That's Paul, letting an Asian know WHICH foreign language is acceptable in Los Estados Unidos.
It's not such a joke anymore. The Latino population has surged and that attitude is that if a minority has a majority, then they can make the rules.
Disagree and you're a racist, amigo.
Such a racist is Mike Tice, a politician in Texas who forgot, for a moment, that he could lose an election to a Latino, ESPECIALLY by daring to say that English is the language of his country.
Listen, Mike, Texas was stolen from Mexico, so fuck the Alamo, and either return it, or SHUT LA BOCA.
La Boca means MOUTH.
Poor Miguel, he started out like March...a lion. But has gone out like a pussy.
Sorry, Miguel, not good enough. Change your name from Mike Tice to Miguel Taco. Learn to speak Spanish as well as Jeb Bush does. Then keep apologizing for Texas having ANY land that belongs rightfully to Mexico.
See if you can get the wrecking ball to finish off The Alamo.
Que lastima.
Isn't it pathetic that an American politician has to grovel because such a large percentage of the people in his state don't speak English?
Consider this: if you watch boxing, or mixed martial arts, or even tennis, you'll find that athletes from South America or Spain often speak English. When they are interviewed they don't need an interpreter. English is a second language they've been taught. They have a desire to speak English even though they aren't even IN America.
So why is it that immigrants who actually come here won't learn English? Two, four, six, eight years after they arrive, they simply expect Americans to provide translations, including on voting ballots. Unlike so many other immigrants who arrived due to pogroms or famine or war, and have the excuse of urgency in coming here, there's no real reason why somebody in Mexico or Ecuador can't be prepare for a while and at least know basic English at at least a second grader's level.
I took Spanish in junior high. And high school.
In our changing neighborhood, where my father was a general practitioner, he sometimes had patients who were Latino. I taught him some simple phrases ("abre la boca" for example, which in his heavy Bronx accent became "obray la booka.")
Why did I take Spanish? Two reasons. Spanish is a brilliant language. Unlike French, what is spelled is pronounced. Some of that "eau" and "oux" crap. Second, I wanted to communicate with the struggling Puerto Ricans who were trying to learn the language in my neighborhood, but needed some time.
How come there's never been a "TIMES UP" for Latinos to learn English?
Oh, because they are a big part of the population now, and that makes them exempt. That's quite an example of why immigration is a hot button issue now. People are worried that the immigrants will come in and take over. And just trying to communicate the will be impossible unless you learn THEIR language.
At one time, immigrants, include my ancestors, came to America and were grateful. The first thing they did was learn the language. Some people had to learn an entirely new set of heiroglpyhics. People who could only read Russian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew...had to squint at a whole bunch of strange new symbols. They somehow managed. So did the French, the Germans, the Dutch, the people who spoke Gaelic or Welsh, and even the Poles, who were stereotyped as "stupid." They ALL learned English. Not a problem.
A big problem for today's Latinos. Why? It wasn't a problem for Ricardo Montalban. Fernando Lamas. Even Desi Arnaz spoke English.
Senator Hayakawa of California proudly learned English, and even tried to put in a bill to make English the official language. He was denounced as a racist. Why? For being proud of his country, and wanting others to do what he did, and show some respect?
Today, with "Google Translate" and all kinds of devices, any tourist can wander around America and speak or type in a phrase and have it converted into English. Why is that so hard for so many Latinos? What's the crapathy? (The crappy apathy?) Why the laziness?
Why let people wallow in their own negativity and their wan cry of, "No, I can not. It is too hard."
Senor Wences, a Spanish Jew, had a catch-phrase, "Is easy for you, is dee-fee-cult for ME." But his little puppet said it in ENGLISH.
Now, you can watch most any TV show and get a Spanish language soundtrack "on the SAP channel." SAP is right. This is SAPPY.
I learned Spanish because I liked the language. George Carlin said it was a beautiful language, similar to the Latin he heard in Catholic church. Maria? "Say it soft and it's almost like praying." I don't like being disrespected or used. Meet me halfway. Don't be in this country for two, five, ten years and not be able to communicate in my language, the language that's supposedly also the language of YOUR country. Maybe make an exception for the abuela, who is to old. But if you're veinte, treinta or cuarenta (20, 30, 40) what IS the excuse? NONE. NADA.
People should be proud of their native languages. Learning another language is a skill. It helps keep the brain healthy. It also can keep a conversation private when you don't want anyone to know you're plotting something. But LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF YOUR HOST COUNTRY. Is that really asking so much?
I find it rather odd that most of the people I know, including ME, do NOT speak the language that great-grandfather spoke. This is especially embarrassing to people with an ethnic last name. They get it all the time: "Oh, so you must speak French. No? Oh, you must speak German? Yah? No?" The answer is, "I was born in America, why am I going to learn a language I might only use if I take a week's vacation to see where my great great grandfather was buried?"
I can think of only ONE friend of mine who speaks the language of her ancestors, and that's primarily because both her parents arrived here as immigrants, and while they soon learned English to open a store and prosper, they spoke the native language around the house. My friend became bilingual. If you have a talent for it, learn a half-dozen languages.
But if you are an American citizen speak English.
If the politician Tice is remorseful because somebody not YET learning English had to speak Spanish to a judge, fine. But the odds are, this was just another case of somebody not speaking Spanish who'd been in America a long time and has no intention of ever bothering to learn English because it's so easy to not bother.
It's a sad irony that all over the world, people learn English as a second language, and most everywhere you go, you can easily find somebody who will speak English. In America? Lo siento...que lastima.
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