Otherness In America's Culture

What is otherness? In the context of readings like Mark Greene’s How America’s Culture of Shame is a Killer for Young Boys and Barbara Mellix’s From the Outside, in, otherness marks the difference in gender, race, and social class. The insiders are those that are in power politically, socially and religiously. Likewise, it implies there are those without representation, without power. Whether you are part or outside the groups, they create a sense of unity and community. Although a community is positive, groups can also lead expectations, profiling and a sense of entitlement to the over-represented group.
I am the firstborn of immigrants and with much honor. As a child, I saw them struggle financially and socially. Although we reside in Southern

Possibly they were second generation or more generations Mexican Americans. Maybe Spanish wasn’t passed down to the next generation and was lost somewhere between the generations. The specific clerk I remember, his English had the “normal” Caucasian accent. For all knows, his antecedents could have purposely chosen to leave out Spanish, so he would always have English and would never have to struggle between Spanish, Spanglish, and English. Similar to how Mellix had to speak in “proper” English in her essay From the Outside, in, “He was white, and could speak as he wished. I had something to prove. Toby did not”. By just knowing one language, he would never have to worry about proving himself through

There were instances in the news of political figures, sometimes even from school teachers saying what I now consider a cliché phrase, “In America, we speak English”. It was usually received with an eye roll from my mom and me.
The latest instance was between the republican presidential candidates for the 2016 election, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. “This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish” was his response to Jeb Bush, when Bush voiced on Trump previously being a Democrat, “El hombre no es conservador” which translates to, “this man is not a conservative”.
Ideally, having language homogeneity within a country could potentially help immigrants assimilate into the country; like the old saying goes “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. Perhaps it would be easier if it only meant to adapt to the customs and not adopt a full language, which the citizens took years for to fully master; although some native-born Americans have yet to master their mother tongue. It would be hypocritical to expect foreigners to speak perfect English right