Posted on 06/11/2014 9:28:07 AM PDT by reaganaut1
...
On television, the bee plays out as pure meritocracy. You spell the word correctly, you move on in the competition. No quibbling about home-field advantage, no refs making questionable calls. In this context, Indian Americans have been perfect winners, affirming the perception of them as model minorities. They are quiet politically, loud academically—characteristics ostensibly emanating from Asian cultural values. They are perceived as geeks, not only in the pejorative sense, but also as studious kids who represent the American ideal. Every time an Indian American wins, one more angel of America gets its wings.
Meritocracy and the existence of “model minorities” are seductive ideas because they suggest race doesn’t matter as much as it once did. Asian American success can be understood as the triumph of cultural values—hard work, family—over structural impediments such as race and class. In the bee especially, cheering for the Asian kid means cheering for a colorblind society.
Last year’s winner, Arvind Mahankali, was a media darling, before and after the bee. Mahankali had three previous top 10 finishes before he finally won. Some of the coverage on Mahankali was notable for not making mention of his race at all. When he appeared on Anderson Cooper’s show on CNN, the host, perhaps himself cognizant of how too often particular markers of identity tend to overdetermine other parts of one’s life, stuck mostly to spelling. Similarly, Grantland sent a writer to talk to Mahankali as he was working through the rounds of the bee. In the piece, Shane Ryan goes out of his way to show that the only different thing he notices about Mahankali is his remarkable devotion to words.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I studied Latin for a few years (Catholic schools.1960's) and to the degree that I mastered the language (not a large degree for sure) I found that it helped my English vocabulary.
In any case, it’s no worse than a kid spending nearly every waking hour practicing a sport which they most likely won’t ever even reach the college level in, never mind making a career out of it.
Or,more importantly (IMO),better than kids spending 12 hours a day playing video games...which won't even help them become physically fit let alone providing a career for them.
Absolutely 100% red, white and blue. Former Marine Corps sergeant......................
Now you understand why so many southerners answer the same question with “American.” We’re descended from practically every western European group and often native American as well. There is no pat answer, other than “American.” People from other parts of the country sneer at that, deem it ignorance, why they don’t even know what they are. Well, yes we do. It’s just that their narrow definition of ethnicity based upon fairly recent arrival on these shores is not applicable. Your background here may be fairly recent, may not be or might have a little of both, but you’re not one thing or the other, either. You’re American. There is no other label that applies.
Lord, no. Spell check has been a disaster, not only because it doesn't recognize "sound alike" mistakes, but also because online editors now don't bother to sight read, missing not only homophonic errors but also auto-fill errors. You see egregious errors in all print communications now that would have been unthinkable 20 years ago, which further lowers literacy in the reading public.
Failing to study the reasons behind spellings and the origins of contemporary words cheats students out of a deep understanding of language, and how the roots of one language continue to influence many others. I have learned several languages. After you truly study one, learning the next one becomes easier, and the one after that even easier, etc. It makes reading comprehension so much deeper, cross cultural understanding easier, and a host of other benefits.
Granted, language study is not for everyone. But if you can read well, you can learn so many other things so much more easily.
Thank you for your service, sir!
I have understood that since I was a small child.
When I was in the Marine Corps, at an inspection in full dress uniform, I had a Captain ask me what my ‘nationality’ was. I replied, “American, sir.”
He laughed and said, “I’ve never heard of that nationality, Marine.”
I was angry, but kept my cool................I wanted to punch his fat ass right in the face....................
You’re welcome!.....Now if only I could get an appointment at the VA clinic....................
I’ve had Cubans start speaking Spanish to me, and in Ireland or Scotland they assume I’m one of them until I open my mouth, lol. Not sure why with the Spanish assumption, unlike many of my cousins I don’t tan easily or well.
LOL!!
That has happened to me as well. I had a Puerto Rican Marine start speaking to me in Spanish once because he thought I was Peurto Rican......................
The most maddening part is that standards are dumbed down and suddenly ‘Advanced Placement’ courses and so-called honors are handed out like candy. This is meant to boost the egos of the teachers as much as the students.
Meanwhile, as you say, the smart ones are marginalized while feral animals who should be in jail roam the halls chock full of self-esteem.
Let me quibble: Maybe I say the hell with it when martial law is eventually imposed here and move (escape?) to Canada. Think about how clunky “I’m now an American-Canadian” actually sounds.
“I’d rather see a kid put his/her efforts into mastering vocabulary,math or science.”
I attended a music recital recently that one of this years winners played not only the piano but had recently started studying the guitar. I would suspect that this young man was also well acquainted with math, vocabulary, and science. Keep an eye out for future spelling bee participants because he has a younger sister .
Yes.
Old time Americans are a mix. Much more than most know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.