Speak Native?

Growing up I never gave much thought, if any, to what nationality my friend’s last names were linked. In fact, I can’t recall when it dawned on me that last names indicated a connection to a world beyond my 30-mile radius of comprehension. Looking back, I was rubbing shoulders with the Germans, Polish, Irish, Italians, English. A virtual vegetable soup of names and countries if you will, with a definite Euro tilt.

No Spanish. No Black. What’s up with that…?

What I do remember is not one of my friends speaking anything but English.

I knew Wilfred spoke a bit of German but I marked that down to his mother speaking a bit of English and I was pretty sure my friend John knew some Italian because his dad was named Enzo and had this neat cadence to the way he spoke.

It was years before I knew the Irish had a language of their own. I mean seriously, when was the last time you heard Gaelic and no, listening to Rick Steves travel adventures on PBS does not count. I don’t think my Grandma Murphy spoke Gaelic and no, her speaking in tongues at church didn’t count either.

We led a sheltered life. These things happen…

So why is it that my friends did not speak the native tongue of their family heritage? So many reasons come to mind. Way more.

We all looked alike and none of us were born in the “motherland”, making it far easier and decidedly more desirable for our parents to have us blend in and conform to one another. There was not, as best I could tell, any perceived need or consuming desire to connect us kids to anything cultural other than American. Again, it’s not like the bunch of us just got off the boat. My great, great, great, etc, etc….Grandfather Theophilus swam ashore in North Carolina sometime in the 1700’s. He most likely spoke English. My guess is that's all he spoke.

Today it is not just considered fashionable to speak a second language but advantageous. If anything, parents crave the potential rewards that come with their children able to speak a second or third language. Can you think of any future benefits derived from having an English-speaking child of today being able to speak Spanish or Chinese? Now flashback to the 50’s, how many parents enrolled their kids to learn Russian? There was considerable concern about all of us speaking Russian; just not by choice. Ah, memories of backyard fallout shelters, hiding under school desks.

Sort of gives you a different take on the whole Ward Cleaver thing...

So AA has joined the American melting pot. While the melting pot is still largely viewed as a mostly European stock recipe, a lot of new “seasonings” continue to be added. The reason Alyzabeth draws stares is not only because mom and dad look different than the kid or because she is so incredibly cute but also because she is still a novelty in many parts of the country. AA doesn’t fit the norm. She doesn’t have the Euro or African-American look. She’s seasoning to a melting pot that in truth has always existed if not always accepted, not always acknowledged.

Ahhh, ye old family recipe, we just keep adding a smidgen of this and a pinch of that. Welsh, Irish, English, Native American, Chinese, etc, etc...

Seasoning, the paint brush in a master chef's hand... Bon Appetite!

peace

fm