Like many of my blog entries, this one was inspired by something on my friend Joe's Facebook page. He posted a picture of a sign that reads, "Respect Are-Country Speak English." It's hard not to smile at the magnificent irony of essentially shouting, "Get outta here if yous can't talk good English." This particular image aside, I want to discuss the staunch English-only and anti-immigration crowds.
I don't really care about the sign in question. Many people pronounce "are" and "our" the same way, and even those who know how to properly use the correct word will occasionally type "your" instead of "you're" or "here" rather than "hear." This can and does happen to the best of us. Granted, that kind of careless mistake is less likely when making a protest sign, but I'll give this person the benefit of the doubt that the error is the equivalent of a typo and it doesn't necessarily impugn his or her intellect or education. Of course, I can't begin to explain the hyphen, but let's be generous here too. I'm not interested in the sign itself, but I want to discuss the sentiment it represents.
For a few reasons, I'm bothered by those who throw a fit when Spanish is spoken in this country. The arrogance of expecting the world to speak our language while not bothering to learn anyone else's is bad enough, but wearing one's ignorance as a badge of honor by somehow taking pride in the inability to speak more than one language is worse. It's like bragging, "Hey, look at me! I'm too stupid to do long division but Daddy left me enough money that I could hire people to do my math."
Even though I'm not fluent in any foreign language, I've had little trouble when traveling abroad, and I'm grateful for the consideration I've received when I'm a guest in another country. As an American, I've also benefited mightily from how low the bar has been set. Any effort to speak the native language is seen as an extraordinary gesture on my part and tends to be met with tremendous goodwill. I was talking to an Interpol officer in a Lyon Metro station and he said my French was very good even though it clearly wasn't. He wasn't being sarcastic; he was being kind and encouraging me. We should extend the same courtesy.
I understand and agree that those who want to live here permanently should learn English, but let's not be so disingenuous as to paint this debate in terms of tough love designed to help Spanish speakers assimilate. This issue is being driven by those who would pound the table and bellow, "This is my house and you'll live by my rules!" No one is being required to learn Spanish; the only issue before us is whether or not we accept the fact that millions of hard working Americans do speak that language. Considering that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory where Spanish is the native language and that it's no accident or coincidence that many of our western states have Spanish names, it seems unreasonable to bear such hostility to that language being used alongside English.
The burning desire for English-only laws and so forth stems from the same place as the anti-immigration mindset - the fear that any change will ruin the character of one's beloved homeland. This is not new. The nativist vs. newcomer battle goes back a very long way. Luckily, at every turn this country of immigrants has ultimately stayed true to its character, and we've been enriched by each successive wave of newcomers. We would not have achieved our national greatness had we listened to the small-minded to whom change is terrifying, particularly when it involves people they perceive as different from themselves.
Now that President Obama has released his long-form birth certificate, I demand to see every right-wing blowhard's earliest report card. My guess is that at least 75% of them failed Sharing in kindergarten.
