Michael Centeno
Professor Schulte
April 6th, 2021
English 10100
Why Is Spanish Considered “Inferior” to Many?

The Spanish language is the second most spoken native language on Earth, with around 480 million native speakers, behind only Mandarin Chinese. The vast Spanish-language diaspora in the world is due in part to Spain, the country where the language originated, and its vast empire, at its peak, stretching from the southern tip of Latin America to modern-day Alaska, USA. The empire left an eternal legacy, creating several modern nations who all speak the mother tongue, Spanish. Despite this glorious legacy of the achievements of Spain and its language, it is considered by many to be “inferior”, particularly to some people who belong to the Anglosphere, a group of nations that were also established by imperial conquest, but this time, it was England who established its vast empire. Why is this so?
Where does this language even come from? The Spanish language derived from one empire and went on to serve another. The Roman Empire was a massive landmass that stretched from modern-day Portugal to modern-day Syria and occupied all the lands that surround the Mediterranean Sea. Vulgar Latin was the empire’s primary language, and Spanish, also known as Castilian, along with languages such as French, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, and even some English, derived from Vulgar Latin. According to Brittanica.com, the Spanish language also derives from Arabic and contains many words that derive from Arabic. The article states that Castilian (or Spanish), “Became the language of the court of the kingdoms of Castile and León in the 12th century, and the dominance of Castile within Spain allowed it to become the official language of the state.” Most interestingly, the article states that Spanish differs throughout Spain. It writes, “In northern Castile, where the language is said to be spoken in its purest form, this is pronounced as an English th; in southern and western Spain it is pronounced as an English s. The prominence of people from these latter regions in the colonization of Latin America led to their pronunciation becoming the standard in American Spanish.”
Although Spain has had several controversies and low points in its long, imperial history, through its imperialism, it has given the world the second-most spoken language. The language is mostly spoken in the Caribbean, Central and South America, and Europe. According to Language Magazine, Spanish is spoken by 580 million people, and of those people, 483 million are native speakers of the language. The language is being actively studied by 22 million people in 110 different countries, according to the magazine’s website. This research was launched by the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid, Spain. The magazine concludes one of its paragraphs by writing, “Spanish is the third most-used language on the internet, where it has great growth potential.” The magazine expresses why learning a second language, whether it be Spanish or another language other than your native one, is so important. They write, “The launch was hosted by Cervantes director Luis García Montero, who said that “teaching a language is much more than teaching a vocabulary; it is sharing values and showing a culture of open identities and democratic values.” For Montero, disseminating Spanish and its culture helps to counteract global problems such as “intolerance, supremacy, or identity chimeras that consider diversity a threat.” By learning Spanish, the ignorance surrounding racial supremacy and anti-diversity can be counteracted. The Magazine quotes Luis García Montero, the director of the Instituto Cervantes. Lastly, the Magazine references Hispanophobia in the United States and also references some politician’s contempt for people who speak Spanish or another language other than English. The Magazine finishes by writing. “The Madrid launch was followed by one in New York and another in Los Angeles, demonstrating the Institute’s focus on the U.S., to which Montero added, “we want to stand by Hispanics in the U.S. against the politics of contempt and ‘English only.’”
With Spanish being such an important language with around seven percent of all humans knowing it, with more speakers of Spanish than English, and with an illustrious history spanning around two millennia, why is Spanish looked down upon in the United States, a country with tens of millions of Spanish speakers? Jose Fermoso, a freelance writer who covers Hispanic and World Culture at The Guardian, believes that White Supremacy among White Americans is the cause of this. in his opinion article in The Guardian, “Why speaking Spanish is becoming dangerous in America”, published on May 22, 2018, addresses the topic of white supremacy in the United States and how that spurs hatred and racism towards Hispanics and Hispanic-Americans and the Spanish language. Fermoso gives an example of a woman named Sandy who is an attorney at a California law firm who was then talking to a colleague in Spanish, and “forcibly” asked to stop by a top executive at the firm. Fermoso explains why this is on the rise: Conservative rhetoric and the GOP. Finally, he gives examples: “last January, a woman was kicked out of a Florida UPS for speaking Spanish, the month prior an adult physically attacked legal South American immigrants – including a child – at a Canadian mall, and a few days ago a border agent in Montana arrested two women for the same thing, leaving them shaking with anger and crying at the unfairness of it all. Then there’s the case of the rich Manhattan lawyer who berated young workers at a deli for daring to communicate in the second most spoken language in the world in his presence.”
