Well said.

Posted by: suek

February 19, 2012 at 6:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

There's probably a good Hitler quote respecting nationalism, too - I'm just too tired to google it up.

Posted by: GeneralJackTRipper

February 20, 2012 at 1:23 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

cdawg

WHAT ????

Posted by: mable

February 20, 2012 at 7:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Well if they are here legally and want to be an American citizen GREAT!!!!! Be an American!!!!! If you are here illegally, then go home and do it the right way!!!!

Posted by: hipop

February 20, 2012 at 11:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

The native Americans have the right to call themselves that. They ARE the original natives. They did not give anyone permission to come here. We should all be living by their rules and customs if there were any justice.

Posted by: inquire

February 20, 2012 at 1:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

If you want to live over here, learn the language, speak English and then we won't have to wonder where you are from. If you are over here illegally, then go back to wherever you came from.

Posted by: arkieblogger

February 20, 2012 at 7:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Language doesn't have anything to do with being a good American. If someone comes to be a part of America, where they lived before or the language they speak doesn’t matter. They are Americans. Cultures transform over time. I wonder if a Roman of antiquity ever complained about citizens of the Roman Republic not speaking Latin.

Here are a few things written by James Crawford from http://www.languagepolicy.net :

“Language diversity has always been with us. As early as 1664, when the island of Manhattan was ceded from the Dutch to the British, 18 different tongues were spoken there, not counting any of the hundreds of Native American languages spoken in North America at the time. In the 1790 census, German Americans accounted for 8.6 percent of the population – a proportion comparable to that of Hispanic Americans, 9.0 percent, exactly two centuries later. Certainly, there are more languages spoken in the U.S.A. today than in 1790. (The 1990 census reported 323 – surely an undercount.) But this is a quantitative, not a qualitative, change.”

“Proportionally speaking, the language-minority population was larger at the turn of the 20th century, when immigration reached its highest levels in U.S. history, than at the turn of the 21st. In the 1890 census, there were 4.5 times as many non-English speakers than in the 1990 census (with its superior capabilities for counting such groups). In 1910, 23 percent of foreign-born whites, 39 percent of Japanese, 41 percent of Chinese, and 66 percent of other immigrants spoke no English, as compared with less than 10 percent of foreign-born residents in 1990. A decade before New Mexico became a state in 1912, two-thirds of its residents remained monolingual speakers of Spanish or Native American languages. Meanwhile, significant enclaves of French speakers remained intact in Louisiana and northern New England. German still predominated in large areas of the upper Midwest. These groups gradually became Anglicized – not through legislation, but through social changes due to industrialization, migration, road-building, electrification, mass media, and the passing of isolated rural life.”

http://www.languagepolicy.net/archive...

There is nothing wrong with only speaking English, but there is equally nothing un-American about speaking languages other than English in America.

V/r,

Tank

Posted by: Tankersley101

February 22, 2012 at 3:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

"Arbeit macht frei" - that's all the foreign language any of us need to know.

Well, that and "inclinarse y separar las nalgas con las manos".

Posted by: GeneralJackTRipper

February 22, 2012 at 7:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

I thought this article was well-written, and is tasteful and appropriate. Good for Guiterrez when she says that being called "Mexican" used to anger her, but now she just educates people that "Hispanic" can be more than Mexican. It's good to know.

Just as, "white" is not all....what? English? Irish? Scottish? Or Canadian? Heck, there are even "white" Hispanics, you know!

It's of interest, when seeking to understand individuals and community cultures, about race and ethnicity. But as others have said, how about focusing on being "American" above all else? It's the common ground we share, at least, those of us who are legal American citizens.

I've long believed that the politically-correct terms such as "African-American" are basically meaningless and harmful terms, because it sets black Americans *apart* from...what other kind of Americans? In gest, I've often wanted to tell people, "Don't call me White! Call me Scotch-Irish-French-German American, because I'm Scotch-Irish-French-German and proud of it!" It's ludicrous, of course. "White" is easier and includes many ethnic origins. "Black" isn't all about Africa, either, necessarily.

I look forward to the day when folks can take pride in being melting-pot American; at least, it's an ideal to strive for. How do we do that with folks who are still hung up on ethnicity and country-of-origin? If they can't get past it themselves, it's not really fair to ask other Americans to do it for them, and complain about "prejudice" when you're seemingly hell-bent on setting yourself apart in some way.

Posted by: SPA

February 23, 2012 at 10:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Arkieblogger: looks like you have found a new villain, enemy to spew your anger towards. I'm afraid only small minds produce such hate.

Posted by: Jatello

February 23, 2012 at 8:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

And, Tank, while we're displaying our machismo by skillful use of Google Translate... :

العمل يجعل حرة واحدة، عندما انحنى لرجل اليمينية المحافظة

Posted by: GeneralJackTRipper

February 25, 2012 at 9:27 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )