Maria V. Zavala: I am a proud, bilingual Puerto Rican U.S. citizen

But you don't know me at all

I love to shop at boutiques. Whenever and wherever I travel, I seek them out. The challenge and half the fun for me is to find the most unique items in the store. Sadly, on one of these adventures, my Latina friends and I found more than just unique finds as we boutique-hopped.

In one particular shop, as we compared our finds, as is usual, my wonderfully wacky friends and I carried on in Spanish. As we discussed which items we would try on, the owner spit out the following words: "Why don't these people learn English or go back to their own countries?"

Abruptly, the laughter came to a halt. It felt like getting publicly slapped in the face by a stranger. We quickly put everything back and, as we walked toward the exit, I stopped and faced the woman who had made the sobering and disrespectful comment.

I looked her right in the eyes and said, in my perfect English, "You have absolutely no idea who we are. Yet you felt it was OK to make such an ignorant and arrogant assumption. Because of this, you've lost our business and that of any person we come in contact with. Not very smart for a business woman. I hope that, in the future, you will think before you offend your customers." I walked out with my head high, but feeling indignant and shaking with anger.

I am bilingual and bicultural. I speak two languages and I have the ability to function comfortably in two worlds. Without identity confusions, without value conflicts, I am able to go back and forth relatively comfortably. My life's work has been dedicated to building a bridge between those two worlds and helping others to do the same.

I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. I am an Ivy-League educated author and professional woman, proud of being Puerto Rican and proud of my Spanish. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident for me, but it wasn't.

I have had well-meaning people say, "Wow, your English is really good." Others have interrupted private conversations between another Latina and myself, to ask me to speak in English so they can understand what I'm saying. To which I've responded, "But this conversation is between us and has nothing to do with you." It's like interrupting two people who are whispering to one another and saying, "Speak up, so I can hear what you are talking about."

The most insulting experience is when an irate, monolingual English speaker using totally incorrect grammar attempts to put me in "my place" by insisting I speak English because I am in America.

In its short history, the United States has probably been host to more bilingual people than any other country in the world. Immigrants have been coming to this country for centuries from all over the globe. With every wave, there has been a transitional period in language.

Although Puerto Ricans' migration to the U.S. has been like previous immigrants in that they are "foreign" in culture, language and experience, they differ from European immigrants in a number of significant ways. Unlike other immigrant groups, we enter the U.S. as citizens, serve in the U.S. armed forces, have accessible transportation to our country of origin and have a Caribbean as opposed to a European cultural and racial background.

Like many Latinos immigrating to the U.S., we have struggled to retain our culture and language. This is in sharp contrast with other immigrants. One of the most fascinating aspects of bilingualism in the U.S. is that it was usually a transitional stage toward monolingualism in English. And so each new wave of immigrants brought its own language, and then witnessed the erosion of that language in the face of the implicitly acknowledged public language, English. Among Latinos, there exists a broad allegiance to the maintenance of Spanish as a marker of cultural and social identity.

Bottom line? I strongly believe that if we choose to live in the United States, we should all learn the English language. I believe it is absolutely necessary if we are to be contributing members and function in this society. But this does not mean that we have to abandon our first language. Being bilingual should not be seen as negative, in fact it very well may be the bridge necessary to accomplish biculturalism.

Ellen Pinderhughes writes that the ability to function in two worlds requires much effort, but people who are comfortable with biculturality "exhibit remarkable flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity, comfort with difference, and creativity in their relationship with both the American mainstream and their own culture." Isn't this what we need in our country so we can begin to see real unity in the United States of America?

I still love boutique-hopping and refuse to be made to feel that my language is unacceptable or devalued when used in public. I also know that every experience can be turned into a teachable moment. My life is filled with diversity and it is absolutely the way I prefer to live.

¡Que viva la diferencia!

Maria V. Zavala, founder of Latinas of the Women's Resource Center, can be reached at merizavala@ aol.com.

This story was originally published May 15, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Maria V. Zavala: I am a proud, bilingual Puerto Rican U.S. citizen ."