Stop The Latino Pandering

by Bob Parks, Outwside the Wire: Whose idea was it that the Republican presidential candidates have a Spanish-spoken debate? Obviously it was an attempt to woo Latino voters, at the same time, make an attempt to quell the perceived bashing "immigrants" are taking nowadays. After Sunday night's debate, the media has taken many angles on this attempt. Some consider the olive branch a noble gesture, while some have taken the opportunity to lecture the GOP about our nation's strong Spanish-speaking heritage, while reminding us of the strides Latinos have made to master America's official tongue.

Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo avoided the trap altogether by boycotting Sunday night's event hosted by Univision, the Spanish language television network and the University of Miami. Univision anchors anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas translated the questions and comments into English for the candidates. With that, is there any clearer illustration of the cultural divide? Now that we've had a Spanish language debate, when's the next scheduled debate for Chinese speaking Americans, or the Armenian-as-a-second-language debate, or the Tagalog-English debate? That's been my problem, all along, with this whole bilingual America thing. The "bi" in bilingual implies there are two languages in the United States, whereas in reality, there are many, many others. The difference here is in the very notion of pandering. . . .

What we, as Americans, should be expecting of those who legally enter our society is a willingness to embrace all that is America. We're not such a bad people, seeing how more people seek entry here every day. What we, as Americans, should be expecting of those who legally enter our society is a willingness to join us in one language. Those who divide us, do so intentionally, and without a common launching-off point (such as a common language), are successful when we can be segregated by class: those who can excel by fluid participation in our daily commerce, and those who cannot and are forced to live a life of menial sub servitude. This is by design.

We, as Republicans, expect more from our workers, our soldiers, our women, and our children. Latinos should be looked upon no differently. Every other immigrant group watches presidential debates in our official language, and can make educated decisions accordingly. We must expect no less from our Latino brethren. To do so is insulting, and the debate pandering is just that: insulting. Tom Tancredo gets it. Hopefully, America will too soon. . . . [Read More]

---

Tags: Bob Parks, debate, Election 2008, English, Republican To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!