Quote from - Tom Stoppard

"We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered."

Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

The oppressed suffer from the duality which has established itself in their innermost being. They discover that without freedom they cannot exist authentically. Yet, although they desire authentic existence, they fear it. They are at one and the same time themselves and the oppressor whose consciousness they have internalized. The conflict lies in the choice between being wholly themselves or being divided; between ejecting the oppressor within or not ejecting them; between human solidarity or alienation; between following prescriptions or having choices; between being spectators or actors; between acting or having the illusion of acting through the action of the oppressors; between speaking out or being silent, castrated in their power to create and re-create, in their power to transform the world. This is the tragic dilemma of the oppressed which their education must take into account. (Freire, 1921)

Que Onda Homeboy! Why Do We Talk Like This?

Que Onda Homeboy! Why Do We Talk Like This?

By Oscar Gardea and Brenda Marusich

Te bato, que de aquella ramfla traes!

Whether you speak Spanish or not, this phrase will not make sense unless you speak border Spanish slang. Then it means, "Hey man, you have a nice car!

Every generation has its slang. Remember what was "groovy" in the 60s became "cool" in the 70s. This changed to "bad" in the 80s and "smooth" and back to "cool" in the 90s.

Most slang pops up from out of nowhere and gets bounced around for awhile. Then like a deflated ball, it ends up forgotten in the trashcan.

However, this pachuco slang or "Spanglish' is just not here to for a brief visit is here to stay.

The words and sentences are structured neither like the language of Shakespeare nor of Cervantes. If you put Spanish and English words in a can, shake them up and spill them out, the result is "Spanglish."

Janice Castro, who writes about border slang, says, "Spanish is a code for Latinos: the speakers know Spanish, but their hybrid language reflects the American culture in which they live." So how did this linguistic pattern develop in the U.S.?

In the 1930s a group of marijuana smokers and drug dealers from El Paso's Florence and Eighth Streets called themselves the 7-x Gang. They picked up a large part of their vocabulary from the Mexican underworld because of "business ties."

The batos (guys), also called pachucos, began to speak this way amongst themselves. Soon it reached other gangas (gangs).

"You can take the bato away from 'Spanglish' but you can't take 'Spanglish' from the bato

Later some of these batos (also spelled vatos) would jump on the Southern Pacific Railroad and go to other southwestern towns. While in these towns, they taught this lingo to their peers. Slowly, steadily and surely its use expanded to other areas.

However in 1942, it began to spread like wildfire and could not be controlled.

A number of these batos in El Chuco (the pachuco name for El Paso) got in trouble with the placa (police). The placa told them to get out and stay out of El Chuco. If they ever returned they would spend time in la pinta (the penitentiary). These boys were called floras (floaters).

Given that alternative, they apañaron el rufo (hopped a freight), many wit no particular destination in mind. Many of them wound up in Los Angeles. These batos associated with the Filipinos and African- Americans in their barrios (neighborhoods) and adopted their way of dressing.

The Filipinos wore radically styled men's clothing called zoot suits. Long coats, pancake hats, (recognizable by their flattened tops), pegged pants and thick-soled shoes became their trademarks. However, the pachucos added heavy gold watch chains and long hair slicked back to a duck's tail.

Many of the Mexican-American living in the Los Angeles barrios adopted the manner, dress and speech of the pachucos.

These self-styled pachucos also formed clicas (gangs). Pressure was applied to all boys of Mexican descent living on their "turf" to join and conform to the pachuco style. Some joined willingly; others, reluctantly.

As the number of clicas increased, they became more dangerous. Tension grew when one gang challenged another. Fights often broke out between rival gangs.

As a result of so many pachuco gangs forming, Los Angeles became the capital of the pachuco world.

Lack of feria (money), pressure from la placa and the desire to become big shots in their hometowns promoted many batos to board el rufo and go their chantes (homes). This way they could also their jefes (parents) who were worried about them.

This spread the pachuco influence among less street-wise batos. Once again it was the railroad that became carriers of the pachuco style and speech.

Today gang members are not the only ones who speak this way. Most Hispanics understand at least some of this language. However, gang members are the ones who speak it habitually and have a larger, more up-to-date vocabulary.

Many people who grew up in the barrios speaking this way moved out and now have high paying jobs, college degrees and are business owners.

For instance, Carlos Gardea who grew up in south El Paso says, "When I was younger, I used pachuco language a great deal. I was always a good student, but because of the way I spoke, some people said I wouldn't ever succeed in life. I am presently attending the University of Washington. Out of twenty-four students chosen for the physical therapy program, I was the only ethnic minority."

People who speak "Spanglish" can speak correctly, using formal English when they discuss current events, investments and so on. But when they run into a bato from the barrio they may revert to the jargon they grew up with. This proves that you can take the bato away from "Spanglish," but you can't take the "Spanglish" from the bato.

It doesn't matter on what side of the tracks these men were born.

People who speak "Spanglish" still care about some of the same things other Americans want: having a chante (home), a jale (job) and a ramfla to share with the ruca (wife) and chavos (children) who love them.

Oh, yes. "Qué onda" (what wave) is just a slang greeting, equivalent to "What's happening?" in English.

Requesting Comments about this article!

This is the best article I've come across that dose a nice job explaining cricial realism

International Studies Quarterly
Volume 44 Page 213 - June 2000
doi:10.1111/0020-8833.00156

Volume 44 Issue 2

After Postpositivism? The Promises of Critical Realism

Heikki Patomäki & Colin Wight

This article argues that the current self-understanding of IR theory is misconceived and that it is time to move beyond the stagnant positivism/postpositivism debate. We argue that the attempt to occupy a middle ground compromise position between positivism and postpositivism is untenable because these two positions share much in common. In this sense a middle ground position between two problematic positions does not produce a less problematic position. What is needed is a metatheoretical analysis of the two extreme positions. We attempt to show how both positivism and postpositivism are embedded in a discourse of philosophical anti-realism. This anti-realism occurs as a result of what we call the post-Kantian-Humean 'problem-field' of international relations from which most contemporary positivist, constructivist, and post-structuralist IR approaches stem. We then try to overcome this 'problem-field' by means of radically reclaiming reality through a critical realist philosophy. Once outlined we try to show how this critical realist philosophy can help transcend some of the antinomies currently faced by IR scholars.

Quote of the Day

"Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality."
- Nikola Tesla

"If the world should blow itself up, the last audible voice would be that of an expert saying it can't be done."
- Peter Ustinov