Jonathan Zimmerman: Putting the Accent on Bigotry
[Jonathan Zimmerman teaches history and education at New York University.]
In the 1930s, Bel Kaufman applied to teach in the New York City public schools. She took a written examination and then an oral one, which required her to recite a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. A few days later, Kaufman received a curt letter in the mail: “Failed for poor background in English.”
In short, she had the wrong accent. Emigrating from Russia at the age of 12, Kaufman graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College. But she retained the “rolling Russian R” of her childhood, Kaufman recalled, so she was blocked from teaching. So were thousands of other talented and knowledgable immigrants, most of them — like Kaufman — Jews from Eastern Europe.
And if you think this kind of bigotry is a thing of the past, think again. Today, in 2010, an American state is poised to transfer or fire teachers with accented English. Can you guess which one?
It’s Arizona. Again.
The Grand Canyon State has been all over the front pages lately, of course, thanks to its new law allowing police officers to stop suspected illegal immigrants and demand proof of citizenship. There’s been far less publicity about a recent announcement by the state Education Department, which decreed that teachers with “heavy” accents must be removed from classes for students still learning English.
Yet the education measure is much more outrageous than the immigration one. No matter what you think of the new Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants — and I happen to think it’s deeply flawed — it addresses a very real problem. We do have millions of undocumented people flowing across our borders, and we need to do something about them....
Read entire article at Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the 1930s, Bel Kaufman applied to teach in the New York City public schools. She took a written examination and then an oral one, which required her to recite a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. A few days later, Kaufman received a curt letter in the mail: “Failed for poor background in English.”
In short, she had the wrong accent. Emigrating from Russia at the age of 12, Kaufman graduated magna cum laude from Hunter College. But she retained the “rolling Russian R” of her childhood, Kaufman recalled, so she was blocked from teaching. So were thousands of other talented and knowledgable immigrants, most of them — like Kaufman — Jews from Eastern Europe.
And if you think this kind of bigotry is a thing of the past, think again. Today, in 2010, an American state is poised to transfer or fire teachers with accented English. Can you guess which one?
It’s Arizona. Again.
The Grand Canyon State has been all over the front pages lately, of course, thanks to its new law allowing police officers to stop suspected illegal immigrants and demand proof of citizenship. There’s been far less publicity about a recent announcement by the state Education Department, which decreed that teachers with “heavy” accents must be removed from classes for students still learning English.
Yet the education measure is much more outrageous than the immigration one. No matter what you think of the new Arizona law targeting illegal immigrants — and I happen to think it’s deeply flawed — it addresses a very real problem. We do have millions of undocumented people flowing across our borders, and we need to do something about them....