Speak English Or…
by Bianca Jones • Apr 16th, 2008 • Category: Features
Earlier this year Joey Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks, had a discrimination complaint dismissed against his business for displaying a “Speak English” sign in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood in South Philadelphia.
A split three-member panel of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations ruled that a sign in the South Philadelphia cheese steak shop didn’t relay a message that service would be refused to non-English speakers with his sign that read: “This is America. When ordering, please speak English.”
This past March, a “Say It In English” bill moved forward in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma State Representative and part time Minuteman, Randy Terrill, said the measure will seek a constitutional amendment requiring that all official state government business be conducted in English similar to those adopted by 30 other states that have made English the official language.
If voters approve the bill, the measure would prohibit Oklahoma from having to create taxpayer services in a language other than English, cutting the cost of providing state services in any other language. It goes hand in hand with a federal government policy that promotes immigrants to conform to American life by speaking English.
Also in March, Pennsylvania Judge Peter Olszewski ordered that three Latin men (ages 17-22), who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, learn how to speak and read in English, receive their high school equivalency degrees and get full-time jobs or be taken off parole and go straight to jail. Stating that translators had to be used during their court appearance, this service wouldn’t be provided to them on a regular basis.
Given these cases, it seems like speaking English has become quite a major concern for some in the United States, especially in a huge presidential election year. Is it a way to “control” the rising number of minorities in the US? Is asking immigrants, illegal or not, to speak English in order to receive food or tax information right? Or, is it fair to require someone to assimilate to living in the US as soon as possible?
Let us know your thoughts on this controversial subject. We want to hear from you!
Bianca Jones is an ongoing contributor to vidagirl and a West Coast girl hailing from San Francisco. She constantly changes her hairstyle (as often as is humanly possible) and is currently having a love affair with pop music.
Email this author | All posts by Bianca Jones
It’s amazing the fear that white America has of anyone who is non-white.
What!!! People in America being asked to speak engilsh? How dare those stupid gringos promote the english language in this country. You people know that if you don’t like english, there are other countries out there that you can go too right? No one forces you to be here? I wish someone on this website would stand up for me everytime I go to the hamburger restaurant (I won’t mention the name) and I can’t get english and they get my order wrong. Oh, by the way, I followed up on the Joey Vento story and he has never refused service to anyone. He will still give anyone a steak sandwhich “wit Whiz”.