Discrimination and Linguistic Rights

Linguistic rights are essential for preserving languages and access to other rights. However, linguistic discrimination occurs worldwide, a normalized and invisible problem that violates people’s linguistic rights.

Linguistic Diversity

Linguistic diversity: There are estimated to be more than ten thousand languages worldwide, seven thousand of which are spoken. The other three thousand are communications in deaf communities, so they are sign languages. Nevertheless, the U.N. reports that a language disappears approximately every two weeks, removing “an entire cultural and intellectual heritage.”

“The learning of culture includes the channel that transmits it: Language has become a very fundamental part to such an extent that it primarily defines a human group culturally.” Jesús Abraham Mora García

One characteristic of languages is that they express the history of each community because each person develops their unique form of communication “according to the sounds, the words, how those words are organized and used, and what they mean to people.” In addition, languages play strategic roles for individuals and their social development, being a form of communication and part of their identity.

Linguistic Rights

The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights establishes a fundamental distinction between individual and collective rights. Individual rights focus on recognizing people as part of a linguistic community and guaranteeing their freedom to use their language in private and public spheres. Collective rights refer to the socio-cultural presence of languages, their public visibility, and the provision of services and protection by the State to which speakers are entitled and the authorities are obliged to ensure.

In the words of Professor Lucero Cristal Quintero Rubio, “Linguistic rights refer to the ability of all people to express themselves in their own languages, either orally or in writing, in both the public and private spheres, with official validity and protection.”

She groups the different linguistic rights into five areas:

1. Culture: Linguistic rights preserve and promote indigenous people’s languages as an integral part of their identity and cultural heritage.
2. Education: It provides access to knowledge and cultural production of a people’s language in an official environment, not just in the family.
3. Justice: Indigenous people are guaranteed the right to interpretation and translation into their languages during legal proceedings, ensuring equity and respect for uses and customs. It also includes defending rights in various areas, such as property and the environment.
4. Services: These allow access to public services in the mother tongue, including government procedures and official communications. It also involves the availability of information and personnel trained in Indigenous languages and bilingual public signage in Indigenous population areas.
5. Citizen participation: This emphasizes the right of Indigenous peoples to have legal participation as citizens, to influence collective decisions, and to access legal resources. It facilitates legal representation and the protection of individual and collective rights at the institutional and community levels.

According to data from the United Nations, more than 40% of the world’s population currently does not have access to education in their mother tongue, and this figure is as high as 90% in some regions. These figures are scandalous; the U.N. points out that various studies “highlight the benefits of students using mother tongues in education, as it promotes better learning outcomes, self-esteem, and critical thinking skills.”

Linguistic Rights in Mexico

In Mexico, the right of indigenous peoples to preserve and enrich their languages is recognized by the Constitution. The CNDH indicates that this right is expressed in Article 2 in three essential aspects:

1. To allow and encourage the use of languages.
2. To recognize and respect Indigenous languages as current languages with the same validity as Spanish, especially in institutional processes.
3. The State must promote these languages in educational and institutional spaces.

Moreover, the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI in Spanish) explains that Mexican legislation establishes that speakers of Indigenous languages have the right to:

Thus, Mexican legislation prohibits discrimination based on a spoken language. However, the General Law on the Linguistic Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Mexico is just 20 years old, very little time for a country that officially has 69 mother tongues.

Language Discrimination

The world is multicultural and multilingual, and personal and social development is strongly linked to access to opportunities and education in native languages. In this environment, linguistic discrimination seems absurd; however, it is unfortunately common.

Precisely, what is linguistic discrimination?

Language discrimination (also known as glottophobia) is the unequal treatment of people due to their language or characteristics related to their language skills (such as accent, vocabulary, or native language). In her article, “The Linguistic Discrimination of Spanish Speakers in the United States,” Estela Celero Hernández explains that this type of discrimination violates human rights, such as racial discrimination. This type of exclusion is not limited to mockery and humiliation of those who speak a language other than the dominant one but affects deeper aspects, such as wage inequality and access to education. It is usually aimed at historically disadvantaged social groups, such as migrants and indigenous peoples.

The problem goes beyond educational and institutional contexts. These prejudices recur in everyday life against the practices associated with language. They come from misconceptions or ignorance of linguistic concepts or notions, influenced mainly by the prestige and importance of the dominant language. Rosa Cristina Martínez, a philology graduate and ethno-educator, explains to Deutsche Welle that “language is racist,” as it reflects the values permeating a society’s speakers.

In the words of Velázquez Castillo and Nogueira Beltrão, “Both Indigenous languages and variants of Spanish associated with the lower classes and Indigenous or black populations are considered inferior in terms of language complexity. This denotes epistemic racism and classism because when people do not follow the normative ways of speaking and writing in Spanish, they commonly become the target of ridicule and insults and are even denied political participation in institutional contexts.”

