How Latinos are reclaiming their accent marks in a stand against cultural assimilation
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Megan Figueroa
Megan Figueroa
Accent marks on words are something you might have worked pretty hard to learn in your high school Spanish class. But over generations of assimilation in America, they have largely been lost in many names. Or, as Megan Figueroa argues, they have been taken.
Figueroa is a linguist at the University of Arizona as well as host of the Vocal Fries podcast. She said it’s another example of cultural dominance by European people here over centuries.
But now, as Axios reported recently, more Latinos, especially younger ones, are reclaiming accent marks in their names along with their cultural heritage. The Show spoke with Figueroa to learn why.
