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Home Front: Politix
Reid calls language proposal racist
2006-05-20
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid called a proposal to make English the official language "racist" on the Senate floor yesterday. "This amendment is racist. I think it's directed basically to people who speak Spanish," the Democrat said during the already tense debate over immigration reform.

Moments later, the Senate approved the measure on a 63-34 vote. Virtually all Republicans were joined by 11 Democrats to approve the largely symbolic amendment. Immediately following that vote, the Senate approved a second amendment, declaring on a 58-39 vote that English is the "common and unifying language."

Such proposals enjoy overwhelming support among American voters. A poll by Zogby International earlier this year found that 84 percent of Americans say English should be the official language of government operations. The same poll found that 77 percent of Hispanics agree. And it's a bipartisan issue, according to the poll, which found that 92 percent of Republicans and 82 percent of Democrats approve making English the country's official language.

Mr. Reid's charge of racism caused a stir of whispers in the Senate chamber and gallery, and Sen. James M. Inhofe, the Oklahoma Republican who offered the amendment, was clearly offended. As Mr. Reid continued his floor speech, an aide passed him a note on a folded sheet of yellow legal paper. After reading the note, the Nevada Democrat tried to clarify his remarks.

"Even though I feel this amendment is unfair, I don't in any way suggest that Jim Inhofe is a racist," Mr. Reid said. "I don't believe that at all. I just believe that this amendment has, to some people, that connotation -- not that he's a racist, but that the amendment is."

It's certainly not the first time that Mr. Reid has used stark language in the debate over immigration. "Our federal wallet is stretched to the limit by illegal aliens getting welfare, food stamps, medical care and other benefits without paying taxes," he said in 1993. "These programs were not meant to entice freeloaders and scam artists from around the world."

Earlier this year, Mr. Reid confessed on the Senate floor that his anti-immigrant fervor "mostly lasted about a week or two" before his wife brought him around to the more open position he holds today. But nearly a year after his "freeloaders" statement, Mr. Reid was on the Senate floor criticizing immigrants again and worrying about their cultural impact.

"We must reduce the annual admissions of legal immigrants to more moderate levels in order to provide for a better country -- both environmentally and socially -- in the years to come," Mr. Reid said, according to a June 16, 1994, report by States News Service.

When Mr. Inhofe took to the floor yesterday, he didn't address Mr. Reid over his charge of racism but did defend his proposal. "I think it's an insult to Hispanics to say that we are not going to have English as the national language because you're not capable of operating and speaking and succeeding in a country like this," he said.
Stepped on a landmine, this time. Arrogance and mindless partisanship. Stand there, sweating like the pandering pig you are, sputtering backpeddling drivel to no avail, all alone in the spotlight, and die.
Posted by:eniac

#23  Steve, I actually kind of agree w/them. If for no other reason than 12 million less illegals means a helluva lot quicker ride into work in the mornings for a lot of Americans. Less feces in the sewer, less water to treat, less trash going to our dumps, maybe a little less demand in CA/TX/&AZ for gasoline, & even less human flatulence being emitted into the air from so much mexican chow, hahahaha....etc.
Posted by: Broadhead6   2006-05-20 18:42  

#22  Reid is another one of those refugees from the Short Bus!
Posted by: 3dc   2006-05-20 18:21  

#21  
Posted by: RD   2006-05-20 17:58  

#20  well, Steve - have you seen the huge amounts of trash the illegals leave in the desert and mtns on their sprint across? diapers, water jugs, clothes, food containers.... Unbelieveable!
Posted by: Frank G   2006-05-20 16:59  

#19  Immersion is the best way to learn as OP notes. I took Spanish in High School, but only started knowing it when I went to Yucatan for a spell. It only works when you start thinking in the other language rather than trying to translate word-by-word, I've found. All teh spanish-language radio-TV and bilingual schools put off success for Spanish speakers. They stay slaves to their SEIU/CTA masters
Posted by: Frank G   2006-05-20 16:49  

