Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 1
Running Head: Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas in Higher Education
Nichole Garcia
University of Utah
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 2
Introduction
“I grew up oppressing my own gente1, feeling superior because I could speak both English and
Spanish without switching back and forth, and because I resisted Americanization and
proudly affirmed my Mexican Identity” Alicia Gaspar de Alba in “Juana Ines”
“I’d never met another Latina like me, and I began to doubt that they existed…True speakers
discover my limitations the moment I stumble over a difficult construction and that is when
I get the look. The one that raises the wall between us…When I fumble, I immediately lose the
privilege of calling myself a full-fledged Latina. Broken Spanish doesn’t count, except to set
me apart from “authentic” Latinas forever.”- Tanya Barrientos in “Se Habla Espanol”
Historically in the United States the Chicana\Latina population has been marginalized
and challenged (Galindo & Gonzales, 1999). As women of color in The United State of America
we face racism, classism, sexism, and various other forms of oppression. When this oppression
occurs our identities are challenged and transformed. We find ways in which we can resist the
hegemony we experience by the dominant culture at the same time we often participate in our
own oppression. Both as immigrants and U.S. born Chicanas\Latinas we negotiate the ways in
which we embrace our Chicana\Latina ethnic\cultural identities. For many Chicanas\Latinas2,
speaking the Spanish language has become a marker of identity. Scholars of identity have
studied forms of subjectivity that derive from belonging to a group that speaks a common
language (Bejarano, 2005; Gonzalez, 2001; Galindo & Gonzales, 1999, Hurtado & Gurin, 2004).
While many researchers have identified the Spanish language as a source of Chicana\Latina
identity (Bejarano, 2005; Gonzalez, 2001; Galindo & Gonzales, 1999, Hurtado & Gurin, 2004)
few studies have investigated how Chicana\Latina women negotiate their ethnic\cultural
identities when they don‟t speak Spanish.
1
Gente in the Spanish language refers to people.
My focus is on Chicana\Latina women. When referring to both genders I use Chican@\Latin@ with the @. This
signifies the embracing of the a and o. This is a symbol that stands for gender equity because it signifies
collectivity.
2
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 3
The loss of one‟s native language in this case Spanish is perceived by native Spanish
speakers as a characteristic that sets non-Spanish speaking Chicanas\Latinas apart from their
ancestral identity. In the first epigraph by Alicia Gaspar de Alba (1993), she states that her
Mexican identity was affirmed by the fact that she resisted assimilation by speaking both Spanish
and English. In the book Qué onda? Cynthia Bejarano (2005) states, “Resistance to standard
English, although powerful on the lands, faces pressures to submit to hegemonic discourse and
Standard English that are extremely pervasive” ( p.150). Bejarano argues, therefore, that
resisting English in America, although powerful can be challenging because speaking English
only can be perceived as a form of assimilation. Bejarano further states, “There are no awards
for resisting hegemony through heteroglossia or straight, standard Spanish. English is still the
predominant means with which to succeed in the United States” (2005, p.150). Bejarano speaks
to the fact that the maintenance of the Spanish language can act as a form of resistance.
However, in order to be successful in America, “outsiders” of the dominant culture who speak a
different language have no choice but to adopt English language in its standardized forms.
“Outsiders” in this context, are constrained to learn English, but can maintain at least the
appearance of resistance by also maintaining their Spanish.
However, in the second epigraph, Tanya Barrientos (2004) who identifies as Latina but
is not bilingual, presents the problem that my research addresses: what are the sources from
which non-Spanish-speaking Chicanas\Latinas derive their ongoing identification with a culture
of which they no longer employ the most detectable, clear marker the Spanish language? Are we
to believe that Tanya Barrientos has assimilated because she does not speak Spanish or do we
explore how she still identifies as Latina even though she does not speak Spanish? How does
this identification take place? How do Chicanas\Latinas like Tanya Barrientos negotiate “the
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 4
relationships between identity development and cultural orientation, environmental factors, and
the link between generational status and parental expectations” (Torres, 2003, p.3). More
specifically my research addresses the question; How do U.S. born Chicanas\Latinas who do not
speak Spanish negotiate spaces that include and exclude them while still holding onto to their
identities as Chicanas\Latinas in institutions of higher education?
In my examination, I observe and interpret spaces that include and exclude this particular
population. When I speak of spaces I am referring to the geographical settings such as the
classroom, student groups, organizations, communities, and professional settings. I am also
referring to the sociopolitical and metaphysical spaces such as, Emma Perez‟s (1999, 2003)
decolonial imaginary. This refers to a space that is in between “where we hold upon and
maintain systems of domination while we negotiate within them, to rupture them, to change
them, to start writing new narratives for our lives” (Delgado Bernal, Aleman, & Garavito, in
press, p.10). By examining these decolonial spaces we are able to see how they interact with the
physical spaces and shape how one negotiates the spaces she occupies. For example, a
Chicana\Latina who does not speak Spanish wants to learn Spanish, in turn registers for Spanish
at her college. The Chicana\Latina enters this class and is questioned by her white counterparts
as to why she is in the class because they assume that she already speaks Spanish. How does this
physical space impact the imaginary space of this Chicana\Latina?
The importance of this study lies within these women‟s voices that have not yet been
empirically studied in the scholarship about Chicana\Latinas. Many times we can see the
barriers that the Spanish speaking Chicana\Latina faces, but the nuances related to barriers,
identity, or a sense of belonging have not yet been determined for English speaking
Chicanas\Latinas. The question I pose will help identify and describe those nuances by giving
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 5
voice to the Chicanas\Latinas who don‟t have the Spanish language as cultural identifier. By
exploring these spaces, I will identify the resources and practices that these Chicanas\Latinas
draw upon during their journey to\through higher education. By learning the many resources and
practices that helped these non-bilingual Chicanas\Latinas succeed, I will inform other
Chicanas\Latinas who will have similar experiences.
In this paper I provide a literature review that begins with the Americanization efforts
targeted at Mexicans in the 1900s and moves into the scholarship that addresses contemporary
issues of linguistic identity. I then outline my theoretical framework and the concepts that are
important to my analysis. I follow this with the methodology that guided my research. Finally, I
outline three themes that emerged in my research 1) Understanding the Erasure of the Spanish
Language 2) (Re) creation of Spaces 3) Social Justice Mindset. I argue that Chicanas\Latinas
who are not proficient in Spanish embrace a Chicana\Latina language consciousness. This
refers to the idea that Spanish did not define their identities, rather they used their awareness or
consciousness of the loss of Spanish to formulate a set of beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, in order
to negotiate spaces that included and excluded them while still holding on to their cultural \ethnic
identities as Chicanas\Latinas in institutions of higher education.
