. So if one teacher once made an argument to me for keeping tradition, then why are they introducing new Christian material into the schools? And what was that retired teaching thinking? Not about diversity.

When I play in a bluegrass band and my band mates want to include a few bluegrass gospel songs from the traditional bluegrass gospel repertoire I don’t completely object if we throw in a few, depending on the performance setting. But I am careful to limit the number and am very choosy about which verses I sing. For me to sing about someone I don’t believe in bleeding and dying on a cross for me is disingenuous. I don’t want to be seen to be “spreading the gospel” that I don’t believe. Nor do I want to be remembered for singing those songs particularly. My understanding of this music is that it tends to be from the white gospel tradition of hymns, straight from the old hymnals, adapted for bluegrass the way Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe used to do them, when sacred music was an everyday thing in some places and diversity was not such a hot topic.

I am also very keenly aware that not only are there people here who are near and dear to me who are not Christian, but many are not believers in God at all. They are a very silent minority. They are silent for fear of being ostracized by the believers, by those in charge, by people who give promotions, by those who have power over us or our children. That may sound silly, but it is the experience of some that questioning belief in God or religion is not something that one does in public in these parts. Not at a party, not in the lunchroom and certainly not at the water-cooler. So who doesn’t love gospel music? Who would admit to not liking it if they didn’t?

In the Melting Pot

My parents met in this country many years ago and decided to make it home for many years; then I spent my early childhood in an expanded Mexican-American world. However, when I think about it I noticed both ways of life were overlapped in my mind so I did not have a clear concept of cultural differentiation. I cannot say how my personality would have been if we would have stayed in California, but I believe moving to Mexico gave distinctive features to my identity.

You would have to understand that many traditions in Mexico are a fusion between Indigenous and Spanish cultures; opposite to what happened here, Mexicans are the result of the mix between both cultures, we are mestizos and even our looks are like a mixture. Can you try to imagine what the natives felt about their customs disappearing? Or Spaniards’ passion to eradicate what they considered incorrect? (I know…discussion for another blog!). Anyhow, as a result, the New Spain was formed (former Mexico name) and with it a new population that aware or not created a new culture.

There is a lot to say about living in contemporaneous Mexico, but I want you, the reader, to know a little bit about how the life is there…In Mexico, people stay up late chatting and sharing experiences with family or friends, it is very common to go out for a coffee at 10 PM and all places are still open…I have to clarify that people do not take naps in a regular basis in the middle of the day like it has been stereotyped! In general, music is a big part of the daily activities, most of the people like to dance and most have very good rhythms!…From my perspective, the society is still very conservative, young adults are not expected to leave the parent’s house until they get married (or go to college in a different city) and living with someone without being married is a HUGE deal…someone can debate if that is good or not, but that is not my purpose in this space, it is just a fact and knowing what is expected from you determines some of your actions or your feelings! I regret to say that there is still a lot of the “macho” culture in Mexico, however, things are changing and Mexican women are experiencing more opportunities, but it is a long process…Every occasion in Mexico is a good reason to celebrate, from births, anniversaries, weddings to even deaths…and we celebrate in very distinctive ways…a typical birthday party for a kid, for example, will include the traditional piñata, and parents are also invited, not only kids; parties in Mexico always have a start time (although people arrive half hour later!) but most likely the invitation won’t have an ending time…actually in smaller areas of the country, there are still weddings that last days (I have never attended one but must be awesome to party for days!).

I guess when you are living immersed in a way of life, you take things for granted. But living in another country, meeting different people, knowing about different cultures, make us aware of the differences and help us expand our horizons. Not all of us get the opportunity to live abroad, that is why I think there is a lot of value in sharing our experiences and learning about others, or in other words, ”melting” our own heritage with our new circumstances…