Silenced Voices

November 1, 2018

As I sit here waiting for parents to show up for parent teacher conferences, I can't help but reflect on my students and their families. The struggles that many of them endure are magnified as immigrants. The employers take advantage of the silence that these families live in to exploit them as employees. The workers don't dare to ask for time off, even for important things like doctors appointments or school functions. After all, if they were to make a request, that might be the end of their job. These employers are well aware of the fear in which these people live on a day to day basis. The immigrant is constantly looking over his shoulder, living in fear of being found out. Even those who have documents have had to deal with the fear of ICE lately. I reached out to each parent to invite him/her to meet with me and discuss his/her child's progress in my class and in school in general. Those who responded had to decline the invitation due to work. One parent actually used the word "delicado" (delicate) to refer to his boss when it comes to getting time off. Now I am not implying that an employee should be let out of work obligations for everything, any excuse will do, but I am suggesting that discrimination and marginalization is the heavy hand at play when a parent cannot request time off to go to conferences that only happen once a year.