#18  Note the little bomb Harry tossed in about limiting immigration to protect the environment. The greenies are very upset about immigration and now believe that the only way to 'protect' the environment is to be nativist.
Posted by: Steve White   2006-05-20 16:45  

#17  This is a no brainer from an outside point of view; a country cannot have a dual-culture, a dual language, and be viable; see Belgium, for crying it out loud, the country of malaise par excellence. No problem with the USA being multi-ethnic, but I don't see how it could be multi-cultural and hold cohesiveness. The migrant need to become "american" (that is to become anglo-saxon-ized), a *melting pot*. Slaviling Glomong9311 makes very good point, perhaps the country will become bilingual.

Btw, France used to have lots of different regional *languages* (I mean, litterally foreign languages, not just regional accents or linguos, my grandmother's father spoke one, though he could speak french obviously since he fought with the army in WWI), and thoses were ruthlessly suppressed and driven to near extinction through the educative system (children not allowed to speak their parent's language at school, and taught to mock it at home), in the early XXth.

If there really is a will to enforce english, it can be done.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2006-05-20 15:02  

#16  I've got a neighbor who came here before the 1986 amnesty illegally. Today he's an assistant manager at Lowe's, and will probably move up into store manager within a couple of years. He said the first five years were miserable, until he decided to learn English. Since then, he's brought the rest of his family here from El Salvador, bought a house, and has a brother (legal) who has just bought a franchise dollar store. He said the only way he got his family to learn English was to refuse to speak Spanish, or to acknowledge what was said to him in Spanish. He said it took him almost three years, and that time was terrible for him and his whole family.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2006-05-20 14:48  

#15  Reid, the DemocRat (but I repeat myself), is the racist.

Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-05-20 13:54  

#14  ROFL, DMFD. I think that deserves a coffee alert!
Posted by: random styling   2006-05-20 13:51  

#13  racist (n) - a person who is winning an argument against a liberal.
Posted by: DMFD   2006-05-20 13:25  

#12  So the Dim Bulb of Searchlight Nevada thinks that all the non-white immigrants only speak Spanish? I know some immigrants originally from Vietnam and China who only know "Taco Bell Spanish" like most other Americans.

They don't think this is racist in the least. If anything, all of this attention to Spanish language ballots and governmental business has made them madder. They think that if the Mexicans can have everything in their native language, there's no damn good reason they can't have a ballot in Vietnamese or Szechuan. It seems kind of, well, racist to them that they aren't afforded the same privilege.

Wonder how the Senator from Nevada would weasel around that....
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2006-05-20 12:16  

#11  In the immortal words of Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog, "You're in North America, learn the language!"

Posted by: anonymous2u   2006-05-20 11:58  

#10  Â“I am Hispanic and a legal immigrant. I do not feel targeted. Part of the culture of any country is its language and if one comes to this country to live permanently that means learning and using the language of that culture. All other immigrants, except mexicans, understand that, why can they not?”

Several reasons:

!) Learning a new language as an adult is hard. I know Mexicans that have gone to night school for several years trying to learn English. They are making progress, but slowly.

A good friendÂ’s parents emigrated from Germany after WII. They were bright and motivated and still it took them decades to become fluent in English. At that time the emigrants clustered in German-speaking enclaves.

Most of the Mexican illegals are not bright and not educated. Even when they want to learn they can’t. (There are also bright, educated Hispanic emigrants. These are the people that most “elites” personally know. My guess is that is why many elites favor open borders. People’s views are formed from their personal experiences.)

2) In the past, the mass media was almost entirely in English. TV and movies played a role in assimilation. Today there is Spanish radio, TV, and movies. That furthers the development of separate cultures within the same nation.

In a similar manner, there is a separate Spanish business community centered in LA and Miami.