Literature Review
So if you really want to hurt me, talk badly about my language. Ethnic identity is
twin skin to linguistic identity–I am my language. Until I can take pride in my
language, I cannot take pride in myself.
Gloria Anzaldua
In this section I examine language in the context of education, and the process of
Americanization, which impacted the retention of culture and language among the
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 6
Chican@\Latin@ population due to the government enforcing Eurocentric ideologies (Gonzales,
1990). However, even though the goal of Americanization was to eliminate the Spanish
language and assimilate all Chican@\Latin@ populations into the dominate culture it didn‟t
necessarily work. This leads me to studies of subjectivity that derive from belonging to a group
that speaks a common language (Bejarano, 2005; Gonzalez, 2001; Galindo & Gonzales, 1999,
Hurtado & Gurin, 2004). An example of this we can see in the epigraph, Gloria Anzaldua takes
pride in her Spanish language in order to take pride in who she is as a Chicana. Through the
works of scholars I examine how language has become a marker of identity that
Chican@\Latin@ communities have fought to retain throughout the colonization of America. I
then look at how Chican@\Latin@ youth and Chicana\Latina women retain language within
their communities even though they have been marginalized. The scholarship I review here
allows me to acknowledge what is missing from these discourses around language and identity.
What does it mean to be bilingual in the Unites States of America? In Western society
English has become the dominate language as well as the validated language. Anglo colonizers
used the educational system as a means to instill English and attempt to erase Spanish in
Chican@\Latin@ communities (Hurtado & Gurin, 2004). As Maria Dolores Gonzales in
“Crossing Social and Cultural Borders: The Road to Language Hybridity,” states: “The need to
„Americanize‟ the native population was first and foremost on the minds of the Anglo colonizers,
and education was seen as the means to accomplish this” (p.14). Scholar, Gilbert Gonzales
(1990), argued that early Americanization programs deeply impacted the Mexican American
people (1990). The segregation and dismantling of the Mexican culture, language, and customs
began in the educational system as early as the 1900‟s. This process of forced assimilation
became known within the educational system as Americanization. The government was
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 7
convinced, “that traditional ethnic culture rejected external governmental methods to achieve
normal social relations characteristics of modern societies” (Gonzales, 1990, p.32). The process
of Americanization began within the educational system and targeted precisely immigrants and
first generation Mexicans. The educational system served as the fastest means to achieve
Americanization due to the fact that children spent the majority of their time in school. The key
goal was to take away the Spanish language because, “within the assimilation process, language
formed the core of transformation the lack of a common language makes social cohesion
impossible” (Gonzales, 1990, p.33). The government came to the conclusion that language and
identity coincided, you could not have one without the other. They took this Americanization a
step further when they began to target the Mexican women and girls. It was believed that
through the mother one can start to change the familial.
The Mexican home was viewed as, “a source of Mexican culture and consequently as a
reinforcer of the „Mexican educational problem‟ ” (Gonzales, 1990, p.47). As a result the
government sought it fit to attack the home the “surest solution of Americanization problem lies
in the proper training of the parents of a future citizenry” (Gonzales, 1990, p.47). The target was
the Mexican girl and mother because it was believed that if Americanization homemaking could
be instilled the likelihood of the creation of an American-like home could be achieved. Further
Gonzales states, “Americanization proponents identified the Mexican girls as a potential „carrier‟
of American culture, the social gene who upon her marriage and subsequent motherhood could
create a type of home in which the next generation could be raised in an American cultural
atmosphere” (Gonzales, 1990, p.48). The assumption that targeting Americanization programs
at females would assimilate an entire people, would not hold for every family or all generations.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 8
The relationship between language and gender in Chican@\Latin@ communities has
been analyzed by Norma Gonzalez (2005) and other scholars. Historically, women have been
the primary childcare providers and as such they are key in the language transmission process,
Gonzalez argues that language is not an “abstract system” rather it is always present, socially and
historically in discourses (2005). In order to survive within American society Chicanas\Latinas
were subjected to learn both English and Spanish. Chicanas\Latinas are constantly on the
borders with their bi-cultural identities. Norma Gonzalez quotes Pat Mora stating, “an American
to Mexicans, a Mexican to Americans, a handy token sliding back and forth, between the fringes
of both worlds” (2005, p.76). Navigating as a Chicana\Latina in American society becomes a
complex move to keep their identities intact. Chicanas\Latinas form their identities and negotiate
them throughout their daily lives and the settings that they are placed in. She demonstrates that
in doing this they are able to maintain their native tongue as well as speak English. This is
important not only for their survival, but for the survival of their children. Chicanas\Latinas “are
active agents in drawing from multiple resources bases and multiple ideologies in order to ensure
their children‟s success” (Gonzalez, 2005, p.76). Chicanas\Latinas not only negotiate their own
identities, but also teach their children how to do the same within American society. I find this
an important aspect to explore because what happens to the identities of the children of
Chicanas\Latinas who do not retain Spanish? Maria Dolores Gonzales states, “that woman have
historically been the guardians of language and culture, it would seem appropriate that studies
focus on women‟s linguistic behavior” (1999, p.13). While studies like Norma Gonzalez‟s or
Galindo and Gonzales‟ book focus on women‟s linguistic behavior, few if any studies take up
monoloingual English speaking Chicanas\Latina‟s linguistic behavior in the way that my study
does.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 9
Cynthia L. Bejarano (2005), Aida Hurtado, and Patricia Gurin (2004) are all scholars who
examine Chican@\Latin@ youth to see how language impacts their identities within American
society. More specifically, they look at youth through the context of education and how they
retain the Spanish language. Bejarano states, “Hegemony was maintained through an
educational system structured by the State that perpetuated the agenda of mainstream society”
(2005, p. 154). Since the early Americanization programs Chican@\Latin@ youth were forced
to speak English only in schools and to not speak Spanish in public. These youth were placed in
English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in order to learn the English language and were
often punished for speaking Spanish. Hurtado and Gurin (2004) state, “Although many schools
did not have written rules against speaking Spanish, a substantial number of students reported
being detained after school, being made to run laps, or even having their mouths taped if they
spoke Spanish on school premises” (p.93). Chican@\Latin@ youth were deeply impacted by the
repercussions of speaking their native tongue within the school setting. However, Bejarano,
Hurtado, and Gurin all demonstrate how Chican@\Latin@ youth have embraced the Spanish
language as a form of resistance. For Chican@\Latin@ students “reclaiming and recuperation of
Spanish became a way to resitute their sense of self” (Hurtado & Gurin, 2004, p. 95).
