Matt Raimondo, Blog #3

Do I speak English?  Of course I do.  English is the unofficial language of the United States, and since I have lived here all my life, I am therefore inclined to speak it.  However, we need to examine what we truly mean when we ask "Do you speak English?".  Are we really asking about the English language, or are we actually asking "do you understand those around you"?  Throughout most of the world, English is seen as the medium between individuals interacting from separate countries; it is the language  of international business and used during exchanges between members of the United Nations.  The idea of a broadly-known language allows us to communicate when we hail from countries at opposite ends of the Earth - it allows us to be understood.  If one cannot interact and engage with others, then how can one hope to make an impact on those around him/her?

I think that this idea of "speaking English" and being understood fit in well with what we learned in class this past week.  In particular, we saw how the participants in the LA Riots fought to attract attention to what they perceived as social injustice, and as fundamental violations to their God-given rights.  The rioters- or revolutionaries - felt that they were not being understood by those around them; by those, I mean mainstream America, especially those Americans that were far removed from the Rodney King situation, both physically and emotionally.  The people out in LA- primarily non white individuals -felt that they were really given the short end of the stick by the rest of the United States; I think that it is quite telling that many expressed strong hatred towards the police, whom many Americans see as a source of security rather than violence and injustice.  They felt that their backs were up against the wall, and the only way to really stop the injustice and violence was to act out and attract national attention to what the situation in LA was really like.  Music also played a pivotal role, with artists like Doctor Dre, Ice Cube and Ice-T all filling the airwaves with stories and tales of the struggles associated with LA.  I believe that someone may have mentioned in-class the analogy associating the LA Riots with what happens with an overstuffed drawer- you can keep jamming and packing items into a drawer, but eventually it will all come spilling out and over the overpacked drawer.  I think that this is exactly what happened in LA; the people could only take so much, and they did what they felt they had to do in order to survive.

This brings me back to my thoughts on English as more than just a language, that it represents universal understanding between different people.  The people in LA spoke English, yet they were not fully understood or able to communicate with the rest of mainstream America.  When one cannot communicate with others via a spoken language, then other ways of communicating will take center stage.  In this case, it was with riots in the streets and protests all over the city.  The LA Riots, to me, may serve as a cautionary tale as to what can go wrong when we fail to listen to each other - even if we all do speak English.