Have You Ever Been Denied Your Language/Culture?

[mymiridon]

Purin9191

o_o;;
No, that hasn't happened to me and I actually wish I had payed attention and learned more Chinese when I was younger 'cause now that I'm older it's harder for me to retain these characters. I can speak and understand pretty well it's just that I can't read and write. I actually wanted to learn piano but I don't know what happened there.

You could always tell your dad that learning another language is very beneficial:
- Resumes
- Getting a job
- Going to a good school
- Traveling
- Knowledge = Power
- etc etc...

I envy my half Vietnamese/Chinese friend. She can speak and understand Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hokkien and on top of that she is learning French and Mandarin.

I envy your friend too.
people who have a fear of ther cultures are hard to convince when it comes to bringing up benefits of learning about different cultures.  

[Daydream Silhouette]

I sure have! T_____T Er um...experienced denial...etc...

People have said that I am not Jamaican as a kid. I mean, I know that I wasn't born there, but I've still got family who are Jamaican, so the only thing I could consider myself being is Jamaican from them, obviously. I have heard from too many people that whatever is in the family diminishes when you're born...but I think that is totally false. Because then how could the family line of ethnicities get passed on? I don't know...maybe some people don't agree with me, but that's how I feel. I mean, if that wasn't the case, why do we always look to our roots? What could we say that we are?

I have other people tell me that if I'm a drop of black, then I'm all black. Wrong wrong wrong! Dx

Then others tell me that the majority of me is hispanic...and then others say that I don't really look Chinese, some say that I do...

All in all, it's been hard growing up so many different things because of all the criticisms. But the people who are interested in what I am find out just how proud I am of all the cultures in my family. I claim them all, not just one or two. ^^  

[Minielf]

I haven't been denied my language or ethnicity at all, and certainly not by my parents. In fact, it's always been the opposite, I've tried to distance myself from my Chinese heritage and integrate more with the broader society in Australia, whilst my parents and grandparents try to force me to learn learn, speak and act more Chinese.
As for the government and society in general, I wouldn't say I'm being denied opportunities to express my culture. Australia is a very multicultural society, and whilst it may not be as accomodating as it was ten years ago, compared to other Anglo-centric or Eurocentric nations it's still very welcoming of ethnic minorities, especially Asians.  

[[Bab! Co.]]

Nope, I grow with more asian-ness in me each day haha. rofl And my English deproving.