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The letter at the below this message is in regards to the article Dennis Rodkin wrote for the Real Estate section on October 10, 2004. It is with great hope that you will publish this letter because the opinion included is quite unpopular, but it needs to be discussed. If if needs to be shorter, I will be more than happy to fix it. I will do whatever it takes to get it published.
Thank you very much, and have a good day.
Devin Love-Andrews
English: The Language of Americans
On Sunday, October 10, 2004, Dennis Rodkin wrote an article in the Real Estate section entitled "Potential Translates into Reality." Within the first paragraphs, he wrote about how real estate agent Carmelo Buttita does business with Latinos who will only speak Spanish, and how he insists that businesses learn Spanish because it is the "largest language minority in the nation."
Enough with this nonsense. Although I will offend Latinos and liberals by stating this, this is the United States of America, not Mexico or Columbia. When Puritan settlers came to this country, what language did they speak? English. When the founding fathers wrote the Constitution, what language did they use? English. What language is needed to pass a citizenship test? English. It does not matter if Congress has not declared English to be the official language of America; English is the de facto official language of this country.
I could blame Spanish-speaking immigrants for causing this ruckus, but Big Business is really to blame. CEOs are the most unpatriotic bunch in this country, sometimes worse than terrorists. When they are not busy outsourcing jobs, they are making their products bilingual. They will only hire people for common jobs if they can speak English and Spanish. They will sell their household products with not English, Spanish, and French script (indicating that the product is meant for more than one country), but English and Spanish script. The reason Big Business chooses to do this is simple: to make some extra money. They feel that if those who do not know (or choose to speak) English see a product in their mother tongue, they will become consistent customers. Therefore, these companies will spit on hard-working Americans to make extra money, and the attitude of some Spanish-speaking immigrants is, "Why should I learn English? I can live easily just by speaking Spanish." We don�t beg immigrants to come to this country; they came because they wanted to start a new life within our shores. Starting a new life means adapting to new situations, to a new culture, and to a new language. Sure it will be hard, but except for those born here, living in America is a privilege, not a right. The willingness to learn to communicate and associate with Americans is the only way an immigrant can show gratitude.
To this, liberals will say two things. First, they will say that all ancestors of Americans (except Native Americans) were immigrants. In response, the English were immigrants from northern Germany and western France. Present-day Albanians were from Turkey. Therefore, many societies have begun from the efforts of immigrants. Secondly, they will say that immigrants occupy jobs no American wants. This really underestimates Americans. We�re still in the middle of a recession, and many are without work. I hold a bachelor�s degree and have the potential to get a good job, but if I had to, I would scrub toilets for minimum wage just to survive. So would other Americans. While I have friends who are immigrants and I love the idea of immigration, the average American must share the job supply and our vast resources with immigrants. I am glad to do it. There are many immigrants who work hard and try to be a part of this country, while others reject Americans and our culture, and are only here to take our jobs and exploit our resources. To such ungrateful foreign individuals, I will say this much: English is the language of the land. Learn it, or go home, because your home is not America. In any other country in the world, one is lost without knowing the official language, so why should America be different?
