And when I say offensive, I definitely mean offensive.
I was really hoping I would have reason to write another post about the "English only" jokers who themselves can't use English, because I forgot to include this picture ---> with the previous post. So, yay!
According to the following article from The Sun, a man named Raymond Herrera is complaining that his local bank has placed billboards in both English and Spanish. Mr. Herrera feels that advertisements in Spanish are an insidious assault upon the language and culture of America and, in an attempt to protect his motherland, is circulating a petition amongst like-minded folk. Said petition will be delivered to the San Bernardino city council asking them to require all billboards be written in English only.
Now, rather than my rehashing all of the pertinent facts, the original article appears below. I have inserted a bit of commentary here and there which will appear in italicized red.
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Group Takes Offense at Spanish Billboards
written by Stacia Glenn
Two signs in Spanish that advertise banking services to the community's sizable Latino population are being derided by a group that claims the signs pander to illegal immigrants. That's right, because as everyone knows, only illegal immigrants speak Spanish. Legal immigrants receive a cranial implant giving them instant command of English.
Raymond Herrera, who first noticed the signs last month, has asked the City Council to require billboards in the city be in English.
Herrera is circulating a petition that will be delivered to Wells Fargo's corporate offices.
"It is incumbent upon all Americans that when you see a decadence arise that will threaten our language and culture, our national identity, to rise to the occasion and push the awareness button and alert the people," Herrera said, speaking both as a resident and founder of We the People, California's Crusader. I think someone just bought a new thesaurus! And since when is knowing a second language considered "decadent"? Eating two servings of chocolate mousse is decadent. Attending a sleepover at Neverland Ranch is decadent. Knowledge and understanding are never decadent. Mr. Herrera is obviously descended from the men who burned books in Germany. That sentence, by the way, is a horribly constructed mess that I am not even going to go into; I haven't the strength.
We the People's Web site says the organization seeks to influence "institutions of political corruption" and "the corporations and employers that unlawfully hire and exploit illegal aliens." So Wells Fargo hires untrained and illegal immigrants who don't speak English and then exploits them? How? To serve as tellers with no coffee breaks? Or perhaps to run one of their branch offices with no 401(k) contributions? Damn the illegal immigrants! They are taking all of our Vice President of Banking jobs!
A Wells Fargo spokeswoman said the banking giant is reviewing the two billboards posted on Hesperia's Main Street.
"It's important that all our customers understand our company communications - including our advertising - which is why you'll discover we advertise in multiple languages," spokeswoman Edna M. Silva wrote in an e-mail. "We use marketing and advertising to build awareness of the
products and services we offer to meet our customers' financial needs and help them to succeed financially." What? A business who's goal is to help people manage their finances? No wonder Mr. Herrera is outraged. Since when should Spanish speakers be able to manage their money responsibly when Americans haven't been able to do that for decades now? Damn upstarts!
Of the nearly 90,000 people who live in Hesperia, 46 percent are Latino and 34 percent speak a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The city's demographics show 23 percent of its population is Latino.
Raul Martinez, a 20-year resident, said he is offended by We the People's opposition to the billboards and asked why Herrera is not complaining about Taco Bell's "Yo quiero Taco Bell" signs. Yo quiero Taco Bell......... Really? That's your response, Mr. Martinez? You aren't helping the cause here, you know that.
"I'm proud to see (the Wells Fargo) sign up. We've come a long way," he said. "This sign is not hurting the city. It's trying to generate money for the banks." And this is true. When my parents were kids in elementary school, children were punished for speaking Spanish. They could be spanked or suspended if they were heard speaking to each other in their native tongue, though it was far more likely they would simply be embarrassed and humiliated by the teacher in front of the class. So, the fact that businesses are recognizing, respecting, and reaching out to those members of our society that speak another language is laudable.
Several identical signs are posted in other cities in San Bernardino County and throughout Southern California.
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I am often struck by the number of Hispanics who try to bury the fact that they are products of another culture. They mispronounce their own last names, they attack Hispanics who honor old traditions, or as in the case of Mr. Herrera, they look down upon those who speak Spanish. I also don't understand those people who talk about America's culture and America's language. America's culture is a mixture of everyone else's culture since America is made up of all the different ethnicities who came here from other countries. Sure, some family lines have been here longer than others, but that fact doesn't make them more legitimate, more real, or more "American". America has been an ever changing society that accepts and adopts people of all races, creeds, and languages, and to marginalize a population is unacceptable and, dare I say, unAmerican.
Thanks to the blog Joe.My.God for pointing out this story.
