An accent, the dream, and our money
An essay…
This week I was reminded of my accent. Though I am sure the person did not have malicious intent, it still created in me a sense of inadequacy. There was a feeling of insecurity about what to say next and how it would sound. When your work depends on speaking as much as I have to, things like that can shake you. Several years ago, it would have shaken me even more. Remarks about my accent are reminders that I am the other. I speak two languages. I am fully fluent in my second language to the point that I dream I in it. It is equally true for my emotions: I love in two languages and when I am upset, I am upset in two languages.
Having an accent indicates that you have an ability to navigate at least another language. But, it does not come without friction. Accents, unlike like race, gender, age, disability, and veteran status are not a protected class under the law. Thus, discriminatory interactions that might arise from it are hard to call out. Worse, some might consider that feeling uncomfortable because of remarks alluding to one’s accent is hyper sensitive. They are not, after all, acts of physical violence. Proving harassment over an accent is therefore more difficult even if it’s pervasive.
We celebrate Martin Luther King’s day tomorrow. Part of that celebration would be listening to his now famous speech. I found myself thinking about it this morning. When I came back from church I read it. The speech is beautiful and convicting. It is well written and eloquent. The yearning in the language is deeply moving. It shakes you and towards the end of the speech one wonders, what do I do?
I can’t imagine the deep pain and suffering from which his words were born. In comparison, my feeling of inadequacy at being called out for my accent, seems frivolous and trite. I am not sure any of us can really empathize with what it would have been like to be abused and treated as less than a human due to the color of our skin.
Though we have moved on from obvious acts of cruelty, we now engage in covert ones: comments, remarks, disdain, contempt, sabotaging, jokes, shading, and the worst of all, the ones covered and justified in legal language. These can refer to protected and unprotected classes such as accents or others. At the core it is hesitation and/or blatant refusal to give the other person a place at the table of humanity.
When I relocated to Alabama the last thing I expected was to use the words in this speech to justify my reaction to a comment. The comment remarked my kids’ skin color. When I wanted to clarify and smooth it out, I was asked why did it bother me so much. I found myself saying something along these lines below:
Every day I sit on a hot chair I have to justify either why is my skin color light or dark depending on who asks, my hair being too curly or really or too tight curly depending on who cuts it, and my accent being either too thick to some but barely noticeable to others. Neither is enough. I had this crazy idea that I too could dream that my children would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Perhaps I was naive.
Our capacity to find occasion to mistreat or to shade the other is great. Our capacity to destroy ourselves is great. The history of civilization has something to say about it. Our current events have a lot to say about it. We learn little and repeat much. In spite of it a small shimmer of light remains. Even in the midst of great darkness the weakest dream and the mustard seed can find a path. Because even if the tree is cut down, there is hope that it will sprout again and that its shoots will not cease1.
We are not in 1963. We are in 2024. Sixty-one years after that speech, we still find ways to diminish each other. Power disguises itself in many costumes. Whether that costume is a remark about an accent, race, age, and disability among others, it comes from a place of disdain.
My design class is redesigning the US currency. Because of that, they had to research its history. In class discussion we talked about what the US currency meant both nationally and internationally. One of the conclusions they reached was though not as colorful as other countries’ money, the US dollar represented stability, strength, and power. They all agreed we have a long way to go as a nation while discussing the negative aspects of our politics. Perhaps that awareness will remain in their minds. At least they walked away wanting to redo their sketches after the discussion. One small step in changing minds and attitudes. One small way to shine light.
Rephrase of Job 14:7, ESV version.