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Monday May 12, 2008
Un-Happy Meals :(
I recently read this strange but true story about these black students who were unable to get a summer job at a local Mcdonald’s in a Latino enclave of the U.S. The reason why? Because they were unable to speak Spanish. In other words, the only language they were able to speak was English. The somewhat unfortunate nature surrounding the circumstances of these black students in this story was reminiscent of a low-grade Twilight Zone episode: An American not being able to get a job in America, because s/he speaks English?? And only English??? Which brings me to the overarching theme of the article: Should those who immigrate to the U.S. be required to know how to speak English? Or, at the very least… Speak English well enough to manage their way through a Mcdonald’s restaurant transaction? Why is this relevant to us Asians? Well, because I think the existence of such exclusively ethnocentric cities or sections-of-cities is a fact of life for all immigrants, whereby the prevailing language (in all its forms) within the borders of these so-called “[Blank]-Towns” or “Little [Blanks]” would make any observer wonder if the town in question was even an American town at all. Furthermore, I know at least from my own experience that a lot of immigrants who inhabit these towns intentionally choose to live in them, because it affords them the convenience of never having to learn or speak a single English word. This issue is very personal to me, as, of course, my parents were immigrants. And while my father spoke English well enough, my mother did not. So, I find myself in a strange middle-ground, where I can neither oppose nor support any legislation requiring immigrants to know English well enough to at least conduct day-to-day American life. However, by all logical and practical accounts, it does stand to reason that the government should impose such legislation. What do you think? Should those who immigrate to America be required to at least know English well enough to navigate day-to-day American life? Vote in the poll to the left! |
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Comments
If you want to work in the Subway's, KFC, or Mcdonald's in Chinatown, and you're not Chinese, you better be able to speak Chinese.
That's called community standards, and it is the law across the land!
Anyone who came from an ancestry of immigrant parents, in the US that’s just about everyone except the natives (native-Indian/American), whom has anything to grip about non-English speaking immigrants are forgetting that fact that without their hard work you wouldn’t have the time to learn English either.
I frequent many Chinese grocery stores in the Rockville, MD area and you would notice that almost all the workers there are Chinese. It seems that being able to communicate with their customers and speak Mandarin is an essential part of the job requirement; thus rejecting someone who cannot speak Spanish at McDonalds as described above, seems unfair, but it makes sense