I was listening to Hugh Hewitt the other day and he was speaking with a writer from the LA times (I think) and the writer was spouting off about how awful it is that people expect everyone to learn English in America and that enforcing that as a national language equates to racism. I just can't believe how unreasonable some people can be. I would think that the idea would be that those who come to the United States want to come and assimilate into our culture and make it their home. When my parents emmgirated from Brazil my family didn't know any English whatsoever and decided to open up a couple of tailor shops. Talk about intimidating, right? However, my dad was smart about it and maybe got a little carried away with it, but they stopped speaking Portuguese, watched everything in English, and listened to only music in English until they were proficient in the language. And what's more, they succeeded. Both of my parents have done great and their kids aren't so bad either.
I know there are many who come without the intention of adopting a new home, hoping to either just take advantage of our resources or isolate themselves in their own culture. But hasn't one of the greatest things about this country been its ability to absorb ALL of the many different aspects of EVERY culture in the world? Do most people not look forward to Cinco De Mayo? Wasn't that exclusively Mexican? At the least, most people are now aware of it, if not celebrating it themselves. Do you even know what it's celebrating? And no...it's not their Independence day, so try again. What about St. Patrick's day? Irish and catholic tradition. What about Chinese New Year? Maybe you don't know when it is exactly, but you probably know that it's at least not on the regular new year and that it occurs sometime in February.
Anyway, I read an article by Jay Nordlinger of National Review. I really, really appreciate his points of view. Very thoughtful, very moral person. Check him out.
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