Comments on: English Only Please http://joscafe.com/2007/04/01/english-only-please Live, Laugh, Love Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:57:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: c.a. Marks http://joscafe.com/2007/04/01/english-only-please/comment-page-1#comment-133749 c.a. Marks Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:16:56 +0000 http://joscafe.com/2007/04/01/english-only-please/#comment-133749 WOOT! Amen sistah! And don't forget to "press 1 for English." WOOT! Amen sistah! And don’t forget to “press 1 for English.”

]]> By: Stanford Matthews http://joscafe.com/2007/04/01/english-only-please/comment-page-1#comment-133587 Stanford Matthews Sun, 01 Apr 2007 21:40:39 +0000 http://joscafe.com/2007/04/01/english-only-please/#comment-133587 It was late but I was not quite ready to retire for the day. As I was nearing that end, I was reviewing some paperwork and the TV happened to have on a rerun of Miami Vice. The Detective who is not part of the forensic unit got in a bit of a shouting match with a CSI over a man not speaking English after being here for 30 years. The Detective was mad about it and related items and the CSI was mad that the Detective was mad about it saying it did not matter. It does. It also matters that many groups whose membership is based on race or ethnicity refer to themselves as the racial or ethnic distinction with 'Americans' added to the reference. That seems to me to be placing the racial or ethnic distinction ahead of being American. Some people use the 'melting pot' term to defend their right to be here but it does not find a place in their lives beyond that. Then the fear of losing their cultural heritage is used as a reason to continue the trend. Are we not supposed to be Americans first and speak the language of America? What language is spoken in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland, etc., etc? If, rather than sustaining your cultural heritage, you choose it over American heritage, it loudly proclaims your preference for something other than America. It was late but I was not quite ready to retire for the day. As I was nearing that end, I was reviewing some paperwork and the TV happened to have on a rerun of Miami Vice.
The Detective who is not part of the forensic unit got in a bit of a shouting match with a CSI over a man not speaking English after being here for 30 years. The Detective was mad about it and related items and the CSI was mad that the Detective was mad about it saying it did not matter. It does.
It also matters that many groups whose membership is based on race or ethnicity refer to themselves as the racial or ethnic distinction with ‘Americans’ added to the reference. That seems to me to be placing the racial or ethnic distinction ahead of being American.
Some people use the ‘melting pot’ term to defend their right to be here but it does not find a place in their lives beyond that. Then the fear of losing their cultural heritage is used as a reason to continue the trend.

Are we not supposed to be Americans first and speak the language of America? What language is spoken in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland, etc., etc?

If, rather than sustaining your cultural heritage, you choose it over American heritage, it loudly proclaims your preference for something other than America.

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