The Contract Says: We’d Like the Conversation to Be Bilingual

The speaker of the poem introduces “the funders” (Line 3) in the second stanza, adding higher stakes to the contractual agreement between the writer and publisher from the onset of the poem. Limón uses the funders as a symbol of white supremacy, asserting that, in order to gain funding for their writing, the author must comply to any and all conditions set by those in power. The funders represent power and the wealth it takes to maintain that power, exposing the divide that exists between writers of color and large, predominantly white institutions like that of the publishing industry (see: Contextual Analysis).

The poncho is a well-known sleeveless garment with unsewn sides and a space for the head to pass through. This clothing item has origins in South America, namely Peru. However, Western media most commonly associates the poncho with Mexico. Old Hollywood westerns portrayed Mexican Americans as an ethnic monolith: a group of people who are all thought of to be and act the same. The poncho was one of many ways media portrayed the Latinx community as other in their predominantly white casts of characters (see: Further Reading & Resources). Limón uses this history to represent the continued racism Mexican Americans face as a result of these inaccurate, stereotypical portrayals in her poem “The Contract Says: We’d Like the Conversation to be Bilingual.