"Freedom" of Speech

I might have spent more of my life in America, and English may be my best language at the moment. But English was not my first language.

In America, there exists something called the First Amendment (in case you didn't know). It grants us freedom of speech- the right to express any opinions without censorship or restraint. But on the other side of the spectrum, there's political correctness. In recent times, people have become obsessed with being "politically correct." Whether that means referring to the mentally or physically handicapped as "differently abled" or using vague terms to encompass everyone, words don't seem to 'mean what they mean' anymore. But outside of these conflicting views, to some, English itself is not a language, but a governmental law- and whosoever does not abide by this law is deemed not a true American citizen.

When you leave the country, you don't attempt to learn a different language, you attempt to communicate with foreigners through English, the "universal" language. In America, we immigrants are somewhat expected to assimilate to American culture. We are expected to be fluent in English, although even when we're fluent, we are and will always be inherently "foreign." We are expected to be in the loop of politics. We are expected to know which team is winning which game. We are expected to be cultured. For the most part, immigrants have a good way of adapting to this new environment. But when we aren't, we are somehow seen has individuals of less value, or at least our native cultures seem to have less significance. It's not like it's an everyday occurrence- just some microaggressions here and there that really set me off. Like when I'm speaking to my mother in public- in Korean- and some people decide that there's nothing wrong with looking at us like we're aliens inhabiting a new planet. 

It's hard to find painful examples around here, the community seems to be pretty accepting of other cultures. I don't want to name any names, but some regions seem to be VERY closed-minded when it comes to foreigners. Like yeah, I understand English is a great language and you're proud to speak it. But like literally chill I'm gonna speak whatever language I want to- and unless it's affecting you, mind your own damn business.

This here is not a microaggression, but a full-on aggression.

This too.

I am not saying this accurately portrays all Americans. But these people can literally speak fluent English too.