Are We Living In A Post-Racial Age?

[trippinprincezz13]

Expressing contempt for people speaking Spanish (or any other language) amongst themselves outside of Home Depot is nothing but stupid bigotry, and completely irrelevant to anything. Now, if they're inside a Home Depot in a predominantly English-speaking area raising a stink because the employees don't speak their language, there's reason for contempt.

This I agree with. The area I live in is predominantly white and English speaking, but there are also relatively significant Hispanic and Asian populations. The city where I was born was a very large immigrant city and still is pretty much, just a different demographic. At the jobs I've had, especially at a AAA call center I worked at everyone spoke English and at the call center we had one person, maybe two, that spoke Spanish and there wasn't one on at all times. When people called in whose spoke English it made an already difficult situation even harder, but for the most part people did the best they could and we could gather the information needed to send help out to them. Then there were the people that yelled and screamed because no-one spoke Spanish (not trying to generalize here, but they were the only non-English/English second language that gave us a hard time, Asian language speaking people and misc. languages just made the best effort to communicate the needed information) and often, once they were done their bitch-fest, they magically learned how to speak English when they realized that that was all anyone at the center spoke. That is what pisses me off. Otherwise to each his own as far as I'm concerned.

When we came here, we already spoke English. I don't think we should reform for the sake of some illegals that think they can come to my country and expect me to know what the hell Paco means when he says El mantango.

Yes, who is this "we" coming here? British immigrants? Ok, one point for you, they spoke English. What about the French, German, Italian, Polish, Dutch, etc. etc. immigrants that came here in the country's early years? Did they all speak English too when they arrived here? Amazing!

Also, IIRC, the closest thing America ever had to an official national language was German when they voted on it way back when. So, why aren't you speaking German, guy?

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

wow. that "we already spoke english" quote is killing me.

you know, living here has taught me something. sign language.
we have a lot of people who move here from mexico or puerto rico.
i cant speak a word of spanish and those two speak different spanishes anyway.
you lern 2 sign. you can talk to anyone on the planet if you use the right hand gestures and body language.
theres a tortillarilla across the street that i eat at sometimes cause the food is really good but they dont speak a word of english. they dont have to. its a mexican store and i'm whitey.
i can still manage to order food and be polite and they can laugh at the little cracker that doesnt speak spanish.
i dont care. the food is good and they get money. win/win.

learn english. pshshshshshshhh. please. learn to communicate.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It always makes me laugh when people from areas where communities of natural-born Americans have spoken Spanish as a first language for generations start in with the "Learn Our Language!" rhetoric. You want to live in Texas or Arizona? Fucking learn Spanish, they spoke it there before they spoke English. Learn Navajo while you're at it, assholes.

First of all, if the language people speak is high enough on your list of issues that you're even  thinking about it, either your life is insanely problem-free and you should be grateful, or you have some massive prioritization deficiency.

Second of all, unless it effects you directly, why do you give a shit what language people speak? If just HEARING people speak amongst themselves in a language you don't speak sends you into an apoplectic rage, WAYSA? I once knew a guy who lived in southern Texas who was OUTRAGED at how often people would greet him in Spanish or ask if he spoke it. It actually pissed him off. I'm thinking... dude, get a fucking sense of perspective.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh, and read a history book, for fuck sake. Having an opinion on something you're completely ignorant of makes you look like a retard.

This is probably why educated people are more likely to be tolerant of others... they actually know what they're talking about, rather than merely parroting opinions they heard on the radio.

[Jasper]

IAWN.  Arguing to legislate English supremacy is bullshit.

[Seth_The_Fallen]

Expressing contempt for people speaking Spanish (or any other language) amongst themselves outside of Home Depot is nothing but stupid bigotry, and completely irrelevant to anything. Now, if they're inside a Home Depot in a predominantly English-speaking area raising a stink because the employees don't speak their language, there's reason for contempt.

This I agree with. The area I live in is predominantly white and English speaking, but there are also relatively significant Hispanic and Asian populations. The city where I was born was a very large immigrant city and still is pretty much, just a different demographic. At the jobs I've had, especially at a AAA call center I worked at everyone spoke English and at the call center we had one person, maybe two, that spoke Spanish and there wasn't one on at all times. When people called in whose spoke English it made an already difficult situation even harder, but for the most part people did the best they could and we could gather the information needed to send help out to them. Then there were the people that yelled and screamed because no-one spoke Spanish (not trying to generalize here, but they were the only non-English/English second language that gave us a hard time, Asian language speaking people and misc. languages just made the best effort to communicate the needed information) and often, once they were done their bitch-fest, they magically learned how to speak English when they realized that that was all anyone at the center spoke. That is what pisses me off. Otherwise to each his own as far as I'm concerned.

When we came here, we already spoke English. I don't think we should reform for the sake of some illegals that think they can come to my country and expect me to know what the hell Paco means when he says El mantango.

Yes, who is this "we" coming here? British immigrants? Ok, one point for you, they spoke English. What about the French, German, Italian, Polish, Dutch, etc. etc. immigrants that came here in the country's early years? Did they all speak English too when they arrived here? Amazing!

Also, IIRC, the closest thing America ever had to an official national language was German when they voted on it way back when. So, why aren't you speaking German, guy?

Yes the other immigrants that came here didn't speak English but they at least tried to. Plus they did it the legal way through the government. Not jumping fences and dodging border control.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

wut

[Jasper]

wut

I know.

[Dr. Paes]

Expressing contempt for people speaking Spanish (or any other language) amongst themselves outside of Home Depot is nothing but stupid bigotry, and completely irrelevant to anything. Now, if they're inside a Home Depot in a predominantly English-speaking area raising a stink because the employees don't speak their language, there's reason for contempt.

