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Show Friday, January 17, 2003 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Alex Lee ZHANG Chronicle Staff Writer CHI-C- Chronicle Feature Columnist f inhere I King's Dream Lives in My Childhood Memory first years in this country are some of my fondest IVi I memories. As a with no idea of what I was getting into, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to American society on a positive note. Even though my family started life in the United States inside the city of Chicago, America still seemed like one giant park to me. It was so clean and green compared to the concrete jungle of Hong y i Kong. I made tons of new friends in our immigrant neighborhood. Living next door were Yugoslavians, Venezuelans and Koreans. Never mind that I spoke almost no English, we would play together just the same. Without ever receiving any diversity training or lectures about tolerance, we kids did just fine. When my family and I moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., the situation wasn't much different except for the racial proportions. Flatbush was predominantly black, with some Latinos and Asians thrown in. Mymix of friends changed accordingly, and among them were many blacks some some African- Americans, Jamaicans and Puerto Ricans, and one was even French. Understandably, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was a big deal there. At P.S. 249 where I attended fifth and sixth grade, I studied the details of the civil rights movement in earnest. My class prepared for the MLK Day assembly by learning to sing Dion's "Abraham, Martin and John." We Rosa also put on a skit Parks' refusal to sit in the black section of the bus. Most of it didn't mean much to me back then, and it meant even less after I moved to the white suburbs of Utah. During high school, diversity was an abstract concept. I can't remember anyone ever discussing King and his message, and most of my friends had never heard of Rosa Parks. As I grew older and became more racially conscious, I began to realize how far we are from the world that King hoped to live in a world where we are colorblind and judge each other by what's inside us and how innocent my childhood friends and I had been. I also began to appreciate King and the entire civil rights movement more. Although a lot of people see King as a black leader, he fought for us all. He was part of a movement that rescued us from that oppressive environment and unlocked new potential in our country. From what I know, many other minority groups suffered less discrimination than blacks in our country. But these other minorities definitely benefitted from blacks' struggle for equality. They did a lot of the dirty work for us and I'm definitely grateful for it. Although we are still fighting to reach King's dream, it already exists in my memories among my childhood friends and me. And if it weren't for King and the civil rights movement, my cherished early American memories might not have been possible. aleechron icle.uta h. edu ji & time Wcdf U Professor Has a Passion for Language m Spoken to geek his qui V 3 Mixco, who is fluent in five differ- are more than 6,000 lan- guages spoken in the world JLL and in 50 years, without preservation, there may be no more than 200 languages left. "Native American culture and languages have been under assault in the Americas since the 1800s. Kids were taken from their homes and put in boarding schools. When the U.S. government took over their lives, they were forced to lose their religion, culture and become like the white people," said Mauricio Mixco, linguistics professor. North, Central and South America have the most diversity in languages, according to Mixco. Most of the endangered languages include tribal languages like those spoken in tiny communities like the Navajo, the largest population of American Indians in North America with 10,000 speakers. Mixco says such Navajo languages will disappear within 50 years along with hundreds of others in North America if something is not done quickly. ent languages, has dedicated more than 35 years of his life to the preservation of languages. A brief tour of office gives his trinket-adorne- d insight into his many linguistic experiences and what really makes him w r r v - ; : , . . 1 1 s 1 J . ' 5 1 , i : " ftr A tick. Maps of various countries, villages and cities where he's studied and visited decorate the walls of Mixco's office. Countless souvenirs such as rocks, fountains and green foliage beautify the ambiance of his room. He experienced other languages when moved from El Salvador to San Francisco at the age of six and became an English translator for his mother. "If you are in the U.S. as an immigrant, either you be like everybody else, or you say you want to be unique, you have a background, roots and family identity, you begin to respect yourself and your identity and that leads you to respect others' identities," Mixco said. "Learning their language is the most intimate way of getting to know a person. Once you learn their language, you begin to learn all kinds of things." In college at Berkeley, Mixco I e fit fit f ' -- "r .ft, Linguistics Prof. Mauricio Mixco has dedicated more than 35 years of his life to the preservation of languages. guages. It was there that he began a life- - see MIXCO, page 4 time of commitment to writing the SCHOOL i(j grammar and dictionary of an endangered Baja, Calif, tribe, "These groups of people taught mc so much. They had opened my worked with American Indians in New Mexico and became fascinated with American Indian tribal lan- - ATTENTION UNDERGRADUATES THE GRADUATE j ! ! ! ANNOUNCES Summer 2 003 June 2 - August 3 For more information meet us in the EAST BALLROOM (UNION BLDG.) on January 24, 2003 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Light Refreshments will be served. Summer Research Opportunity Program (SROP) is an intensive, residential students for program created to prepare minority and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) , and graduate level research. SROP invites students of color from all over the country to participate in enhancing cultural and ethnic diversity at the University of Utah. Applicants selected will receive a $2,200 stipend, room, and board.. 2 or Hannah at for more information, Please contact Karen at 10-we- under-represent- 587-67- 49 ek ed 581-764- or see www.med.utah.edusrop for applications. iiUS r ti c i ror oao les A tiny baby's hospital stay can be very stressful, and sometimes traumatic for everyone, filled with tubes, The University of Utah Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) will be collecting new stuffed bears and other stuffed toys on campus from January 22 - February 7. These toys will be delivered to the babies in the Newborn Intensive Xarc Unit at University Hospital on i it Drop off locations: blinking lights and hurried personnel. SHAC's Outreach Committee wants to help make their stay a little easier by giving them a teddy bear, or other stuffed toy, during their stay at the Hospital and by letting their families know that the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Utah are keeping them in their thoughts. Please take a moment to share your generosity with families facing a difficult time in their lives and bring your donation in. The Student Health Service University Hospital Volunteer Office Olpin Union (Info desk) Heritage Center (Info desk) r Stuffed toys must be new with tap attached. Student Health Advuory Committee |