Language serves as a marker of identity because it helps to communicate culture.
Despite the oppression that Chican@\Latin@ youth experienced, in Hurtado and Gurin‟s study
Spanish was embraced with a sense of pride. The Spanish language became “a political assertion
of the value of their heritage and the means to create a sense of identity directly tied to the
Chican@\Latin@ experience” (Hurtado & Gurin, 2004, p.99). Bilingual speakers have been able
to take pride and reclaim their language that was not validated by Anglo colonizers. To some
degree they resisted this colonization when they as students “are outside the school grounds, they
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 10
make concentrated efforts to return to what is natural and secure for them: immersion in the
familiar contours of what they understand as Mexicanness” (Bejarano, 2005, p. 153). It is
essential to understand what oppression the Chican@\Latin@ communities faced due to
language. The scholarship I have reviewed reveals the silenced experiences within the
educational system especially for youth and women. It also demonstrates the resistance that has
taken place in regards to maintenance of the Spanish language. However, what happened to the
Chican@s\Latin@s who were affected by Americanization, those who lost the ability to speak
Spanish due to forced assimilation efforts? This is a key aspect in my research and why I chose
to analyze Chicanas\Latinas who are not fluent in Spanish and how they have an identity of
resistance without the Spanish language.
My research project focuses on how Chicanas\Latinas negotiate their cultural\ethnic
identities without the Spanish language as U.S. born college students or alumni within
institutions of higher education. I agree with Gonzalez on the need for a focus on women‟s
linguistic behaviors; however, can all Chicana\Latina women be guardians of language? Can
one be bicultural without fluency in two languages? I feel that Chicanas\Latinas who are not
bilingual still negotiate a bilingual identity and participate in and (re) define their ethnic culture.
In this study I address sources from which non-Spanish-speaking Chicanas\Latinas derive their
ongoing identification with a culture of which they no longer employ the most detectable, clear
marker: Spanish? Are we to believe that Chicanas\Latinas that have not retained Spanish have
assimilated or do we explore how they still identify as Chicanas\Latinas even though they do not
speak Spanish? How does this identification take place? I find it extremely important that the
voices of non-bilingual Chicanas\Latinas are heard. They too live within the borderlands that
Anzaldua discussed. They are marginalized not only by race, gender, and class, but also because
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 11
they are not bilingual. Their experiences are seldom heard, and it‟s time that we give voice for
future generations to learn from. I believe that you can take pride in being Chicana\Latina,
without pride in a language that was erased with forced assimilation.
Theoretical Framework
The design of this study is a constructivist grounded theory methodology in which “the
researcher derives a general, abstract theory of a process, action, or interaction grounded in the
views of the participants” (Creswell, 2007). In order to answer my research question, my theory
is grounded in a Chicana feminist epistemology. Many researchers have pointed out that there
are systems of knowing or worldviews that center a dominant EuroAmerican epistemology that
is based on Enlightenment ideas of objectivity, rationality, and meritocracy. A Chicana feminist
epistemology is a worldview based on personal and communal experiences of Chicanas and does
not ignore the body or spirituality as sources of knowledge. A Chicana feminist epistemology
allowed me to refer to culturally specific ways of learning and teaching in formal settings such as
school and informal settings such as social groups. A Chicana feminist epistemology is
grounded in the life experiences of Chicanas, which encompasses intersectionalities of race,
class, gender, and sexuality. Within a Chicana feminist epistemology framework, I draw upon
two theoretical tools borderlands (Anzaldua, 1999) and sitios y lenguas (Perez, 1997) in order to
inform a third concept which I call Chicana\Latina Language Consciousness.
Gloria Anzaldua (1999) argues that there is no one Chican@ experience or language, and
most Chican@‟s live within the borderlands. The borderlands can be understood in its literal
meaning as the historical and contemporary context under which Mexican American
communities have been formed in the United States. In its metaphorical sense, the border refers
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 12
to the symbolic barriers that divide communities race, class, gender, and sexual orientation lines,
academic disciplines, and organizational structures (Elenes, 2006, p.215). Borderlands is a form
of marginalization that one embraces and learns how to navigate. Anzaldua uses these
intersectionalities as a way to express that there are multiple truths and multiple experiences for
Chican@‟s.
There is no one Chicano language just as there is no one Chicano experience. A monolingual
Chicana whose first language is English or Spanish is just as much a Chicana as one who speaks
several variants of Spanish. A Chicana from Michigan or Chicago or Detroit is just as much as a
Chicana as one from the Southwest (Anzaldua, 1999, p.81).
Drawing from Anzaldua, I use the work of Delgado Bernal, Aleman, and Garavito (in
press) and their use if borderlands. They define borderland theories as a means of how groups
negotiate physical, social, discursive, and geopolitical boundaries. Thinking of space as not only
being physical, but also being metaphysical is essential in order to understand borderlands.
Space can refer to a geographical setting or a classroom. Metaphysical space can refer to ones
social positioning in society based on their membership to various social groups.
Delgado Bernal, Aleman, and Garavito explore how Chicano\a\Latino\a students negotiate their
identity within a mentoring space at a university. I draw from their work and their use of
borderlands and sitios y lenguas as it connects to Chicanas\Latinas who are not proficient in
Spanish and experience marginality based on intersecting identities. For example, a
Chicana\Latina who is not proficient in Spanish may not feel accepted by others of her race due
to the lack of language knowledge. She also may not feel accepted in a classroom that is
predominately white due to her race and gender. This further situates her in the borderlands.
Emma Perez (1997) further explores what it means to be in this borderland space with her
theory of sitios y lenguas.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 13
I seek decolonized spaces where discourse can unfold and flourish, where theories of
Chicana…representation can be launched among ourselves without the threat of appropriation
from those who claim to want our words…Being a woman or a person of color does not ensure
that one will speak as one, given our multiple identities and multiple voices. There is no
„authentic‟ Chicana voice (Perez, 1997, p.89)
Emma Perez‟s (1997) in sitios y lenguas gives us the tools for a decolonized discourse within the
borderlands. It refers to those spaces (sitios) where decolonized discourse (lenguas) can unfold.
