Mexican Indigenous Languages in US Classrooms: A Call for Awareness and Action
by Kendra A. Strouf
Today there are nearly half a million Indigenous citizens from Mexico residing in the United States. Discriminatory policies in the United States homogenize these culturally and linguistically diverse individuals, considering all people from Mexico to be Spanish speakers. However, Mexico is home to approximately 287 languages, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Federal law guarantees public education for all children, yet it does not guarantee linguistically appropriate education. As such, Mexican immigrant children who speak an Indigenous language are wholly neglected in formal educational spaces and can experience linguistic isolation. Our system relegates these children to a lesser status than children whose mother tongue is English and systematically disadvantages them to lead a life of poverty in the United States. These are the unintended consequences associated with immigration. Educators in the United States must have language awareness. Linguistically appropriate education is necessary; otherwise, the notion of free public education for all children is feeble. Students, families, communities, educators, and school districts can be advocates for linguistic and cultural rights for these students. We must simultaneously bring policymakers’ attention to this issue and implement grassroots, creative solutions in our own community schools.