Sorry - in America, speak English - Granite Grok

Sorry – in America, speak English

A common language – that’s what many of us want – along with a shared history and a shared sense of belonging that aids in what helps to glue us all together.  Of course, the Multiculturalism folks are all against that – seemingly believing that all cultures are exactly equal (except for our own, at times). 

Once again, our friend DCE over at Weekend Pundit fills the gap and has two riffs on the subject of where GOVERNMENT is making it harder on us when English is the norm, the lingua franca (of COURSE I did that on purpose) of the land . 

First, who’da thunk that our own government believes that speaking English is a crime?  Oh yeah, I guess I’m not surprised.  Here’s another case where people are told of the consequences of inaction after (in my opinion, inordinate amount) some amount of time to correct their behavior in the workplace:

EEOC Discriminating Against Those Who Speak English

Isn’t it interesting that while US Federal Courts and a number of immigrant support groups have all said that English is important for immigrants to get ahead in America, that another branch of the federal government is working against the assimilation of those same immigrants?

The Salvation Army in Framingham, Massachusetts is the latest target of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , making sure that immigrants won’t have to be bothered to learn English in order to get a job.

But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that last year filed over 200 lawsuits against employers over English-only rules, has a different vision. Its lawsuit against the Salvation Army accuses the organization of discriminating against two employees at its Framingham, Mass., thrift store "on the basis of their national origin." Its crime was to give the employees a year’s notice that they should speak English on the job (outside of breaks) and then firing them after they did not. The EEOC sued only four years after a federal judge in Boston, in a separate suit, upheld the Salvation Army’s English-only policy as an effort to "promote workplace harmony." Like a house burglar, the EEOC is trying every door in the legal neighborhood until it finds one that’s open.

So, rather than helping immigrants become part of the mainstream society by ensuring they aren’t discriminated against because of their national origin, they coddle them and force businesses to conform to ambiguous and discriminatory practices that serve no one but the EEOC and the anti-assimilationist. They aren’t doing the non-English speaking people any good. Instead they are condemning them to lower incomes and fewer opportunities to get ahead because they can’t be bothered to learn the language of the country where they now make their homes. If that isn’t discrimination, I don’t know what is.

And then, yet another instance of our public government discriminating against ourselves?  Can we sue for violation of our multicultural rights?

Speaking English In America

The controversy about using English here in the US appears to be growing. First, it’s the EEOC going after the Salvation Army for requiring their employees to speak English when they’re working. Now it’s the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) chairman Roberto Fonseca giving his report in Spanish. That angered a number of parents attending the meeting:

 

The obvious question is this: why did Fonseca (who is bilingual) think it was appropriate to run the meeting in Spanish? After all, African-Americans are well represented on the council, and many of the Latino parents speak English. Furthermore, current bylaws stipulate that all parent meetings across the district be held in English.

Apparently Fonseca took the opportunity to challenge those bylaws, motivated by a lawyer’s conclusion that the English-only rule was illegal and impractical and the district’s assurance that it would not be enforced. The LAUSD probably fears the reactions of parents like Guadalupe Aguiar, who told the [L.A.] Times that it is “racist when parents are told that, in America, they have to speak English.”

…Hispanic Democrat [Rep. Charles Gonzalez of Texas] is quoted in the [Wall Street] Journal as saying, “If it is not relevant, it is discriminatory, it is gratuitous, it is a subterfuge to discriminate against people based on national origin.” This type of heated rhetoric made its way to the House Floor on Nov. 8, when Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois called English-only requirements symbolic of “bigotry and prejudice.”

But not all politicians think it’s racist to insist that employees speak English when working in America. In fact, Gonzalez and Gutierrez were reacting to an amendment introduced by Lamar Alexander from Tennessee. Alexander’s legislation would shield employers from federal lawsuits if they refuse to hire non-English speakers. The amendment passed the Senate by 75-19 last month, and, more recently, the House by 218-186, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is determined to kill it.

It figures that Pelosi wants to kill the bill. After all, why should we speak only English when dealing with government, business, or education? Instead, the rest of us should be forced to learn Spanish to make it easier for Hispanic immigrants (particularly illegal immigrants) to succeed in this country? What kind of madness is this?

It’s liberal Democrat madness.

It is becoming more and more evident that many of those like the Speaker of the House dislike mainstream America with a passion. After all, all the world’s evils are our fault and therefore we must make penance with the slow destruction of American sovereignty within our own country.

NOT.

And this is the angst that I have.  I may be branded jingoistic and a nativist in saying it here in the US that all should speak English.  No, I am not being racist (I care not a whit what color you are) nor am I discriminating on national origins (although I notice that Gonzalez and Gutierrez could be accused of reverse discrimination, but that would not be Politically Correct, would it?  ;>)  ).

 

There are times that we should stand up for our own culture.  The spate of Western Civilization bashing and anti-anything-American is just nuts.  I expect it from America’s enemies like Putin, Chavez, Ahmadidijan, and the like, but not from our elected and appointed leaders.

Their shrill voices grate upon most of us simply for the fact that we prefer our traditions and way of life.  There is much that can be improved in America, but this notion that English speakers must be "inclusive" and that we must learn immigrant languages so that they won’t feel bad is just so…..

…ah yes, childish. 

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