You know, I was looking up posts on 'language school horror stories' (the reason being, well, y'know) and I must say, this is terrible...it's all about the people in the U.S.A. who fear that illegal immigrants are taking over their country. This is crazy:
"I'm all for learning a second language, but here in Texas we're probably in the beginning stages of seeing Spanish classes mandated for all children. Many of our European ancestors whose first language was not English still learned it after arriving in America. Why are we catering to and making exceptions for the (mostly illegal) Mexicans?"
Are you kidding me? Did you actually just write that??? Look, I know that I'm not aware of the local culture or anything, but have you considered the fact that technically the world does not revolve around Enlgish normally, it just does now because of the internet and high speed tech?? Geez.
I would be interested to know what my American friend Ginny thinks about this...(in fact, Ginny, when I'm in Toronto in a few weeks, I DEMAND that you tell me what this is, and why I can't understand) since she's really good at explaining American culture to me in so many different ways. =D
The rest of the thread is nuts, as well. It's all about how American culture is dying and illegal immigrants get more than registered citizens. I honestly don't understand it. Secondly, there's all this stuff about how peaceful demonstrations of white people are what's really needed to put everything back in its place. While I kinda understand, I still don't get it. Because, really, after the huge movement against racism in the 80s, and all those great songs, and even the show South Park with Chef being black, I still don't understand how this kind of racism exists.
Oh, and sleep post still matters people. Tell me what you think. Brennan needs a new sleep pattern.
1 comment:
Brennan, I'm sorry, but I probably won't be able to explain my culture to you, mostly because it's really ridiculous sometimes (ok, all the time). What that person said is really not that uncommon (my grandma makes comments like that all the time). It's interesting that you say it is racist, because not many people in the US would label it as racist. What many people believe is that when people come to the US in order to obtain a better life for themselves, they should adapt to the dominant culture in order to obtain that better life. What they don't understand is that most immigrants come to the US and live within ethnic communities and often retain their language and culture for quite some time. Up until World War I, Cincinnati was largely German, and many still spoke German in businesses, schools, churches, etc. Furthermore, immigrants can really help to influence the dominant culture in very positive ways. Many Americans, though, are afraid of change and losing what they have. This has been a common thread throughout American history; in the nineteenth century, there were Nativist groups which protested against Irish Catholic immigrants screwing up the dominant English Protestant culture. In the early twentieth century, many protested against the large waves of southern European immigrants. So, hatred against Hispanics will probably pass after a kind of equilibrium is reached between their culture and dominant American culture, but it's going to take time. That doesn't excuse the racism that is inherent in comments like that, and it's quite sad that it still exists in the US. You would think we would learn from history.
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