Sitios y lenguas “rejects colonial ideology and the by-products of colonialism and capitalist
patriarchy-sexism, racism, homophobia, ect” (Perez, 1997,p.161). Hurtado elaborates on sitios y
lenguas and states, “Claiming a lengua means claiming a language, and a discourse. Claiming a
sitio involves a historical place, a geographical location, and a philosophical space” (Hurtado,
2003, p.6). This concept refers to breaking silence and having Chicana words no longer rejected
(Perez, 1997). Perez also suggests a third space be developed and explored only by
Chicanas\Latinas with no one truth and no one experience. She suggests that marginalized
groups engage in the process of learning to speak and moving from object to subject. This is key
because oppressed groups are not passive. They are constantly recreating their reality and
conditions. The task is to understand why and how they recreate this. In referring to Chicana
lesbians, Emma Perez states, “We have been spoken about, written about, spoken at but never
spoken with or listened to…I have rights to my space. It is about survival. I think of myself as
one who must separate to my space and language of women to revitalize, to nurture and be
nurtured (1997,p.175-179). As a means of survival the Chicanas\Latinas within my study
resorted to spaces where they could connect to their ethnic\cultural identities without the Spanish
language.
Borderlands theory allows us to reposition Chicanas\Latinas‟ location in the margins as a
location of strength and empowerment. It is within these margins that sitios y lenguas becomes
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 14
essential for Chicanas and Latinas to be able to resist dominant discourses (lenguas) within
spaces (sitios) that are created out of resistance. However, Chicanas\Latinas in this study have
added another layer to this concept, as it relates to my research question, and shows that these are
spaces (sitios) where they have acquired a discourse (lengua) to interpret their identities or social
position. In each space (sitio) they acquire new discourses (lenguas). The ideas of sitios y
lenguas and borderlands allowed for the formation of a third theoretical concept to emerge which
I call Chicana\Latina language consciousness. Embracing all that it entails to not be proficient in
Spanish and owning all that comes with that, informs what a Chicana\Latina Language
Consciousness is. In other words the participants within this study were more than aware that
Spanish did not define their identities, rather they used their awareness or consciousness of this
to formulate a set of beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, in order to negotiate spaces that included and
excluded them while still making and holding their cultural \ethnic identities as Chicanas\Latinas
in institutions of higher education.
Methods
Researcher Positionality
Chicana/Boricua Utahan
I am brown
I am a native of Utah, when so many look down and say “ugh Utah” with disgust
Utah is my home, I do not disregard yours
My native tongue is English
English is my only tongue
“You don‟t speak Spanish?” they say…not by choice
I am third generation does that matter?
Assimilation is what happened…this tale of assimilation allowed for my Puerto Rican roots to
vanish leaving me with only the Chicana
However, the Boricua lives and wants to be heard…just doesn‟t know its voice
I am split between knowing and unknowing
I stand scared
HALF and HALF
More like THREE
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 15
Boricua, Chicana, and White are the worlds I live in
I am not accepted in an all three
NON AUTHENTIC
I am rejected by the first because of assimilation
I am rejected by the second because I do not speak the tongue of the oppressor
I am rejected by the third because they assume I speak two tongues of oppression
Can you hear the contradictions? Do you choose to listen?
I am a brown bodied woman validated and invalidated…causing me to question who/what is
real?
I speak of truth, a truth of my own lived experiences
A truth that is similar to many, but too painful to others
With truth and pain…I am Nichole
I was born and raised in Utah. I am third generation born to a Puerto Rican mother and a
Chicano father. My parents were not taught Spanish when growing up thus either was I.
However, I grew up in a politically activist socially conscious household. My parents instilled in
me that I was a Chicana\Puerto Rican regardless if I knew the Spanish language. After having
my authenticity questioned throughout my whole life I strived to learn Spanish. I took classes in
high school and continued this into college. I studied abroad in Spain in attempts to further
immerse myself in the Spanish language. However, when I returned my Spanish was still not
good enough and in return I wrote the poem above. Throughout my academic journey I noticed
that my experience as a Spanish learner was not present. My experience was important to me
because I knew not all Chican@s\Latin@s speak Spanish, but still many identify with the
Chican@\Latin@ communities. This research project was an attempt to have our voices heard
and validated.
My research is as much about me and my experiences negotiating language and my
identities as it is about the participants in my study. I do not approach my research objectively
detached. Rather, it is informed by my epistemological orientation and cultural intuition.
Chicana feminist scholar, Dolores Delgado Bernal defines cultural intuition as, “a personal
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 16
quality of the researcher based on the attribute of having the ability to give meaning to data”
(1998, p.563). Four sources contribute to Chicana researches‟ cultural intuition: one„s personal
experience, the existing literature, one‟s professional experience, and the analytical research
process itself (Delgado Bernal, 1998). As a monolingual Chicana\Puerto Rican I was in search
of literature that reflected my personal experience, what I found in the existing literature helped
me to understand my identity as a Chicana\Puerto Rican, but did not reflect language barriers or
identity issues that occurred with the absence of Spanish. As I conducted my research I could
relate to and understand what my participants had and were going through due to my own life
experience, thus I brought to the research varying degrees of sensitivity. Clearly, my social
position informs and guides my research and method.
Participants
I contacted Chicanas\Latinas who were not proficient in Spanish at the University of
Utah campus. I did this through social networks and my relationship to them as a
Chicana\Puertorriqueña student at the University of Utah. In previous discussions, on campus as
well as off-campus communities, I was able to build relationships with my participants before
this study was conducted. As a result, when I proposed my study and asked for participants they
all agreed to partake and were grateful that their voices would be heard. Three of my
participants were undergraduate students that self-identified either as Chicana or Latina. I had
met these three participants through student groups, classes, and through community-based
projects. The other three participants were alumni from institutions of higher education and selfidentified either as Chicana or Latina. I had met these three participants through campus work
and community-based projects. In the findings section I provide a more detailed portrait of the
six participants.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 17
Data Collection and Data Analysis
Data collection began with semi-structured interviews that took place in a setting where
the participants felt safe and comfortable. These locations tended to be on campus or in the
comfort of their homes. After all six individual interviews took place I held a focus group in
order to share findings and to further answer questions I still had from their individual
interviews. The focus group was held at Mestizo Coffee house; a coffee house that has a social
justice agenda and embraces diversity and the mixing of cultures that exists in the Salt Lake
Valley and in particular, the West Side, which is predominantly Chican@\Latin@. This space
was familiar to all of my participants and served as a safe space for all of us to engage and speak
of our experiences. It was important to hold this focus group in our community because it was
time to realize as non-bilingual Chicanas\Latinas we were not alone and we experienced similar
struggles not only within our own communities, but outside as well. The focus group served not
only as a means of data collection, but as a means to break the silence around our experiences
and have our monolingual voices heard.
