My review of the book "Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez" by Imelda Estrada

Book Review and Response to “Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Imelda Estrada

“Take care of your family first. But then reach out to your neighbor, your block, your city, your country. Everybody wants change, but they want it to come by way of somebody else…If you wait for the government, you’ll wait a long time.”

~Edward James Olmos

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982) is the autobiography of a first-generation Mexican-American boy.  As a Mexican-American who is a first-generation college student, this book was a little bittersweet to me.  Rodriguez’s obvious rejection of his ancestral Mexican roots was a little upsetting.  Also, the image he creates of himself as the “scholarship boy,” in contrast to his uneducated family, was very disturbing.  At the beginning I decided to read this book because I wanted to read about someone like myself, someone Hispanic who believes in getting an education.  But I was not prepared for the surprise Rodriguez had in store for me in his autobiography. While reading his book, I experienced a mixture of feelings.  On one hand, I could not help but to empathize with him about the similarities we both shared as bilingual students in the United States.  On the other hand, Rodriguez’s interpretation of events made me feel confused and disconcerted about his writing.  Also, I was aware of my reaction to Rodriguez’s book.  Even though I have never met him I got a feeling, through his writings that he might be a bit of a presumptuous and ungrateful person.  He acknowledges benefiting from programs and yet he criticizes them. I was unable to judge the merits of the educational system through the eyes of Mr. Rodriguez because he contradicts himself in his autobiography.

Nonetheless, Richard Rodriguez’s autobiography offers enough discussion on the subjects of teaching practices and students’ learning styles by providing an opportunity to analyze the use of language and bilingual education, as well as affirmative action in the United States.

LANGUAGE:

A great portion of the book Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez focuses on the use of language in his life.  Rodriguez writes, “This autobiography, moreover, is a book about language” (Rodriguez, 1982, p. 6). He describes his childhood in detail. At the beginning of the book, Rodriguez described himself as a boy who spoke primarily Spanish. His parents are described as middle-class Mexicans who struggled with English. At an early age his parents taught him to speak Spanish, which became his primary language. Spanish was the language he spoke at home while English was the language spoken by los gringos. In his book Rodriguez walks his readers through his journey and the change of language from Spanish to English upon the beginning of his education in an elementary Catholic school. Arguing that the reason he was unable to assimilate to the American culture was because of his primary language, Spanish.  He resentfully recalls a playful teasing nickname he received: pocho, he interprets this name as a Mexican-American who is forgetting his native Spanish language and feeling guilty about it (not the real definition). Proficiency in the English language is becoming to Rodriguez a revelation of his American citizenship or nationality. Rodriguez’s change of language from Spanish to English was forced upon him by the nuns who taught at his school. His parents were asked to speak English at home. This event changed everything for Richard Rodriguez, and he became more Americanized and less private. The rejection of his native Spanish language is only the beginning of his future rejection of bilingual education for Mexican-Americans in the United States.  Richard Rodriguez in his book Hunger of Memory (1982) writes the following about bilingual education:

Supporters of bilingual education today imply that students like me miss a great deal by    not being taught in their family’s language.What they seem not to recognize is that, as a socially disadvantaged child, I considered Spanish to be a private language.What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right¾and the obligation¾to speak the public language of los gringos (p. 19).

Unfortunately, Richard Rodriguez did not take into consideration, while writing his autobiography, the history of the United States. The United States has a very linguistically diverse population and it’s a country composed of immigrants since its inception: “While Americans frequently celebrate the United States as a nation of immigrants, language policies are always working against the diversity of this country” (Banks & Banks, 2010, p. 303). For example: “[I]n recent years, the debate has escalated to a new level with English-only initiatives, such as the state-level Unz Initiative in California, Proposition 227, spearheaded by the millionaire businessman Ron Unz and passed by California voters in June 1998, outlawing bilingual education in the state of California” (Banks & Banks, 2010, p. 293).

