xenophobic jerk

[trochee]

I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English.

might as well say "English -- the language the Bible was written in". Because Francis Scott Key has the direct line on the Original Intent, dontcha know.

I wonder if he's upset about the modifications to the melody too?

ETA: Erik Bakovic has more on Language Log.

Comments

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Since when have there been riots in Chinatown? Or the Russian neighborhood in NYC? Or Tehrangeles? Or a Hassidic neighborhood? Or in a Latino neighborhood in rural America? Or in Miami for that matter?

Ethnic enclave is not automatically equal to rioting. Nor does it automatically indicate "economic depression". Many people who come here are poor when they come, it's true. But your assumptions on what that means and how it plays out smell fishy to me. Since when does the bugbear of "rioting" have anything to do with the argument we are having about language.

What's more, since when is rioting limited to people who speak a particular language.

My ancestors came here and settled in ethnic enclaves. They had businesses that spoke their language (and some are around that still do) and they had community associations and helped each other. Eventually most of their descendents spoke English, but without such ability to have a safe space, the group would not have thrived and would not have been able to keep as much of its heritage as it has.

Furthermore, there are still parts of Chicago where people only speak Polish, several generations into America. Same with Italian in Pittsburgh. My boss was raised speaking Italian as her 1st language and she's 4th gen American and she grew up dirt poor.

Classism is huge in this country, but this debate is really about racism. Because Polish and Italian speaking Americans are generally not brown, therefore not seen as a threat.

The fact that you automatically went from not speaking English and living together in the same neighborhood to "minorities" "ghettos" and "rioting" speaks volumes.