When I first read Hunger of Memory, I did not understand the purpose of us having to read it because it seemed to be aimed more at a minority audience. After I had heard what others had to say about it and after Rodriguez's speech I realized that I could relate to it in some ways. One of the main topics Richard Rodriguez brought up in his book, Hunger of Memory, was his disagreement with bilingual education. Growing up as a Mexican-American made him very familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of this program. I can agree and even relate, in a sense, with his dislike of this system even though in some ways his life contradicts his strong feelings.
Hunger of Memory is the story of a young Mexican-American boy who began his education in America knowing just fifty words of English and ended up achieving a wonderful education and attending Stanford University. It is a story of a minority student who acquires much social status and academic success, but at the same time loses intimacy with his family and ultimately his identity. Throughout his book he addresses many topics which he feels strongly about, such as bilingual education, affirmative action, his academic achievements and consequential losses. .
In the late 1960s, a scheme was proposed by Hispanic-American social activists to permit non-English-speaking children to use their family language as the language of school (p11). Rodriguez could not see how such a program could benefit a child in this way. He believed that it would actually hinder their chances of achieving success in America, because he believed the key to success was a strong education and learning to read and write English (the public language). I agree with his reasoning because it is obvious that you must speak the language of a country to have the same opportunity to succeed as the natives of that land. I can more closely relate to this because I went to school speaking English, but yet I was still taught it there.