Monday Night Football broadcaster Tony Kornheiser has been called out for being insensitive. After ESPN showed a replay of a game clip in Spanish, Kornheiser said something akin to that he took Spanish in high school, and the comment either meant “the guy would not be touched” or “would you get my laundry tomorrow.” Kornheiser apologized, but the idea he would have to apologize for making a flip comment shows how hypersensitive we’ve become as a country. Because of that sensitivity, I fully expect somebody to call me racist for the following comment, but that won’t stop me.
I don’t care about ESPN Desportes, nor do I have any interest in seeing an NFL replay broadcast in Spanish. It is almost as if ESPN is trying to orchestrate a nationwide acceptance of Spanish through cross-linguistic promotion, and frankly, it irritates me.
While I’m ambivalent about a “path to citizenship” (which is basically backdoor amnesty), the one thing I believe without compromise is that if you come here, you learn English. We don’t make concessions or accommodations for you. Every time I see “entrada principal” next to “main entrance” on an IPS school, I cringe. Knowing a second language helps people, but that’s ONLY after you know the dominant language, which is English. (In fairness to illegal immigrants, many American citizens need to learn English. Sarah Palin and George Bush: “nuc-u-lar”?!?)
But seriously, think about how well received you would be in France if you said, “Hey, I’m coming to live in YOUR country, but I’m going to need you to give me English TV stations and all my government forms in English, m’kay?!? Even if the country were willing to do it, boy, it would still take unmitigated gall to even ask. Isn't this like going over to your neighbor's home uninvited and then asking them to change their wallpaper to your tastes?
People think opposition to illegal immigrants is just racism. There is undoubtedly that component for many. But for many, including me, it's all about linguistics and pressing cultural change, not race. I don't object to changing the skin tone of America if it STAYS American, and the main signifier of any culture is its language. The American language is English, folks.
Now, my party, by virtue of a brazen vote grabbing war with Republicans, tries to cozy up to American citizens who are Latino who have family members here illegally. That's just plain wrong, morally and politically. It minimizes that fact the much opposition to illegal immigrantion is based on the American notion that you don't reward people who ignore the rules and punish those who play by them.
What we need to do is allocate more money to VISA processing so people can get here faster, and for every illegal immigrant we deport, we need to bring one over who has been waiting. In other words, we keep the same skin tone of America, but we do it with a different kind of person. We should also increase the numerical quota for all countries while letting everybody know now, if you want to come to America, you better know English. If I were dictator of the universe, I would make an English test be part of the immigration process. If you can communicate in English better than others in your country, you move to the head of the line!
A lot of people might be more comfortable believing that immigrants to this country actually want to be American if they did not expect linguistic accommodations. You see, the notion of “wanting to be American” and adapting to America’s language and customs is decidedly different than wanting to come to America to exploit its favorable wages (and send then out of the U.S.) and its free health care with no intent of “melting” into the melting pot.
People will say, "These concerns are raised every time there is an immigrant wave." That's true. Every new influx at Ellis Island has caused consternation about the changes. But the difference between now and the early 1900s is that almost all of those immigrant wanted not just the American benefits, but also the labors needed to be American. That’s very different now, which is why until the Latino community got some PR people to trouble-shoot, you would see rallies of people seeking to stay in America carrying the Mexican flag.
