Link to article being discussed in the following

How does the journalist feel about forced language assimilation (i.e. the view/expectation that everyone in America must learn English) and what does she believe is the relationship between accent, identity, and power?

I think that now she sees the problem with assimilation that she didn’t when she was younger. She was previously ashamed of where she came from, how she spoke and what she celebrated but now she talks about how wrong that was of her to try to hide a part of her. She believes that your accent is part of your identity. When people or “America” tell her to lose her accent she feels as if they are trying to conceal a part of her and cover up a part of her. She feels as if they are trying to get rid of something that makes her herself and try to make her like everyone around her.

What do you notice about the journalist’s own language? Do you agree with her views?

I understand where she is coming from and I think everything she said is 100% true. Although I haven’t really experienced this as much, or to the level of severity she has, I agree with her views, when people tell you to get rid of your thick accent or to not celebrate something that is part of your culture, you feel as if they are telling you that it’s wrong to be from somewhere else and that it’s wrong to be yourself and that you need to be more like everyone else.