'Speak English' signs found not DISCRIMINATORY!!!! About time.

[shellpry]

'Speak English' signs allowed at Philly shop.
The owner of a famous Philadelphia cheesesteak shop did not discriminate when he posted signs asking customers to speak English, a city panel ruled Wednesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23715954/from/ET/

Comments

[actaea]

Princess, your analogy is like saying people in England are hypocritical for not speaking the language of the ancient Romans. The Native American races occupied this continent first, but they did not establish its government, its laws, or its global status as a nation. English colonists did. All branches of our government legislate/govern in English.

(That reality notwithstanding, I'm sure that if there were still Native Americans who spoke their native tongue as their primary language, they would be supported. Oh, wait. There are. Hawaii officially recognizes the Hawaiian language, and my father's address is therefore unpronounceable.)

The prevalence of a language does not determine its prominence. Ask anyone in Europe, particularly Belgium. The English language would still dominate our culture even if Spanish speakers ultimately outnumbered us.

Although the U.S. has not yet adopted English as its official language, we nearly did in 2006 and inevitably will. It makes sense for a country to have one, precisely so Americans CAN communicate with each other, and English is the clear and obvious choice. That said, many states DO have an official language--English in all cases except for Hawaii (both English and Hawaiian). New Mexico has Spanish as its de facto language, and Maine retains French. I checked: Pennsylvania doesn't have one. But if they did, I promise it would be English.

Vento is Italian. He's not asking customers to speak Italian, is he? I'm kinda guessing you guys would defend that and find it humorous.

America isn't just a place to take shelter. It's about COMMITTING to becoming part of something bigger and "doing for" that country whose privileges and freedoms you're enjoying. Moving to America means becoming an American, and that means a certain degree of assimilation, and that means trying to learn English. How can you drive safely if you can't read English? How can you help their kids with their schoolwork or effectively parent a child who likely won't speak your language? How can you get effective medical attention if you can't speak English? Oh...wait.

Fireivy, clearly your grandparents /were/ Americans and probably wonderful people, but I still don't see anything laudable about immigrating and then never learning English. You might make an argument for Spanish (I'd still disagree) but not Portugese. For six years I lived among Americans in Panama, including my father, who never learned Spanish, and I was embarrassed by them. I can't think of any other country in the world where people would defend an expatriate who didn't bother to learn the local language. And I can't think of any other country that people would deem arrogant and audacious for defining an official one, but that is what will happen.

They say you can measure the greatness of a nation by how many people want to get in. People all over the world are waiting in never-ending queues for their chance to become Americans--that's not just hype. Alex and I have spent many hours at the Embassies. Every person who gets in takes a highly coveted spot from someone else. Asking them to learn a common language is somehow depriving them of an identity? We make people take ridiculous trivia tests about the Founding Fathers' middle names, but knowing English isn't important?

"Americans' unwillingness to put forth any effort to improve their ability to communicate with other Americans, no matter where they come from is horribly sad to me."

Damn straight. So should every American learn French, Spanish, Greek, Tongan, Afrikaans, etc., or should we all just learn to speak English?

[wakeofthefire]

Very, VERY well written. I can't even think of anything else to ad.
I doubt the man who posted the sign was trying to be discriminatory, but simply trying to run his business in a timely and professional fashion.

[shellpry]

I couldn't have said it better if I tried really, really hard. Thank you!