Linguistic Discrimination in Everyday

We can find small discriminatory actions daily, although they are often unintended. Moreover, we often do not notice discrimination in our actions and words. Christine Ro, a BBC correspondent, gives an example of discrimination based on the accents of English-speaking people, where native and non-native speakers can be judged or marginalized if their English does not conform to the prevailing standards. She adds that these prejudices stem from racial or national perceptions, where the English accent of some Europeans (mainly from France, Germany, or Italy) is usually classified as attractive. At the same time, the English spoken by people from Asia, Africa, or the Middle East is perceived negatively as difficult or unpleasant, even if their actual communication skills are good.

Dr. Erin Bell provides other examples, pointing out attitudes such as expressing that someone’s accent is “too difficult” to understand, not trying to pronounce another person’s name correctly, or even making complex or difficult use of the written language in public forums.

“Believe me when I tell you that, almost twenty years after I immigrated to Canada, no obstacle has been more difficult for me to overcome than linguistic discrimination. And that’s considering that I’ve become an expert at overcoming many kinds of obstacles due to stereotypes about my ethnicity (as a “racialized” immigrant living in Quebec), my physical characteristics, and my sexual orientation, to give you an idea.” Iván Barradas

Iván Barradas explains the discrimination he experienced as a migrant in Canada, pointing out that although it may seem more subtle than other forms of discrimination, such as xenophobia or transphobia, it is equally harmful because “it triggers a process of stigmatization against the victim, generating a feeling of exclusion, a communication barrier, a lack of linguistic legitimacy, and a denial of identity.” It produces consequences for physical and psychological health, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, or depression.

Moreover, discrimination is a form of violence, and these acts can become very dangerous. On June 21, 2022, Juan Pablo was doused with alcohol and then set on fire by his high school classmates. The reason? He did not speak Spanish well and communicated in his mother tongue, Otomi. Although it may seem like an isolated case, it is not; linguistic discrimination and linguistic racism are a constant worldwide. The case of Juan Pablo is a primary example of the danger of the problem’s invisibility. Unfortunately, we all contribute with small actions that collectively normalize violence.

The epistemic racism and classism related to linguistic prejudices can be observed in the different myths and realities about languages. Let’s review some concepts and beliefs to understand them more deeply.

The Importance of Concepts

Hector Islas Azaïs assures us that our culture is marked by linguistic practices that are often degrading and derogatory to those who deviate from the norm. This situation is prevalent in all contexts, from school to the courts, home to the workplace. Linguistic discrimination begins with how we use words. Have you ever heard someone say that an Indigenous person is speaking in “their dialect”? I have news for you: You are speaking in a dialect too!

The word dialect is often used pejoratively and offensively as if a dialect is something inferior to a language. Calling Indigenous languages a dialect is erroneous and prejudiced; the assumption is inferior or less valuable than others (such as Spanish). Dialect refers to a “linguistic system that derives from another but does not differ sufficiently from others of common origin,” a particular way of speaking or writing a language.

To exemplify, I am a Spanish speaker. However, I speak Mexican Spanish. To be even more specific, I speak the Spanish of León, Guanajuato, Mexico, so I use words and expressions typical of that place: I say “cartuchera, bien mucho, echar reja and morusas,.” That is my dialect.

Using the term dialect to refer to non-dominant languages reveals a prejudice that considers them inferior, ignoring that all languages, including Indigenous languages, are complex and valuable. In the words of the CNDH: “The mother tongues associated with Indigenous peoples have been considered dialects, basically with a discriminatory sense, to make people believe that they are not tongues or languages or important ways of speaking in our country, that their linguistic systems are despicable. Worse, they are assigned a socially lower category, just as done with Indigenous people themselves.”

This contempt for indigenous languages is not the only form of discrimination. In Mexico, Spanish speakers are also marginalized and discriminated against because of how they speak the language, overall, when it is far from the idea of the standard and the prestige of Spanish. The idea that normative grammar or dictionaries are rules that speakers must follow means many are mocked for how they use words or their accent, another frequent target.

“Obviously, from the perspective of discriminatory language, the choice of terms consequently highlights aspects considered reprehensible or shameful, and that justify (and sometimes even demand) the marginalization of the individual with those characteristics.” – Héctor Islas Azaïs

Myths and Facts

The language belongs to the speaker and the speaker is to his or her language

No matter what language or dialect of that language you speak, as INALI explains, the right to use our language is essential to exercising other rights. Even to access justice, it is vital to have interpreters and defenders who know the language and culture. In addition, bilingual professionals are necessary for an effective education that promotes personal and social development.

“It is important to eradicate the belief that the only correct and valid way to speak, to produce knowledge is through the use of “standard” Spanish represented in normative grammars.” -Velázquez Castillo y Nogueira Beltrão

Languages are part of our culture; I invite you to speak your language in the way that seems best to you. After all, our expressions and way of speaking are a product of where we come from; they are part of our history and identity.

Translated by Daniel Wetta

Andrea Cristina Alvarez Pacheco

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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0