I digitally recorded all interviews and focus group and transcribed all findings. Drawing
upon my cultural intuition to code data gave me the ability to resist traditional paradigms that
often dismiss the experiences and knowledge of Chicanas and Latinas (Delgado Bernal, 1998). I
arrived at my findings in both an inductive and deductive approach. Part of my coding schemes
was based on theoretical concepts from the literature such as borderlands and sititos y lenguas. I
looked for the presences of these themes within the transcribed interviews. However, my coding
schemes also included themes that emerged from the data rather than concepts from the
literature. For example, “protection” and “social justice”, were themes that later evolved into
what I call Chicana\Latina language consciousness. Chicana\Latina language consciousness
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 18
evolved as I began to identify similarities that my participants had in regards to being nonproficient Chicanas\Latinas and how they negotiated spaces in institutions of higher education.
Findings
The findings of this section focus on non-bilingual Chicana\Latina college students and
alumni. These findings engage Chicana feminist thought in a way that captures complexities of
Chicanas\Latinas lives and explores the distinctions of our social positions. From these findings
non-bilingual Chicanas\Latinas give name to their own experiences and affirm themselves. It is
from the participants applied lessons of their daily lives that they begin to transform the meaning
of their lived experiences. Their identities are always in process as they constantly remake their
subject positions (Delgado Bernal, 2006, p.78).
Participants
The three undergraduates were Raquel3 self-identified as Chicana, Guadalupe selfidentified as Chicana, and Marie self-identified as Latina. All three of them were of junior status
at the University of Utah. The three alumni were Monica self-identified as Chicana\Mexicana,
Rosa self-identified as Chicana, and Krystal and self identified as Chicana. All three of them
still participate in institutions of higher education. All participants, except for Raquel, were from
single mother households, which deeply impacted and affirmed their identities as Chicanas and
Latinas. All participants, except for Monica, were native Utahans, which is important in
understanding the similarities in data that emerged. All participants were first generation college
3
Pseudonym. Note all proper names utilized throughout this paper are pseudonyms to protect the privacy of the
participants.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 19
students and began to challenge Eurocentric ideologies through the educational systems either in
high school or in college.
Monica: Self identified as a Chicana\Mexicana. She was born and raised in New Mexico where
her family had been for three generations. Monica considered herself fourth generation in the
United States. Monica had been a first generation college student and now at 45 was a tenured
professor and the first in her family to receive her Ph.D. She expressed pride in her upbringing.
Her mother was a single mother and raised ten kids on her own. Her father was in and out of
her life until he died when she was four. Her mother was fluent in Spanish, but never taught the
children out of protection. Monica considered herself somewhat proficient in Spanish as a
second language, but said she was not fluent. Even though Spanish was learned as a second
language it did not prevent her from having a Chicana\Mexicana identity.
Rosa: Self identified as a Chicana. She was born and raised in Utah where her family had been
for three generations. Rosa considered herself fourth generation in the United States. She was
38 and a community activist\artist. Rosa was a first generation college student and graduated
with her Bachelors of Fine Arts. Her mother was a single mother who raised 9 children. Her
mother was fluent in Spanish, but Rosa was never taught in the household out of protection.
Rosa did not consider herself fluent, but was somewhat proficient in Spanish through what she
learned in college. She expressed that it was in college that she began to really question who she
was and find her own history. As she began to discover her history and social position she began
to paint what mattered most to her, family. Rosa took pride in the art that she produced because
she painted her family. Rosa looked at it as away to keep her history intact. Throughout her life
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 20
Rosa knew that she was Chicana, but expressed that it wasn‟t until college that she began to learn
what that meant.
Krystal: Self-identified as Chicana. She was born and raised in Utah where her family had been
for three generations on her father‟s side. Krystal‟s mother was a single mother and her father
was in and out of her life. Even though she did not have a relationship with her father she was
very close to her paternal grandmother and aunt. She was 25 and an academic advisor. She was
a first generation college student and graduated with two Bachelor‟s Degrees and was applying
to a master‟s program. Her mother was from Mexico and fluent in Spanish. However, Krystal
considered herself fourth generation based on her father‟s lineage and due to her upbringing.
She explained that her mother tried to teach her Spanish, but she had no will to learn it. Krystal
stated that it wasn‟t until college that she began to become socially conscious and wish she
would have learned the language. Krystal identified as a Chicana, but felt that she was not
accepted by her community thus she was resistant to enter certain spaces. She felt this because
of her lack of fluency in Spanish. Krystal stated that she did not learn any Spanish and
considered herself not even somewhat proficient.
Raquel: Self-identified as Chicana. She was born in Utah and was raised in Utah as well as
Arizona. Her mother‟s side had been in the United States for three generations. Whereas, her
father immigrated here from Mexico. Raquel considered herself fourth generation. She was 28
and an undergraduate majoring in English. Her parents were activists and proud supporters of
the Chican@ movement. Raquel expressed that she learned her identity and activism from her
parents. Both of her parents were fluent in Spanish. However, Spanish was not taught in the
household out of protection. Raquel expressed that if she would have been taught Spanish her
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 21
authenticity as a Chicana would have not been questioned. The lack of language did not prevent
her from entering Chian@\Latin@ spaces.
Guadalupe: Self-identified as Chicana. She was born and raised in Utah. Her mother‟s family
had been here for three generations. Whereas, her father immigrated from Mexico. Guadalupe
considered herself fourth generation since she was raised in a single mother household. She was
21 and an undergraduate majoring in graphic design. Guadalupe was a first generation college
student. Her mother was not fluent in Spanish and due to absence of her father never learned
Spanish. She expressed that she grew up knowing that injustices were prevalent and she was
tracked throughout her academic career. It wasn‟t until college that she began to find people
who had similar experiences. Guadalupe began to learn Spanish in high school and continued
this into college. She expressed that it was hard only being somewhat proficient in Spanish, but
explained being with her community was better than being with whites.
Marie: Self-identified as Latina. She was born and raised in Utah. Her mother‟s family had
been here for three generations. Whereas, her father immigrated from Bolivia. Marie
considered herself fourth generation since she was raised in a single mother household. She was
21 and an undergraduate majoring in Biology. Marie was a first generation college student. Her
mother was not fluent in Spanish and due to the absence of her father she never learned Spanish.