Richard Rodriguez argues that bilingual education limits a young student, when in reality it does the opposite.  My life is very similar to the one described by the autobiography of Richard Rodriguez. My primary language is Spanish and English is my second language.  Nonetheless, I received my high-school diploma in three years and graduated in the top five percent of my class (language was never an issue). “Research indicates that students learn best in meaning-centered and intellectually rich environment and that linguistically diverse students have the maximum potential to succeed when their language and culture are used and developed in instruction” (Banks & Banks, 2010, p. 303). While countries such as China, India, and Vietnam, among others, encourage their citizens to speak multiple languages, the United States passes language policies than condemn speaking other languages than English.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION:

Richard Rodriguez also focuses his negative feelings about affirmative action in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. What does affirmative action consist of? “Affirmative action constitutes a redistribution of college slots toward minority students, particularly for more exclusive institutions” (Durlauf, 2008, p. 132). Richard Rodriguez wrote several articles against affirmative action, and one of his reasons was that, “The policy of affirmative action, however, was never able to distinguish someone like me (a graduate student of English, ambitious for a college teaching career) from a slightly educated Mexican-American who lived in a barrio and worked as a menial laborer, never expecting a future improved” (Rodriguez, 1982, p. 151). He is really an arrogant person, and affirmative action has little to do with his feelings of inferiority and insecurities. Even though he enjoyed bilingual programs and took advantage of all the benefits of affirmative action he never supported them and spoke always against them. Some scholars would describe Richard Rodriguez’s as, “member[s] of disadvantaged groups may see affirmative action as a source of negative outcomes and potential loss, because they run the risk of being seen as less competent and unlikely to have been hired because of their qualifications, even if they have superior individual skills” (Resendez, 2002, p. 2004). Perhaps what really upset me about Richard Rodriguez is the cynical or sarcastic attitude he presents in his book. He rejects, but at the same time he takes advantage of his ethnicity.  In fact, he ascribes his scholastic success to individual merits only when all through his biography we read the opposite, “The scholarship boy cannot afford to admire his parents” (Rodriguez, 1982, p. 72). As a child, he was embarrassed by his parents’ lack of education. He would then project this embarrassment on the lack of confidents he possessed on his own¾by condemning programs such as bilingual education and affirmative action.  In his book, he feels guilty that he has been a willing beneficiary of affirmative action, “The fact is that I complied with affirmative action.I permitted myself to be prized.Even after publicly I continued to indicate my race on applications for financial aid” (p. 152). Richard Rodriguez’s autobiography is an isolated case of unappreciative behavior of an education received with nothing more than benefits toward him as a minority student. Programs such as bilingual education and affirmative action made it possible for him to received an education and become one of the first Hispanic students in higher education.

In conclusion, bilingual education and affirmative action are two programs sponsored by the education system that have reported many successful stories like myself and Richard Rodriguez (even if he refuses to acknowledge it). For example, “In nearly every classroom, linguistic diversity shapes the nature of teachers’ work.Linguistic and cultural diversity is one of the great assets of the United States, yet schooling for linguistically diverse students continues to be plagued by poor programs, limited resources, and lack of commitment for policy makers” (Banks & Banks, 2010, p. 303). On the other hand, I echo the comments activists made of Richard Rodriguez. “I was becoming the gringo’s fawning pet. What ‘they’ want all Hispanic to be.I remember the remark when I was introduced to an all-white audience and heard their applause so loud” (Rodriguez, 1982, p. 148).  In the midst of his rejection for bilingual education and affirmative action, the reader acknowledges the benefits Richard Rodriguez received through these two programs described in his autobiography.The educational system provides a more diverse and complete education thanks to programs created to educate minorities and to help them succeed.The book Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez testifies to this, even if its author does not want to acknowledge it.

REFERENCES:

Aberson, C.L. (2007). Diversity, merit and discrimintion beliefs as predictors of support for affirmative action policy actions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 2451-2474.

Banks, J., & Banks, C. (Eds.). (2010). Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives. (7th ed.). New York: Wiley.

Durlauf, Steven N. (2008). Affirmative action, meritocracy, and efficiency.  Politics, Philosophy & Economics, May 2008, 7: 131-158, Sage Publications.

Resendez, M.G. (2002). The stigmatizing effects of affirmative action: An examination of moderating variables.  Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 421-444.

Rodriguez, R. (1982). Hunger of memory: The education of Richard Rodriguez autobiography. Boston, MA.: D.R. Godine.