This I agree with. The area I live in is predominantly white and English speaking, but there are also relatively significant Hispanic and Asian populations. The city where I was born was a very large immigrant city and still is pretty much, just a different demographic. At the jobs I've had, especially at a AAA call center I worked at everyone spoke English and at the call center we had one person, maybe two, that spoke Spanish and there wasn't one on at all times. When people called in whose spoke English it made an already difficult situation even harder, but for the most part people did the best they could and we could gather the information needed to send help out to them. Then there were the people that yelled and screamed because no-one spoke Spanish (not trying to generalize here, but they were the only non-English/English second language that gave us a hard time, Asian language speaking people and misc. languages just made the best effort to communicate the needed information) and often, once they were done their bitch-fest, they magically learned how to speak English when they realized that that was all anyone at the center spoke. That is what pisses me off. Otherwise to each his own as far as I'm concerned.

When we came here, we already spoke English. I don't think we should reform for the sake of some illegals that think they can come to my country and expect me to know what the hell Paco means when he says El mantango.

Yes, who is this "we" coming here? British immigrants? Ok, one point for you, they spoke English. What about the French, German, Italian, Polish, Dutch, etc. etc. immigrants that came here in the country's early years? Did they all speak English too when they arrived here? Amazing!

Also, IIRC, the closest thing America ever had to an official national language was German when they voted on it way back when. So, why aren't you speaking German, guy?

Yes the other immigrants that came here didn't speak English but they at least tried to. Plus they did it the legal way through the government. Not jumping fences and dodging border control.

[Cain]

Yes the other immigrants that came here didn't speak English but they at least tried to. Plus they did it the legal way through the government. Not jumping fences and dodging border control.

I'm not even American and I know for a fact that there were Dutch, German, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish and French speaking communities all over the country from pretty much its inception and especially after the revolution.

Also, the legal way to emigate back then was to get on a boat or a wagon and settle down in some land that was considered American.  That's it.  Can you really talk of legality if there was no law about this in the first place?

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Yes the other immigrants that came here didn't speak English but they at least tried to. Plus they did it the legal way through the government. Not jumping fences and dodging border control.

I'm not even American and I know for a fact that there were Dutch, German, Spanish, Swedish, Finnish and French speaking communities all over the country from pretty much its inception and especially after the revolution.

Also, the legal way to emigate back then was to get on a boat or a wagon and settle down in some land that was considered American.  That's it.  Can you really talk of legality if there was no law about this in the first place?

ZOOOM This is the correct Motorcycle.

The US didn't have a problem with 'illegal aliens' because the concept didn't Fucking Exist. If someone wanted to live here, they moved here and started contributing to society. As for people learning to speak english? What country are you from Seth? Insular communities that maintained their traditional heritage were all over the place AND STILL ARE.

For more laughs, go find some of the speeches by assholes from "The Know Nothing Party" compare their idiot ramblings with all the 'illegal immigrant' bullshit today. Xenophobia makes the same arguments even with centuries between them.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Plus they did it the legal way through the government. Not jumping fences and dodging border control.

What does illegal immigration have to do with what language people speak amongst their peers?

Let's just keep in mind that what was burning your ass was people outside of Home Depot, speaking Spanish to each other. HOW DARE THEY.

Dude, I know plenty of LEGAL immigrants who speak their mother tongue when they're hanging out. My brother's girlfriend is a LEGAL immigrant, and when they're hanging out talking to each other they speak Spanish. Why shouldn't they? I mean, WTF.

Do you have a problem with American indians hanging around outside of Home Depot speaking Navajo?

ETA: I just realized you probably look at their brown skin and black hair and assume they're Mexicans.

[Jenne]

It's funny...the US is one of the very few Westernized societies that doesn't have an official SPOKEN language.

I have to say Nigel's riding an exquisite motorcycle on her views there about who's entitled to their mother tongue and who isn't.  Living in San Diego, you don't get the option of "English only."  We used to BE Mexico--you know, Aztlan?  Chicano politics started here, and I'm not about to naysay them as they have a powerfully understandable motive given the abuse a lot of Mexicans have taken and still take, from our government and from theirs.

You see, you have to be willing to educate those people in order to TEACH them Spanish.  How many white "English-only" folks WANT the little brown children in their schools?  Messing up their testing scores?  Eh, not many.  Immersion is key, but the price is one white folks can't always handle well.

The Mexicans here know English is their ticket to better jobs, but it takes time to learn, and not everyone is adept at learning languages.  To their minds, they've been here for generations, and folks round here are the strangers, the aliens, not those from south of the border.  The English-only crowd can only go so far around here without sounding absolutely ricockulous.

But that's th e whole point, I guess, is that language is really about COMMUNITY, not about COUNTRY.  Fuck the notion that you're part of a nation because you speak its official language.  It's not like, especially in the US, you can't survive without it.  What's crucial, is what Squiddy pointed out--the willingness to communicate THROUGH the language barrier.  Legislating a language is not the answer.  Stressing skills to survive, yes.

[trippinprincezz13]

Yes the other immigrants that came here didn't speak English but they at least tried to. Plus they did it the legal way through the government. Not jumping fences and dodging border control.

Cain and Rat summed it up nicely.

Please try to have half a clue of what you're talking about before you open your mouth.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Jenne, you summarized the point I was trying to make much more clearly. If you live in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, or California, odds are that a lot of the Spanish-speaking residents come from families that were there before any English-speakers were.

There's a reason that the Texas Constitution protects the right for residents to speak Spanish. The whiners should learn it.