Wear Your Jewish Star
It was quite the controversy when Germany’s very own Adolf Hitler declared the Jews must always be identifiable by a prominent Star of David, always to be handily displayed on their lapels. It would be a swifter way of identification; it skipped asking for the papers needed to prove their unapproved religious identity. Those patches of separation eventually lead them to concentration camps where their work would be extorted, their bodies abused and in the end; many would be succumbed to death. It was a horrible process.
In a Gallup Poll released on December 9, 1999 a classic question was asked. It asked the responder if they felt they had ever been pulled over based on their race alone. The answer was overwhelming, 42% of blacks believed so.
Since September 11, 2001, the expansion of airport security measures reached to restrict flights for those who had this look: the look of a terrorist. If you appear to be of Middle Eastern descent, prepare to be that one random passenger pulled aside for a grueling and slightly humiliating personal moment with a security officer.
On February 27, 2001, former President George W. Bush declared racial profiling as wrong and ultimately promised to end it in the United States. Mr. Bush has been out of office, have we since been united?
Forty-six states have yet to ban racial profiling. A new legislation very recently passed in Arizona now gives police officers an open invitation to racial profiling. What happened to Lady Liberty and “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door”?
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer may be our Adolf Hitler type, just a bit closer to home. Her bill, a supposed great for Arizona, has born the ability for police officers to obtain a person “when predictable” and question their legal status of residency in this country. To avoid such a questioning? Carry your papers people, and carry them proudly, they will separate and define you. Oh, and by the way, carrying those papers is not optional, it is defined as required.
“Racial profiling is illegal. It is illegal in America, and it’s certainly illegal in Arizona,” Brewer said, in what one would suspect in an uninformed manner. Someone please send her a Webster, stat.
If an African American male feels as if he cannot drive without getting pulled over by a police officer, a Muslim cannot get on to an airplane without an ease of security, and now any man, woman, or child cannot travel Arizona without immigration papers to prove their legal status in the United States of America… How are we united?
September 2, 2010
Eat Your Language, Sir
This morning I had the pleasure of sitting at a local IHOP with no other company than a wonderful waiter and one of my newest textbooks. I sat studiously taking notes, leisurely sipping at a coffee and eating my usual fruitful Danish crêpes. The textbook at my side during the breakfast has become a particularly new venture of mine, Spanish. I have always been enthralled by the language and culture but never ventured beyond the word taco language wise. And yes, I know, taco probably does not even count since I learned it at Taco Bell in the fifth grade.
Aside from my mother tongue of English, my foreign language background lies in French. As a teensy second grader, an old woman used to make the trip to the classroom I was in to speak French with us. The woman taught us the alphabet, numbers and some weather related phrases. My French studies, however, did not continue again until seventh grade where I stayed after school most days to keep my learning on going in hopes of one day being fluent in a language my family seemed to be rooted in, a handful of them anyway.
From middle school to about my junior year of high school, my French studies were quite solid. I had class every day, and stayed after school about two days a week. I traveled to Quebec for a long weekend in tow with two French teachers and about a dozen other students. We practiced our dicey language on the less than concerned natives. On that trip, I was also introduced to porn by a gothically dressed roommate and sat on. Consequently, my thumb was broken. However, none of that is even slightly relevant.
After graduating from my high school years, I took a two yearlong breather from the French language. Then, the spring before last, I decided to begin again. I continued on with my studies for two semesters, then decided against continuing for personal reasons.
My personal reasons went as follows:
The decision was then simple: stop taking French. Fin.
Now, I am studying Spanish. Why? I want to go to Spain, and because Ernest Hemingway has convinced me rather thoroughly. Conveniently enough, Spanish is also quite usable in America. So, Spanish. Hola.
Now that you have had a thorough and somewhat exact introduction to my language studies, I can begin the true story at hand. Foreign Languages and IHOP. I know what you’re thinking: This is going to be some racist rant about the wait staff. Oh, not at all.
As I was sitting doing my homework, an elder couple sat in the booth adjacent to mine. The husband of the couple noticed my Spanish textbook and proceeded to ask why in the world I would be studying such a language. I smiled, and laughed nervously as any polite young woman would. That was not a proper answer for him, so he continued on. His next reasoning for sighting that suddenly controversial Spanish textbook was that I would need to know the language fluently in order to get a job. I replied, “Well, no.” I assumed that would be the end of it.
After another small conversation with my waiter, the husband looked to me again. He was beaming with frustration at the sight of a white American girl learning Spanish. He found it ridiculous and proof that our country is crumbling. He asked what other languages I knew. I told him French. Then, he asked if I planned on learning anything else. I smiled, and for kicks went on to say Arabic. How nice it was to see the revolted look smeared upon his face. Quick thinking can be so fantastic.
For those who sympathize with this man’s frustration with Spanish becoming a spoken language among American citizens, let this be your perspective. I attend a nationally recognized University with students from across both the United States and the world. Of the mix that we are: 39% are Hispanic, 19% are white or Non-Hispanic and 18% are black. It is more than safe to say that our country is diverse, just by the judgment of one University. But, I am sure you have noticed that. Why haven’t all of us accepted it then?
This elderly man brings forth three questions. Was he afraid of the communication that could take place between the minority and the majority? Was he racist, or just in denial? Does he believe that all those in America should only be speaking the native tongue of English? Who knows, but stepping in to that IHOP with my Spanish textbook, I was not expecting that particular confrontation.
I digress. ¿Cómo se dice ‘Just eat your food.’ en español?
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