She expressed that she grew up in limbo in terms of her identity. It was not until college that she
began to become socially aware. Marie stated that the lack of language kept her away from
certain spaces, but she knew that she was not white and strove for social justice. She considered
herself somewhat proficient in Spanish due to taking classes in high school and in college.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 22
Chicana\Latina Language Consciousness and Three Themes
Three themes emerged from the findings: The first theme, Understanding the Erasure of
the Spanish Language, refers to the ways in which the participants understood why Spanish was
not taught to them. They often referred to not being taught Spanish as a result of their parents
wanting to protect them. (Re) creation of Spaces, is the second theme and points out how the
participants negotiated Latin@ as well as non-Latin@ spaces that included or excluded them as
non-bilingual Chicanas\Latinas. Finally, Social Justice Mindset, is the idea that the participants
chose to engage fully and give back to their communities despite the barriers they faced as nonbilingual Chicanas\Latinas. These three ideas inform my understanding of how women in my
study negotiated spaces that included and excluded them while still holding on to their cultural
\ethnic identities as Chicanas\Latinas in institutions of higher education. The concept of
Chicana\Latina language consciousness emerges from these three themes. It is a way to name
the formation of a set of beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge that each of the women discussed.
Understanding the Erasure of the Spanish Language
I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess-that was good for three licks on the knuckles
with a sharp ruler. I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for „talking back‟ to the
Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name. „If you want to
be American, speak „American.‟ If you don‟t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.‟
– Gloria Anzaldua
Within my research each participant demonstrated an understanding of what it meant to
be a Chicana\Latina who is not proficient in Spanish. This understanding included a knowledge
of why they did not learn Spanish while growing up and how they negotiated space with the
absences of the Spanish language. At some point in their life each participant learned how
Spanish was erased either through school, home, or the community. All participants realized
that the erasure of the Spanish language was not their fault. At some point the language was lost
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 23
due to the racism that existed in schools. However, even though they knew they were not to
blame the feelings of pain, shame, embarrassment, and judgment existed causing them to be on
the borderlands, feeling marginalized.
Monica states, “My dad forbid me to speak any Spanish in the home because he said you
know I don‟t want my kids to be corporally punished like we were in school…him and my mom
were both hit in school for speaking Spanish.” Monica learned that erasure of the Spanish began
within the school system for her parents and then they refused to teach her and her siblings at
home. They simply did not want their children to have a similar experience as they did. They
seemed to feel that not teaching their children Spanish was a way to protect them from being
punished for speaking Spanish in schools. As examined in the literature review, the segregation
and dismantling of the Mexican culture, language, and customs began in the educational system
as early as the 1900‟s (Gonzales, 1990). This process of forced assimilation became known
within the educational system as Americanization and the key goal was to take away the Spanish
language. Due to this children and their families struggled with the retention of culture and
language. Rosa further solidifies this point, “We always had a lot of contradictions in our
household. This internalized racism and this shame, which we got from our father, and then also
the pride, being proud of who we are through our mom, but I think it has to do with the
educational institution.” Monica and Rosa, as well as the majority of my participants, are
examples of the impact that Americanization ideologies had on the loss of the Spanish language.
All participants‟ families clearly recognized that being Chicana or Latina was not valued by
dominant society and even dangerous within the educational system, thus Spanish was not taught
in the home. All of the participants also knew what it meant to be in the community without the
Spanish language and how their cultural\ethnic identities were challenged.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 24
Raquel contested to the barriers she faced when she entered her community in Phoenix
compared to her community in Utah.
When we moved to Phoenix is when it really hit me because there were a lot of Spanish speaking
people there. That‟s when people would turn the nose up at me if I didn‟t speak Spanish. Like
what are you some white girl? I was like what? It was so weird because when I was in Utah I was
like the Mexican girl. It was so weird to go to Phoenix and for them to say that I‟m a white girl.
Raquel‟s identity was challenged based on the fact that she did not speak Spanish. It is as
if the Spanish language were to define what it meant to be an authentic Mexican. Raquel
felt the pressures and marginality from the Mexican community in Phoenix as they
questioned her authenticity, and accused her of being a white girl. Regardless, if Raquel
knew Spanish or not she was a brown body that had a similar experience, and did not
want to be set apart from her community based on the absence of language.
Parallel to this Marie experienced what it meant to be in Latin@ as well as non
Latin@ communities with the lack of the Spanish language and how her identity is
challenged,
My dad is Bolivian and my mom is Mexican American but I don‟t really know my
Bolivian heritage. My dad has been absent for a good portion of my life. I always consider
myself more Mexican American, but I was in limbo. I never got along with other Latinas because
I didn‟t speak Spanish and so it was always kind of like I was inferior. I had a lot of white friends
and I always felt lost too because I was on the outside. They saw me as Mexican and fluent in
Spanish, but no. I‟m Latina…how do I identify myself because I mean I‟m Bolivian but I don‟t
really know that side?
Maria in questioning her own identity experienced marginality from both the Latin@
community as well as white community. It was assumed by the Latin@ community that
she spoke Spanish, and when they found out she didn‟t she was not accepted. It was
assumed by the white community that she was Mexican American and fluent in Spanish,
but this was not the case both because she self-identified as Latina and was monolingual.
We can see that Marie was pushed into marginality because she didn‟t fit into what these
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 25
communities wanted and assumed of her. For Marie, this challenged and question who
she was. Being challenged by more than one community was common for all of my
participants and really pushed them to question what it meant to be a Chicana or Latina
without the Spanish language, but still seen by their race and gender. Like her, many of
participants had similar experiences at one point in their lives.
What we learn from the erasure of the Spanish language and the impact that it had on my
participants is that there is no one lived experience or truth for monolingual Chicanas\Latinas
within this study. For these participants it is essential that their history of the erasure of the
Spanish language is understood and validated. As Rosa expresses:
It‟s really painful, but I know at the same time that as long as I go through it, and I keep
trying I think that‟s the best I can do. It took me a long time to realize that people‟s judgment of
why I don‟t speak Spanish is not a reflection on me that‟s a reflection on them. I‟m okay with my
experience now. Every now and then I still have moments of embarrassment, but I always keep
myself in check. As long as you‟re trying that‟s all that matters, but it has been a really painful
embarrassing journey to get to the point where I feel like I‟m at now. I feel like I can speak in
Spanish and make mistakes. I can laugh at myself every now and then but it depends on the day.
