The author grew up in between American and Mexican cultures. In school, she got punished for speaking Spanish at recess, and in college, she had to attend classes that were taught on how to speak without an accent.
She proposes the idea that languages are living. They constantly evolve, and different dialects can form as a means of expression or through localization. Languages can mix and merge to form new dialects that contain ideas from both.
The author then goes on to explain that languages are often used as a means of discrimination, and segregation. However, the inverse is also true. Discriminated groups will often form a new dialect or culture as a result of that discrimination.