He's Making Me Proud to be an American
This may sound trivial, but it makes a big impact on me:
I was just watching the FL Governor give his hurricane warnings to the people of Florida, and while I remember him doing this before Katrina, I lost track of it and never commented on it. But now I have to say how cool I think it is.
After giving his warning in English, he begins giving it in Spanish.
To me, this screams of unity. A pulling together that we just don’t see enough of in this country. I know a lot of people complain about foreigners coming here and not learning the language, so I imagine that a lot would not agree with this, but that’s an argument for another time.
It touches me that in a time of emergency, there’s someone else out there that is willing to put all those arguments aside and is concerned about the well being of ALL Americans, not just the English speaking ones.
I was just watching the FL Governor give his hurricane warnings to the people of Florida, and while I remember him doing this before Katrina, I lost track of it and never commented on it. But now I have to say how cool I think it is.
After giving his warning in English, he begins giving it in Spanish.
To me, this screams of unity. A pulling together that we just don’t see enough of in this country. I know a lot of people complain about foreigners coming here and not learning the language, so I imagine that a lot would not agree with this, but that’s an argument for another time.
It touches me that in a time of emergency, there’s someone else out there that is willing to put all those arguments aside and is concerned about the well being of ALL Americans, not just the English speaking ones.
posted by RT at 10:32 AM
9 Comments:
Kind'a like with Quebec in Canada? The failure rate for multicultral societies is much, much higher than the success rate.
I don't know ES, America has been multicultural since it's conception... And while, sure, we have our problems, it seems to be working pretty well.
Jeb also knows how to respond to a hurricane. It's too bad Governor Blanco called him after Katrina, not before. Things might have come out a bit different.
I actually saw him do that too, then the TV station cut away. They should have stayed with it.
What a beautiful statement you made. I didn't see this, but it speaks volumes. You are so right, at times like this - an impending storm that could take lives - some people still draw lines of us and them. It's US - the U.S. and "Us" all of us as people sharing this spinning globe. We have lots of issues here in CA, I don't know the answers either but for today, lets just pray for safety in the eye of the storm.
(dang, didn't mean to get so poetic sounding here!)
That was also my first impression when I heard him do it last year during hurricane season.
However, (and let me preface this by saying I am not xenophobic and my Other Half is of a different ethnic heritage...)
However, we do live in America where traditionally English is the preferred language for communication. Our past ancestors had to learn to speak it, not the other way around. When we get a huge influx of Lithuanians, will that be next?
The reality is that we try too hard to accomodate the minority. That sounds great, and we've been raised to think the minority needs those extra accomodations. But let's sit back and ask ourselves why? Are we saying they're too stupid? They're over here making a living, but they're too dumb to pick up the language? Or are we saying they're lazy but it's OK because they're a minority?
Yeah, it was nice of Jeb. Yeah, there are people that don't speak English. But do we need to continue talking about how we are less of a people because we're not bilingual in languages we aren't naturally exposed to?
Other countries learn English because it's the primary method of communication in the business arena (like it or not). I'm not saying that we need to behave as ugly, superior Americans. However, I do think we are too quick to condemn ourselves. I'm tired of saying 'mea culpa.'
Who said anything about someone being less of a person for not being able to speak two or more languages? I just thought it was cool of him to use what knew. Politics aside, he was trying to save lives. I admire that.
I see what you are trying to say, RT. But sadly, someone will politicize the whole thing in the media if they haven't already started. Unity only happens for those seeking it and are hoping to keep it but there are too many that wish for anarchy. We should be hearing about looting any moment now.
RT, I realize you weren't saying that. I was speaking of others in general. Sorry if I wasn't clear about that! ;o)
OK. Whew! You scared me there Saurkraut. I certainly didn't want anyone to think that I was saying that... Especially since I can't speak Spanish, lol.
So give it up, what does 'mea culpa' mean? And does it have anything to do with someone trying to steal your coffee mug?
(Hey Jill! I'm all for taking a class, if you're serious about it.)
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