I feel like sometimes the people who ask why you don‟t speak Spanish wouldn‟t be asking you
that if they knew our Chicano history.
Rosa demonstrates what it means to identify as a Chicana without the Spanish language, and the
process she had went through to get to that moment. Rosa moved away from blaming herself
due to the language loss and resorted back to Chican@ history in the context of the U.S., and
why the erasure of Spanish began. As she resorted back to this history herself confidence
became stronger and her willingness to learn and speak Spanish grew. Even though Rosa
struggles with learning Spanish she began to learn it for herself. The process of learning Spanish
and speaking it came at different times for the participants, but each had an understanding of
why they wanted to learn it or didn‟t want to learn it.
Knowledge gained from the participants parents and reasoning of why they did not learn
the Spanish language became away for the participants to begin to understand their histories of
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 26
racism and exclusion. Due to the erasure of language the participants experienced marginality
not only from their own communities, but from outside communities as well. As they
experienced multiple forms of marginality the participants acknowledged why the Spanish
language was erased and how their identities were challenged. As this happened they began to
make sense of what it meant to be a Chicana\Latina who was not proficient in the Spanish
language. They began to find their own belonging in Latin@ as well as non Latin@ spaces.
While they interpreted and created their own spaces of belonging the next theme emerged that I
named (Re) creation of Space.
(Re)creation of Space
We have been spoken about, written about, spoken at but never spoken with or listened to. We
speak our history to each other now… I have rights to my space. So call me a separatist, but to me
it‟s not about separatism. It is about survival. I think of myself as one who must separate to my
space and language of women to revitalize, to nurture and be nurtured.
– Emma Perez
Within these Latino as well as non- Latino spaces discourses emerged a (re)creation of
space where they could negotiate spaces that included and excluded them as non-proficient
Spanish speakers. What I found was that these spaces (sitios) were not geographically bound
and the (lengua) was not a language but rather a discourse that was unfolded. The process of
moving from object to subject…Lengua is the acquisition of the skills, knowledge, and tools in
these Latino sitios as well as non-Latino spaces where each of them had gained a lengua such as
teaching, art, sisterhood, and mentorship. In these spaces these Chicanas and Latinas have
recreated and negotiated what it means not to be proficient in Spanish and how they find ways to
communicate and connect beyond the Spanish language.
None of the participants were bilingual in Spanish and none of them identified as white.
Because they identified as Chicana or Latina they each chose to enter spaces where they could
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 27
connect with other Chicanas and Latinas. For some of the participants entering these Latin@
spaces left them feeling marginalized due to their lack of proficiency in Spanish. As marginality
occurred they began to embrace the concept of sitios y lenguas and create spaces where they
could dialogue about not only being a Chicana or Latina, but also not being bilingual. They all
engaged in the process of learning to speak and moving from object to subject.
Rosa describes how for her art was the discourse that moved her beyond her limited
Spanish and allowed her to negotiate her participation in the community where she lived. Rosa
states,
“Murals have been really important to me. Of course it‟s been influenced by the Mexican mural
movement and how they redefined Mexican and indigenous identity. Not all the indigenous
people had access to education so the public spaces were really important…. That‟s the one thing
that Is really important to me. It communicates to more people that are important to me, my
history, my background, and where I came from.”
Rosa expresses that art especially murals act as a discourse in which she can communicate as a
Chicana and a non-proficient Spanish speaker within her community. She express you don‟t
need a particular educational level or a language to connect with art.
As you observe her self-portrait entitled Freedom we can see a brown body owning
sadness and communicating through art. By painting herself as Lady Liberty entangled in barb
wire we can see the contradictions of what it means to be free in America. Like Rosa, the
participants, felt imprisoned as Chicanas\Latinas in America.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 28
Another space that was created was sisterhood. I refer to sisterhood as a space that is
created by two Chicanas\Latinas who connect on the basis of their marginality and seek out one
another for support in order to navigate and succeed in a space where the feel marginalized.
Guadalupe found her sisterhood within an academic setting.
It was the beginning of the semester and I was taking a Spanish class with all white students. I
hate that because I always get questioned of why I am there. Like I am fluent or something…a
couple days later another girl enrolled and it was this Latina! I was like wow. There is another
one, we found each other immediately. We had this conversation about what neighborhood we
were from. First of all she was from Utah and we were both from the Glendale\Rosepark area.
We just had this conversation about how our family speaks Spanish but we don‟t and how that‟s
difficult to connect with some family. The most important thing to learning Spanish for us was to
communicate with our family. I don‟t care if I‟m impressing any Latinas or professors. This
conversation was for family
Within a non-Latino space Guadalupe was able to (re)create a space of belonging with another
Latina who was not proficient in Spanish. They were able to navigate and succeed in a marginal
space, their Spanish class, with the support of each other. We also see that Guadalupe
(re)created this space not only for her, but for her family, as did the other Latina.
Monica explores what it means to create a space as a teacher and mentor for other nonbilingual Chicanas\Latinas within institutions of higher education while engaging within the
Chican@\Latin@ community on a predominantly white campus.
SROP would come on campus in the summers and we would get Latinos, especially from
California. I don‟t know why that is? There‟s this sense of what is and isn‟t valid. So when
California graduate students would speak to Chicanas from Utah or from New Mexico they would
judge them really harshly. The Utah and New Mexico kids would come and talk to me and say
why are they judging us so harshly? I would say it‟s just pathetic, don‟t listen to that you‟re not a
bad person, you‟re not invalid or less than an activist, you‟re not less of a social justice thinker just
because you don‟t speak Spanish.
Monica demonstrates that as a Chicana professor at a predominantly white campus in a
Chican@\Latin@ space she (re) created a space into teaching and mentorship. It was
necessary to do this in order to validate the experiences of her students and mentor them
due to her own lived experience and the barriers she faced as non-bilingual Chicana.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 29
As the participants (re)created spaces that included and excluded them they engaged in
wanting to give back to their community in a exemplifying their desire for social justice.
Guadalupe expresses this while relating to other Chicanas\Latinas and similar discrimination
they faced.
There is nowhere else for me to go. It‟s like just deal with it or whiteness. It could be a lot worse.
In Mujeres4 I connect with all of those women because we all have the struggle of sexism and
serious bullshit like rape. Those kinds of things are ways I can connect with those women. We
can talk about those in safe spaces it‟s a place that I know I can got to even in the most urgent of
times despite languages barriers.
