As a little girl I never could pronounce the name of this preschool near my house. Even today – my study of phonics concluded – I make a mess of the pronunciation of the word “proletaritos.” How will the little kids inside articulate the name of their nursery school? Wouldn’t they prefer a more tender concept such as “Little Butterflies,” “Little Rays of Sun” or “Snow Whites” to this classist and old-fashioned definition?
The biggest shock may come later when they know how to read and search in a dictionary for the significance of this rare word that hangs from the entrance. The first meaning of “proletariats” that they will discover is people who are “dispossessed, who have no assets,” and they will be annoyed by those who tangled their tongues and, on top of that, condemned them to not having any property.