An article published in the Chicago Tribune backs up Fermoso’s claim of how White Supremacy and the ignorance surrounding it can diminish the importance of another culture and language to some. Mary Sanchez is a Hispanic-American from Kansas City, MO with Mexican ancestry who is a reporter and commentator who covers immigration, politics, and education and pays particular attention to Hispanics and their influence and importance in these particular fields. In her article in The Chicago Tribune, “Are Hispanics inferior? Conservative scholar thinks so”, addresses a particular example of a white supremacist Conservative scholar by the name of Jason Richwine who falsely argues that Hispanic-Americans are genetically less intelligent than others and can never assimilate into American society. Sanchez gives evidence of why Richwine is completely wrong and makes him look rather dumb in the process. Sanchez writes, “Richwine is offensive, but he’s also wrong. Hispanics are assimilating at the same rates as previous immigrant groups, in some ways even faster due to technology. Immigrants have lower rates of criminal conduct than native-born people. And a new study shows that Hispanic high school graduates have now overtaken white students in rates of enrollment into college.”
White supremacy in the United States is real and alive, and it is the main reason why people who adhere to this ideology look down upon races that aren’t Anglo-Saxon and languages that aren’t English. However, another major problem that can contribute to this unfortunate, anti-Hispanic pandemic in the United States, Hispanophobia, the fear, hatred, and discrimination against Hispanic people, Hispanic culture, and the Spanish language. Roberto Rey Agudo is Language Program Director in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Dartmouth College, and he writes for WBUR, a Boston-area radio station owned by Boston University. Agudo writes about the rise of Hispanophobia in the United States and cites several examples of how non-Hispanic Americans are becoming less and less tolerant towards Hispanic-Americans. Agudo writes, “these videos follow a very similar script. Shoppers, workers, or bystanders are called out and threatened for speaking Spanish in public — a variation on the refrain “This is America; speak English” — victims take a video of the exchange, which goes viral on social media and news coverage of the incident results in an outpouring of support for the victims.” Furthermore, Agudo offers several significant statistics in his article. He writes, “Hate crimes are up since 2016. They have increased by over 10 percent in the 10 largest cities. About 40 percent of Latinos have experienced some form of harassment, including verbal aggression for speaking Spanish. Statistically, Latinos are more likely to become victims of a hate crime than non-Hispanic whites or African-Americans.” Agudo gives many real-world examples that support these statistics. One of the more heartbreaking examples Agudo gives is when a deranged Utah man struck a father and son “with a metal pole while shouting “I hate Mexicans” and “I’m here to kill a Mexican.” Most significantly, Agudo closes his impactful article by writing, “Certainly, English is important for anybody who lives in the United States. However, we can all agree that when someone yells “This is America! Speak English” at Spanish speakers, or urges others to go back to their unprintable country, they are not looking forward to starting a thoughtful dialogue on multilingualism. It is, plain and simple, an act of hate.” All of Agudo’s examples of Hispanophobia throughout the United States show that not only is the fear of Hispanics and the Spanish language on the rise, but it is also thriving, and it is very scary for any Hispanic and Spanish-speaker who call the United States home.
To close out this essay, the Spanish language is the second-most spoken language in both the United States and the world. It has had a long history of around two millennia, started on the Iberian Peninsula, and through imperialism, and later on, technology became spoken in several nations with over 500 million active speakers, along with 20+ million different people actively learning the language. It is spoken by over 41 million people in the United States, making it the second-most spoken language in the country, behind English. However, because of White Supremacy and Hispanophobia in the United States, the language is at times ridiculed, mocked, overlooked, and underappreciated by those who don’t appreciate the language or the people who speak it. As seen in this essay, Hispanics can be verbally and/or physically abused for speaking their language, told to “go back” to countries they never even been to, and are told to “speak English only.” Ultimately, until White Supremacists and others can open up and learn the wrongs of their ways, Hispanophobia will thrive – and continue to increase.

Works Cited
“Spain.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 18 Apr. 2021, www.britannica.com/place/Spain.
“Spanish in the World.” Language Magazine, 9 Dec. 2019, www.languagemagazine.com/2019/11/18/spanish-in-the-world/.
Fermoso, Jose. “Why Speaking Spanish Is Becoming Dangerous in America.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 22 May 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/22/speaking-spanish-dangerous-america-aaron-schlossberg-ice.
Sanchez, Mary. “Are Hispanics Inferior? Conservative Scholar Thinks So.” Chicagotribune.com, 7 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/ct-xpm-2013-05-10-sns-201305101200-tms-msanchezctnms-a20130510-20130510-story.html.
Agudo, Roberto Rey. “The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public.” The Danger Of Speaking Spanish In Public | Cognoscenti, WBUR, 4 Mar. 2019, www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2019/03/04/spanish-hate-crime-oscars-roberto-rey-agudo.

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