Guadalupe begins to touch on why these Chican@\Latin@ spaces are needed in
order for survival. Despite what marginality the participants faced in certain spaces they
learned how to negotiate those spaces in order to form their own belonging. In the case
of Rosa it was through art, Monica through teaching and mentorship, and Guadalupe
through sisterhood and connecting due to other discrimination she faced. As the
participants began to connect to their communities as well as outside their communities
they understood that the marginality they faced was similar to others. This empowered
them to give back to their communities and fight for social justice.
Social Justice Mindset
I have an activista spirit of self determination. The activistas say it emerges from within,
and is a spirit learned and practiced each day while walking the red road. It is a consciousness that
considers indigenous beliefs, histories of dignity, struggle, oppression, and positive strategies for
transcending obstacles.
-Jo Anna Mixpe Ley
After finding one‟s history, fighting the colonized mind, and fighting the colonized
spaces in between rupturing the system; all participants gained awareness of what it means to
have a Chicana\Latina culture without the Spanish language. This is key because in a Chicana
4
Pseudonym. Note all proper names utilized throughout this paper are pseudonyms to protect the privacy of the
participants.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 30
feminist epistemology as Delgado Bernal states, “a unique characteristic of a Chicana feminist
epistemology is that it validates and addresses experiences that are intertwined with issues”
(1998, p.561) that are not singular, but are intersectionalities of multiple forms of marginality
this means that the Chicanas and Latinas within my study “have a strength that comes from their
borderland experiences” (p.561).
All participants understood the value of Spanish, but found other ways to gain a
Chicana\Latina identity. They wanted to give back to their community regardless if they knew
the language. They gave back to their communities through mentorship and wanting to engage
future generations in social justice. Marie speaks to conversations she has with her younger
sister:
I was telling her what I was doing in M.E.Ch.A. and I started talking about social justice.
She‟s beginning to be more active about it because she did a focus group. It was done through the
University of Utah and they asked her questions about oppression. I feel that with some of her
friends too that are Chicana and Latina and I feel for them too. They don‟t speak Spanish too, but
I think it‟s okay not to know Spanish, but still embrace your culture. I think that‟s what I really
got of M.E.Ch.A., and taking the Ethnic Studies classes and social and justices classes. It‟s okay
that you don‟t know Spanish but you can also know your roots too. So I talk to my sister a lot
about it.
Marie has begun to take on a mentoring role for not only her sister, but her sister‟s friends.
Classes that she took as well as student groups she joined began to change the way she viewed
identity. She began to want to achieve change for her community, and she started within her
own home.
Raquel explains how she had to overcome her language barriers in order to be in the
movement where her community needed her and gives advice for future generations:
I came back to M.E.Ch.A. because I knew I needed to be in the movement no matter
who‟s going to judge me I mean that‟s more important. Just to get involved no matter what even
though you‟ll feel uncomfortable at first, eventually you‟ll get over that. They‟ll embrace you;
you just have to get involved because it‟s so empowering to be in a room full of educated
Chicanas or Chicanos. It‟s really empowering and it has really helped me especially with the past
few years because it has been so damn stressful trying to get over this hurtle and this weird thing
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 31
like getting involved in academia. It‟s important to see the profes, you‟re like okay they totally
made it, look how inspiring their work is and what they‟ve done. You‟re not alone in it!
Raquel despite feeling marginalized realized that the Chian@\Latin@ communities have very
important issues that must be overcome united. She set her personal issues aside in order to help
her community. Raquel felt the yearning of her communities drawing her back to the movement
and her people.
Guadalupe speaks to what she has learned in her student groups and how she plans to use
her career to empower future generations:
I started going to more M.E.Ch.A. meetings and I read the planes. I learned a lot. I
realized that I didn‟t want to submit myself to whiteness because it was just hurting myself. I
think that the Brown Berets are definitely shaping the way that I‟m looking at my education and
looking at what I plan to do afterwards. We have a lot of talks about capitalism and really
deconstructing. We deconstruct the idea of nationalism and for me that helps a lot when we‟re
talking about immigration. I think that‟s shaping the way I think about what I want to do after
higher education because I do plan to go to graduate school, but as far as after that I have a lot of
ideas. I want to work in a studio and do more with my art work but as I‟m being more influenced
by like the Brown Berets, M.E.Ch.A, and even the Cross Cultural Coalition I think way more
about being a teacher now. I think that‟s really powerful I realize that I would want to pass on all
this knowledge that I wish I would have had as a young person.
Guadalupe due to her consciousness began to consider higher education as a means to reach
youth to pass on knowledge that she wished she would have learned as a young person. By
Guadalupe gaining knowledge from engaging politically active students group it changed her
higher education experience. She began to understand that social justice was an ongoing process
that needed to be passed down to future generations.
All the participants despite the challenges they faced due to not being bilingual embraced
multiple Chican@\Latin@ communities. They all understood that they were valued and that
their experiences should be validated. Monica states:
Trust your core self. You‟re a wonderful person. We all are. No one should question
your dignity, your pride, or your culture. You have great value as everyone else. Spanish doesn‟t
define your level of value. In fact in some ways not being a Spanish speaker speaks to us about
our experience and our journey as a people. I think that we should embrace that. We should
embrace all of it. I think a Chicana identity is so much bigger than whether you got taught
Spanish.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 32
Embracing all that entails to not to be proficient in Spanish and owning all that comes
with that, supports or informs what a Chicana\Latina Language Consciousness is. In other words
the participants within this study were more than aware that Spanish did not define their
identities rather they used their awareness or consciousness of this to formulate a set of beliefs,
attitudes, knowledge,in order to negotiate spaces that included and excluded them while still
holding on to their cultural \ethnic identities as Chicanas\Latinas in institutions of higher
education.
Overall, my own social position as a monolingual Chicana\Puerto Rican has informed
and helped me pursue this research project. Through the research process, I was able to identify
common themes that monolingual Chicanas\Latinas experience as they negotiate their
cultural\ethnic identites. As I named the themes: Understanding the Erasure of the Spanish
Language, (Re) creation of Spaces, and Social Justice Mindset my participants voices as well as
my own being to be heard and validated empirically in scholarship about Chicana\Latinas. I
named this process Chicana\Latina language consciousness in which my participants formed a
set of beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, in order to negotiate spaces that included and excluded them.
By engaging in this process they were able to hold on to their cultural \ethnic identities as
Chicanas\Latinas in institutions of higher education.
Negotiating Spaces: Non-Bilingual Chicanas\Latinas 33
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