3) Multiculturalism that promotes non-white, non-Western culture over traditional American culture. Identity politics increases the problem. Groups such as ANSWER stroke the flames to push their own agendas. (Of course anti-immigration groups have their own agendas and do their own inciting.)

4) The Spanish-speaking community is large and growing. The majority of the new births in California are by Spanish-speaking mothers.


There is such a strong Hispanic presence in the US today that I expect the US will become a bilingual nation. There are many Spanish words that are part of mainstream American culture. English language cartoons are introducing Spanish phrases to US kids. That makes it far easier for those children to pick up Spanish. The same occurs on Spanish TV where English phrases are regularly used within the Spanish dialogue.

I support making English the official national language. Having English as the official language means that emigrants who speak neither English nor Spanish only need to learn English to live anywhere in the US. Also where would the legal line be drawn if other languages were to be given the same official recognition as English? Would street signs, voting information, government information have to be printed in all the languages of the world? (I’m not comfortable with this type of “slippery slope” argument, but I’ve seen how this plays out in our legal system.)
Posted by: Slaviling Glomong9311   2006-05-20 11:58  

#9  Interesting enough, this is more a states issue rather than a federal one outside the conduct of administration or commerce. For the record, New Mexico [47th to enter the Union] has retain duel 'official' languages since statehood.

What this all fails to address are royal decrees by various princes federal judges directing the use of multiple languages in the conduct of official business. Some judge will simply rule any of this 'unconstitutional' give the opportunity and since Congress is absolutely cowardly in correcting actions like that, it will stand. The pols will play the same old game that "see, we tried, but we weren't allowed to play". They'll smile and do nothing. This is another "Boys we got to do something about this to protect our phoney balony jobs."
Posted by: Hupolusing Ulolump8428   2006-05-20 11:34  

#8  All other immigrants, except mexicans, understand that, why can they not?

TMH, If you're Hispanic, would you tell me if you think I'm wrong. They think it's their country. They're taught that in school. They are unique in being the only only westernized country we've conquered and from whom we've seized land. They're jealous of us showing what can be done with the land that they have not done and cannot do. And half the time, they aren't immigrants, they're commuters. They don't have the same sense that they've left their own country because it's so easy to go back. So why learn the language when the guilty gringos will learn yours?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-05-20 10:53  

#7  The American Race Card - don't leave home without it!

heh heh Raj, Ima takin that back to Wazzooo!
Posted by: Dadullah   2006-05-20 10:48  

#6  The American Race Card - don't leave home without it!
Posted by: Raj   2006-05-20 10:43  

#5  To Reid, and his co-kooks,the proposal *is* racist. You can't keep the 'minorities' dependant on you if they learn english and get ahead in the world.

Lets face it. If you only speak a non-english language in america you are at a severe disadvantage - and that is exactly where the democrats and race-baiters (Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc...) want you to be - dependant on them to provide all your needs and speak in your name.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2006-05-20 10:42  

#4  I am Hispanic and a legal immigrant. I do not feel targeted. Part of the culture of any country is its language and if one comes to this country to live permanently that means learning and using the language of that culture. All other immigrants, except mexicans, understand that, why can they not?
Posted by: TMH   2006-05-20 10:30  

#3  Homer Simpson: "Oh Why do I have to learn english? I'm never going to England!"
Posted by: Frank G   2006-05-20 10:09  

#2  Nothing against Harry Reid, but that picture looks like one you see when a guy gets nailed in an internet kiddie porn sting. I don't in any way suggest that Harry's into internet kiddie porn. I don't believe that at all. I just believe that this picture has, to some people, that connotation- not that he's into internet kiddie porn, but the picture makes it look like he is.
Posted by: tu3031   2006-05-20 10:08  

#1  We revolted from England, lots and lots of us originally came from England, the worlds business language is English, hey time to step up and learn English although learning Spanish wont hurt us either.
Posted by: bk   2006-05-20 09:36  

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