lowing wrote:
Be disgusted all you want...........It doesn't compare to the disgust I have for immigrants, legal and illegal, that come here and don't even bother to learn the language of the land. Instead they EXPECT US to accommodate them!
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Wow. How very noble. Shame it isn't true any more, I'm not even sure if it ever was.
Why can't you accomodate them? What is the matter with an advertisement in another language here, or an episode of miming what you want from a spanish-speaking store owner? What does it matter, in fact it adds a bit of interest to life.
You see America as your country which is justified, yet your vision of an American is someone who speaks english. That is the prinicple characteristic as I understand it for the purposes of this debate. Each country has an official language, but include a few others for good measure. you ca only have one official language of course, but in the Encyclopaedia Geographica the US lists about six 'other' languages. Spanish is at the top of that list. That would lead me to believe that somone who speaks something other than english is still an American.
I don't think it's disgust you feel towards the immigrants Iowing, it's fear. You don't want them 'taking over', you're scared that since they are showing Spanish ads on TV that the time is near when Immigrants will take over the country.
Well don't worry your little red neck about it. Statistics show at the moment that out of all the Spanish speakers in the USA, (which amounts to roughly 10% of the population - note this is everyone who can speak Spanish, not necesarily immigrants,) just ten percent of this, (amounting to about one percent of the population,) do not speak english at all, with the number shrinking all the time as immigrants try to fit in with their new country. To tell the truth, the very great majority of the countries in the world have more residents who do no speak te 'official' language than the US.
Back to Chevy's ad - well, looking at the statistics there was really no need to advertise in Spanish, but the reaction it got showing the fear of immigrants is startling. It won't work well for Chevy no doubt, but that isn't the issue. Americans somtimes get uptight about having the largest spanish-speaking country in the world. We in New Zealand are the largest Polynesian country in the world, both in people and language. The biggest Polynesian city in the world is Aukland NZ. We have ads in polynesian languages and you know what? Nothing has gone wrong. Polynesians havn't taken over the country nor have the any plans to. All they want to do is fit in with their new country and help it as much as they can. This is helped by the rest of my country being as accomodating as possible.
Immigrants are not bad for a country, even if they decide to keep their culture and language without really integrating themselves with the locals. Many people choose to do that, which can be harmful to them rather than society. You feel upset that you have to accomodate them Iowing, but you should accomodate them! You'll find it's mutual, if you decide to accomodate them they will most likely become more "americanised" and then perhaps fit your view of an American person.