Fox news is talking about this, so of course I get to hear about it from Certain Coworker, a die-hard conservative who hasn't caught on to the fact that pushing her political agenda results in the instant application of my headphones. A look at my previous diaries will demonstrate why.
http://www.journalgazette.net/...
Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, claims Hoosiers are sick of "pressing 1 for English." His solution is an immigration bill that, if passed, won’t solve any illegal immigration problems but would cost state taxpayers money and pigeonhole Hoosiers as bigots.
That really says it all, doesn't it? Provisions of the bill would require officers to verify the citizenship and/or immigration status of individuals and revoke business licenses for employers who knowingly employ unauthorized aliens, but the language issue? Totally not relevant to anything. All it does is stroke the egos of all those folks who think their lives are irreparably damaged by having to "Press 1 for English".
Can anyone explain the issue here? Why exactly do some people feel that the country is being damaged by the fact that government documents can be provided in Spanish? I've heard the claim that America has made it "too easy" for immigrants to speak only their native language. Oh sure, and refusing to provide a tax form in Spanish will just show them the light. I'm not buying it.
This whole issue reeks of anti-intellectualism ("I don't want no durn ferriners sayin' words I don't unnerstand.)" and paranoia, ("Oh dear Lord they're going to make me take a Spanish class. I HATED Spanish in high school.") It makes me want to sign up for a Spanish language class out of spite.
I'm not discussing this with my co-worker, but I'd love to discuss it here.