ASSIMILATION

WHILE GROWING UP EARLY IN LIFE, TWO THINGS STICK OUT IN MY MEMORY. FIRST, STUTTERING IMPAIRED COMMUNICATION WITH OTHERS. SECOND, I WAS BILINGUAL. MY FLUENCY IN SPANISH WAS EQUAL TO MY ENGLISH. 

THE BILINGUAL FACTOR WAS NATURAL HAVING BEEN BORN INTO A HOUSEHOLD WHERE BOTH PARENTS ARE MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS. I SUSPECT THAT SPANISH WAS THE FIRST LANGUAGE OF CHOICE AT HOME, BUT ENGLISH WAS THE DOMINANT STREET LANGUAGE; DURING THE 1920s, WATTS HAD A MOSTLY DIVERSE ETHNIC AND CULTURAL LOW-INCOME POPULATION. 

STUTTERING STUCK AROUND UNTIL MY MIDDLE TEEN YEARS. THAT'S ANOTHER STORY, FOR A FUTURE DISSERTATION. 

THE BILINGUAL SITUATION BEARS DISCUSSING NOW. IT WAS NOT POPULAR IN THE ANGLO-SAXON COMMUNITY (WHERE MOST WERE IGNORANT OF THE SPANISH IDIOM, AND SOME NOT EVEN FLUENT WITH PROPER ENGLISH) TO HEAR THEIR NEIGHBORS COMMUNICATING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE. THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISCOURAGED THE USE OF SPANISH IN THE 20s & 30s TO THE EXTENT OF LOWERING CLASS GRADES OF STUDENTS SPEAKING TO EACH OTHER IN THIS "PROHIBITED" LANGUAGE. A DOUBLE STANDARD EXISTED BECAUSE, THERE WAS NEVER ANY PENALTIES METED OUT TO ANY OF THE NUMEROUS PUPILS OF OTHER ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS SUCH AS THE RUSSIANS, ITALIANS, JAPANESE, CHINESE, AND GREEKS, MANY OF WHOM HAD ENGLISH FLUENCY SHORTCOMINGS. 

THE JUSTIFICATION USED BY OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION COMMUNITY WAS THAT ASSIMILATION INTO THE AMERICAN MAINSTREAM WOULD NOT PROCEED EFFECTIVELY UNLESS IMMIGRANTS (WE WERE USUALLY REFERRED TO AS FOREIGNERS) SPOKE ONLY ENGLISH. -SO MUCH FOR EXTENDING CREDIT TO THOSE WHO READ, WROTE, AND SPOKE MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE.- 

GOLLY-GEE; WAS I EVER ANXIOUS TO COMPLY WITH THEIR DIRECTIVES. SOON THE BILINGUAL FLUENCY HANDED DOWN TO ME BY MY MOTHER BECAME LESS IMPORTANT THAN PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH GRAMMAR. THE SPANISH SPEAKING SKILLS I GREW UP WITH, RAPIDLY ERODED TO A BARELY FUNCTIONAL LEVEL THROUGH LACK OF PRACTICE WITH THE MOTHER TONGUE. BUT THAT WAS FINE WITH ME, I WAS WELL ON MY WAY TO BECOMING AMERICANIZED. 

HOWEVER, AMERICAN SOCIETY WAS NOT YET READY TO ASSIMILATE ME AS A FULL FLEDGED CITIZEN; TO MOST I WAS STILL A "MEXICAN". EVEN THOUGH I NEVER SPOKE EVEN THE BROKEN SPANISH REMAINING IN MY VOCABULARY (WELL, JUST SOME PROFANITY). 

THERE WERE ONLY LIMITED EMPLOYMENT AVENUES OPEN. CERTAIN KEYWORDS DESCRIBED OUR SCOPE OF OPPORTUNITY; FOR EXAMPLE AT THE RAILROADS YOU COULD ONLY EXPECT TO RISE TO THE "BLUE SHIRT" JOBS. AT HIGH SCHOOL I REMEMBER BEING COUNSELED TO TAKE COURSES IN MUSIC BECAUSE THAT WAS "THE" VOCATION WHERE "WE" HAD NATURAL SKILLS. MOST PUBLIC SWIMMING POOLS, WERE OPEN TO ONLY ON TUESDAYS. IN SOME OUTLYING COMMUNITIES, THE THEATERS RESTRICTED US TO THE BALCONIES. 

THEN THE GREAT EQUALIZER CAME ALONG. JAPANESE WAR PLANES BOMBED PEARL HARBOR; WAR WAS DECLARED BY FDR; THE USA MILITARY WAS DRASTICALLY UNPREPARED TO FIGHT A FULL-FLEDGED CONFLICT; MANPOWER WAS CRITICALLY IN SHORT SUPPLY; SUDDENLY EVERY RED-BLOODED MAN WAS IN UNIVERSAL DEMAND TO SAVE AMERICA FROM THE FOES OF DEMOCRACY. THE WALLS OF BIAS CAME CRASHING DOWN, AND "ALL" OF US WERE EQUALLY IMPORTANT AS MILITARY RECRUITS. 

AFTER SIX YEARS IN THE US NAVY, I WAS AWARDED AN HONORABLE DISCHARGE, 

I MET THE GIRL OF MY DREAMS, WE BECAME ENGAGED, WE MARRIED, AND SHOPPED FOR A HOUSE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE G.I. BILL. WE WERE TURNED DOWN TWICE FOR UNEXPLAINED REASONS, BUT WE PERSISTED AND FOUND AN UNBIASED AMERICAN SALES REP WHO SOLD US OUR FIRST HOME. 

WE BREATHLESSLY FOLLOWED THE CONSTRUCTION OF OUR DREAM HOUSE, AS DID OUR WAR VETERAN NEIGHBORS. SOON WE MOVED INTO A SPANKING NEW THREE BEDROOM ABODE, THREE OF US NOW. 

THE BILINGUAL CLOUD HAD PRACTICALLY FADED AWAY BY THEN; EXCEPT THAT THE MOTHER TONGUE WAS NOW ALMOST VANISHED THROUGH LACK OF PRACTICE. BUT, DON'T PLAY HEARTS & FLOWERS FOR ME, LIFE IS GOOD EXCEPT FOR A RECURRING BACKACHE AND AN ARTHRITIC ELBOW.

GOD BLESS US ALL- EUREKA OLD TIMER