One Anti-Racist Action You Can Take Today: Appreciate Multilingualism

By Guimel DeCarvalho

Director of People and Culture, Chief Diversity Officer

Have you ever tried to learn another language? It’s hard! So why is it that multilingualism is demeaned by certain groups and celebrated by others?

It’s called privilege. A recent tweet pointed out the double standard with the simple question “What’s considered classy if you’re poor but trashy if you’re rich?” The question garnered hundreds of comments including “Speaking two languages.”

The answers revealed more than a double standard – they revealed how people wear privilege differently. It’s glorified when privileged people to speak two languages but demeaned when people without privilege are multilingual.

Often racist policies and stereotypes are meant to otherize and devalue groups for who they are even if it contradicts itself. Immigration policies welcome refugees when they are from the former Soviet Union, but ban them if they are from Syria or Central America. The backlash to English as a second language (ESL) and English-language learner programs (ELL) are in contrast to the coveted spots in full immersion schools.

Today I ask you to appreciate multilingualism. Try to learn another language. If you already speak another language, wear it loud and proud. I invite you to add it to your email signature, business card, LinkedIn profile, etc. Do you speak a language most Americans don’t know? Be loud and proud and let people know. Don’t recognize a language in someone’s email signature or resume? Google it! You’ll find that there are more than 7,000 languages spoken in the world today.