You Need to Speak English by Brittny Mejia Article Analysis

Instead of PSA, I thought an article would be more sufficient for this topic. Globalization is something that has been happening for many years. While some people do not understand the severity of it, it is an issue that needs to be addressed. People move to America for a better life, not to be harassed for simply speaking their native tongue. The focus of this article is to show readers the harsh reality that some may face for doing something so simple and harmless.

In her article, You need to Speak English the author, Brittny Mejia is stating that there is rising conflict in different cultures that speak a language besides English. Those who are ignorant feel that everyone must speak English when living in the United States. The author brings up a certain instance that caused these conversations to start circulating. The instance Mejia brings up is a video of a little girl speaking Spanish to her mother. The young girl simply said, “Mira Mami”. Because of that, a woman decides to put her unneeded opinion in saying that they must speak English since they live in America. Mejia says in the year 2015, there was such an extensive increase in racism. She ties this to the last presidency, Donald Trump. She states in the article that she felt Trump made people feel comfortable with being blatantly racist. Since globalization is already such a big issue, these attacks are reinforcing people wanting to speak English in a public setting. The author uses direct quotes from the incident that happened in a Walmart in Georgia. She also talks about other incidents since that one. For example, Aaron Schlossberg made a very nasty comment when speaking about Latino workers saying, “My guess is they are not documented, so my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country,” ...“I pay for their welfare. I pay for their ability to be here. The least they can do ... is speak English.” These were just a couple of the different situations that were happening because of who was in the office at the time. The picture above represents those who are bilingual, yet they are criticized for speaking their native tongue in public. I find the image to be powerful because these women are standing there with a smile on their faces letting it be known they can speak English.

Globalization has resulted in even broader use of the English language as the common language of business. However, globalization may also be producing other byproducts, Americans assessing an unrealistic and unnecessary value to the importance of the English language. In America, the importance shows itself through the push for speaking English only and the negative rhetoric English-only speakers direct towards bilingualism. The author describes instances of negative rhetoric and acts throughout her article, attributing the cause to a variety of things that can be related to globalization. Instead of seeing the English language as a global language promoting interconnectedness between cultures, certain American English-only speakers see the broad use of English globally as evidence reinforcing the idea of the superiority of those that only speak English. Instead of bringing people together, efforts are made to single out and punish those that do not speak English or speak more than just English in public.

No one should feel afraid to do something so simple, it does not put anyone at risk. English is spoken in many Latino households now because they feel the need to accommodate other people’s way of living when it should not be that way at all. They are now having to assimilate to a culture that isn’t there’s. The author did a great job of using the modes of persuasion to convey her point in the article. She used pathos to invoke this emotion from her audience, when I read it I felt anger and sadness. It made me question why people are the way they are. Mejia also used logos to create a sense of credibility in her writing, by using direct quotes from people who were there when the different incidents occurred. She also searches different social media platforms for her information. While sometimes social media can be a slippery slope when trying to justify different arguments, she does a good job of finding reliable sources to persuade the audience. The article does a good job of backing its claims with different facts. And lastly, she uses ethos by being confident in her writing. She simply states what is happening and is wrong and she says why. 

English is a great language, but so is every other language. People from other cultures shouldn’t feel such urgency to learn a new language based upon fear. I hope that one-day situations such as these will no longer happen.