Andrew Friedman

Free to be You and Me?

Not in Kanses City.

An article in the Kanses City Star details the case of Zach Rubio, a high school student who was suspended for speaking Spanish to a friend between classes at school. There were no written rules against speaking Spanish, but school administrators punished Zach anyway.

The case is interesting, though, not just because it is an example of arbitrary justice. It is also emblematic of a rising tide of xenophobia and resentment towards immigrants. Zach himself isn't an immigrant, and he speaks English perfectly. Nonetheless, the school punished him for communicating to a friend, in a private conversation, in a language other than English. It's hard to imagine why. Multilingualism is clearly an asset - for individual people, for government, for business, for religious institutions.

This incident, though, represents the worst type of backlash against a multicultural society. Punish those who are different, promote uniformity, even if it means promoting the lowest common denominator.

Here in New York City, young people speak many languages at school, and their families speak many languages at home. Next week, the City Council will pass The Education Equity Act, legislation that will require the Department of Education to ensure that these parents can understand their children's report cards and can be real partners in the process of educating their children. Although the legislation has the support parents, teachers and two-thirds of the City Council, it has excited some Kanses City-like nativist backlash by the extreme minority of Council Republicans and conservative Democrats. Sadly, Mayor Bloomberg seems to be lining up with the nativists.

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Posted at 7:19 AM, Dec 15, 2005 in Civil Rights
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