CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
February 1997, Vol. 39, No. 2
CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
February 1997, Vol. 39, No. 2
A Man of Letters -- Two Books by Richard Rodriguez
A Review by Vince Juliano
This month, we will take a break from the virtual world visionaries of the Information Superhighway, and turn our attention to a man of letters whose observations on contemporary America carry an appreciation of the past. Scholar, essayist, and editor Richard Rodriguez will be a guest speaker at the 1997 Connecticut Library Association Conference. Rodriguez has a keen ear, a sharp eye, and an uncommon skill for putting things in perspective.
After reading Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez and Days of Obligation: An Argument With My Mexican Father, I am anxious to hear first-hand what Richard Rodriguez has to say about libraries. Young Richard Rodriguez was an avid reader and a regular visitor to his public library. We librarians, especially we of the public variety, often cite our function as the people’s university, as the great equalizer that brings to all citizens the literary heritage of the privileged and the informational resources of the wealthy. How valid does that sound to the son of Mexican immigrants? What can he suggest to help us do a better job? What does he think of our new role as on-ramps to the Information Superhighway?
As I write this column, a controversy has arisen over the use of Ebonics (Black street English) in the Oakland public schools. We need to hear Rodriguez’ take on this debate. Over twenty years ago, gifted graduate student Richard Rodriguez, who started school in California speaking the language of his immigrant parents, took a strong stand AGAINST bilingual education. He gained notoriety because of what some people considered his ironic position in the debate, the Hispanic who eschews Spanish.
Rodriguez took his stance against bilingual education, despite the shock he underwent the day his parents stopped speaking their native tongue in the home. They switched to English-only conversation for the sake of six year-old Richard, but they jolted the foundations of his young life. Before then, Richard knew he was at home, among trusted family members when the warm, welcome sounds of Spanish greeted him; and that he was out in public with the gringos when he was surrounded by the strange twangs and cadences of English. He suffered because he sensed that English was robbing him of the intimacy he had enjoyed with his family. It was many years before he understood that intimacy is not automatically communicated by a language, but rather that it is the result of the special relationship among those who are communicating. Regardless of the pain it caused him, he argues that learning English was a necessary prerequisite to his becoming a participating member of society, aware of his rights and responsibilities, and, paradoxically, of his individuality.
Individuality and the processes of change that define individuality are major themes in Rodriguez’ essays. He is extremely sensitive to the things that both define and separate us. His essay on “The Achievement of Desire” will strike a familiar chord with any of his readers whose formal education far surpasses that of their parents. At some point along the road to enlightenment, the talented student understands that the adult world that has been modeled for him by his parents is not the one in which he will live. The student regrets that he is leaving behind the family life that he cherishes, yet finds himself more and more frequently ashamed of his unlearned parents. From the parental standpoint, there is a mixture of pride and hurt: pride in the loved one whose education they have encouraged and supported; hurt by the loved one’s rejection of their world view.
For all of his interest in the process of change, Rodriguez respects the past. Perhaps this is because his dark skin and Indian features are built-in reminders of his ancestry. Or perhaps it is because Rodriguez seeks an understanding of things that is beyond skin deep. His “information superhighway” is a challenging trail that winds through forests and hills of events, ideas, memories, and experiences. Every turn in the trail offers a fresh view of past, future, and present.
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