I have always wondered, why the majority of intolerant, small minded and bigoted people tend to be well to put it bluntly ignorant and not very educated. Does educated or the lack of it, aid in the spread of hate and racism?
Now, I am not implying that all bigots are uneducated. There are a small number of xenophobes and racists, such as David Duke and Ann Coulter that are highly educated, yet can't get past their own self loathing and insecurities and find it necessary to lash out at anyone and everyone that looks, sounds and acts different from themselves and what they view as the norm. But for the most part, the picture of a gun touting, hood wearing, cross burning, first cousin marrying, 2nd grade dropout, ignorant human being, is right on the money.
Racism is alive and doing well in America, that is a fact. There are many subjects that tend to stir the hot bed of intolerance; among them are race and immigration and more recently, language has been added to the mix. Is the inability to learn new skills, such a new language, create or deepen the feelings of inadequacies, envy and jealousy in certain individuals that eventually find an outlet in the form of racism and hate?
Perhaps if the Education System in America wasn't lagging so far behind the rest of the civilized world, we would not be such a racists country and society.It really doesn't matter, because the ability to speak and understand more than one language is an asset and a skill necessary in this ever increasing metropolitan we call America.
So to the "English Only" advocates and I say "Que Vivan Las Variedades" "Viveren Las Differenzas" .
(Wrote this,after posting a response to an article, dealing with the subject "English Only", that is building momentum in the U.S.)
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Comments: 24
Don't agree with a country that wants just English as the official language. Too many people would be left out of the equation and I don't think that to be fair.
Oh and for the record, English was my first language, German my second and Spanish didn't even come into play until I was around 12 in the fourth grade.
I see it in every realm of society. I wish I didn't.
Then there is the fighting to be on the bottom rung that Jim G, mentioned but I would expand on that to include trying to get above the bottom rung. We live in a society that too often chants the mantra, "Work hard and you will succeed." When simply working hard is not enough to get people up the ladder, those on the lower rungs start looking for other reasons to explain why their efforts are of no avail. That applies to both blacks and whites and both groups have or become exposed to power seekers willing to provide them with an answer that places the blame for their situation on group to which the questioning disadvantaged do not belong.
The group: We Comment Back
Language is something that binds people of a nation together. It is the cornerstone of a nation's culture. When large numbers of people in a nation start speaking a different language than the language which has become established in that nation (ex. English in the USA), then you no longer have a nation.
NATION - a stable, historically developed community of people with a territory, economic life, distinctive culture, and language in common.
Those who advocate imposing foreign languages and cultures upon a nation, are advocating the destruction of that nation, into either a mish-mash of seperate cultures, or a change to another culture which they prefer. In the USA today, there is a significant group of "reconquistas" who believe the southwestern states were stolen
from Mexico in 1848, and who strive to reconquer this land for Mexico, by filling it with Mexican people, and changing the language/culture.
This is an affront to all of those who gave up their lives in World War II to prevent this very thing from happening from Japan and Germany, who surely would have imposed their language and culture upon us, had they won the war.
As you know, we've gone over this before numerous times. Nothing's changed.
You are an obvious reconquista and I, although Hispanic also, am an American nationalist, who supports the USA as the nation that we are, and have been all my life, and not some mongrel mixture of different nationalities and languages.
You see diversity as a good thing. As a former Geography teacher, I understand it to be a departure from what nations are supposed to be. What is that ? Read my definition in my previous post.
I don't know why you mention Hispanics dying in world wars. That has nothing to do with what I said about US troops in World War II (of course Hispanics included),
defending us from foreign takeover, and imposing their languages upon us (German &
Japanese), as Spanish is being imposed upon us now, just to suit non-assimilating
Spanish-speakers who won't learn English.
I noticed, when talking to dozens of Mayday immigration protesters (all in Spanish)
that many had been in this country for years, and still couldn't speak English. 90% of them here illegally (they openly told me they were), they shouldn't even be here at all,
let alone be dictating what language we speak.
Anyways.......
Juan, I think I agree with the point I think you are trying to make. My only concern is that you seem to be borderline contemptful towards these people. Do you think you are better than them? If so, does that make you a better person or just as bad or lower than the bigots?
Hablo espanol porque en mi escuela la clase estaba mandatoria empezando en el primer grado. Mi grammatica es mal, pero me gusta hablar, especialmente porque mi familia no comprende!
As far as feeling superior to bigots, I guess I do feel that somehow, I am above their status. Next to child and woman abusers, I feel that racists are the worst type of human beings there are. This might be wrong, but I can live with it.
Also, if your theory is true that education or lack thereof breeds racism, then wouldn't it be true that illegal aliens crossing our southern border are racists also? The average education level is 6th grade.
How do you feel about affirmative action programs which put Hispanics ahead of whites for jobs, regardless of qualification ? Don't you consider that racist ? Or are you only bothered when it is Hispanics who are the victims ?
I am proud to say that whenever confronted with one of those forms, I always checked White or Caucasian, despite my having both a Hispanic surname and middle name. I could easily have checked Hispanic, but I felt it was improper and dishonorable.
Lastly, I hate all types of bullies and in my mind racists are a type of bully. Thus, I detest any type of intolerance, bigotry and racism, no matter who it is aimed at. Thou, my articles tend to focus on the hate aimed at minorities; I would still be as passionate if it was aimed at you or Robert.
Robert, I personally, have never seen or heard of an instance in which a under qualified Hispanic was hired instead of a qualified Anglo. In all the times I have been in the position to hire someone, I have never taken race as a factor, I think any type of affirmative action program is wrong, no matter who the beneficiary is. As far as feeling a dishonor, with your Hispanic heritage that is something you and your conscious have to deal with.
regardless of other factors.