Verbal and physical attacks reveal that speaking English-only in the USA is considered indispensable to national and individual identity. Increasing linguistic intolerance underscores how and why race has been remapped onto language (Urciuoli 1991), and why we must address what is perceived as a population “threat” to the dominant white majority. This involves raising awareness of the relationship between dialectal and class differences, and our responsibility to
challenge the attitudes and dismantle the policies that foment violence. Accordingly, we encourage widespread celebration of International Mother Language Day every Feb. 21.

Event organized by the World Languages and Cultures and the Linguistics program.