Spanish Derangement Syndrome
I have written several times about the phenomena of certain nativist Americans who get absolutely freaked out whenever they even encounter Spanish in the good old USA. Here is another example of what I have started calling Spanish Derangement Syndrome:
A Spanish-language billboard promoting iced coffee is getting a chilly reception from some Bogota officials.
Mayor Steve Lonegan said the McDonald's billboard on River Road near
Elm Avenue and the railroad overpass is offensive because it sends the
message that Spanish speakers and immigrants do not need to learn how
to speak English.
Boy would this guy ever blow a gasket here in Phoenix! So I have a counter proposal. Everywhere that Steve Lonegan travels overseas, I think they should remove their English signs and everyone should refuse to speak English. No English signs in airports, no English-speaking people at the hotel desk, no International Herald Tribune on the newsstand. After all, having English signs and English-speaking customer contact people all over, say, Germany, just sends the message that Americans don't have to learn German to travel there.
I am reminded that nearly every country in the world has an "American School" where expats send their kids to learn in English and avoid as much contact and assimilation as possible with the local populous. For example, I had several business associates in Singapore who all sent their kids to the local American School. Can you imagine what a hissy-fit nativists in the US would throw if there were similar Mexican schools in the US?
Update: By the way, I don't have any particular problem with English as a criteria for citizenship, but not for mere presence in the country. Note that I don't consider citizenship the restrictive license that nativists do, as I explained here, among other places.
Also, one would be hard-pressed to argue that the Constitution somehow restricts first amendment speech protections to speech made in English.
Update #2: Formatting has wigged out a couple of times with this post, with the word "English" formatted out on separate lines each time it appears. Weird. Hacker?
