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Pickens County moves in to protect residents from "furren" languages
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Wow, what a relief.
Until the Pickens County Council stepped in to clear things up, I wasn’t sure where I was living anymore. The USA? Central America? Europe? Asia? It’s hard to tell, with all these dang “furren” languages floating around.
Thank goodness the council, in all wisdom, voted to make English the official language of Pickens County. That action was tacked on to an illegal immigration ordinance the council recently passed, by a 5-1 vote. There’s already a state statute establishing English as South Carolina’s official language, but no matter: Our on-the-ball council obviously wanted to send an extra message about this all-important matter.
(For the record, two brave council members argued against the absurdity but they were overruled.)
So now we know, for sure: We’re American, gol-darn it. And we speak American (oops! English). It’s a good thing the council took action on this burning issue, because things were really getting out of hand. Take the other day as an example.
First, I went to Wal-Mart to buy a portable heater. And get this: Right there on the front of the heater is a label: “Caution! Cuidado!” Do you believe that? Every time I want to warm up, I’ll have to see that Spanish, right there beside the English.
Then I went to downtown Clemson. Lots of university students walking around. Some of them, you know, come from other countries. I passed a couple of girls on College Avenue. They were wearing saris and speaking Hindi to each other. Guess they haven’t heard that English is the official language around here.
On the way home, I stopped at a Mediterranean restaurant for take-out. The food smelled great, but ... jeez. I had to wade through a menu with all kinds of strange words. What the heck is mezes? Moussaka? Dolma?
Finally, I drove by a church with a sign out front: “Free ESL classes every Tuesday night.” (At least some of those outsiders are trying to learn our official language!) Anyway, I guess they’ll have to change that sign. No more English as a Second Language. Now it’s EOL: English as the Only Language.
Thank you, dear readers, for putting up with the sarcasm. Obviously this is my hot-button issue. I was a foreign language major in college. I love practicing my rusty Spanish with the waiters at our favorite Mexican cantina. My children came to me from another country, speaking a language I don’t know. We watch karaoke videos in their native tongue, so they won’t forget.
Just as I’m sure many of you do, I value diversity and multiculturalism. America was founded by people speaking a variety of languages. That’s part of what makes our nation culturally rich. That’s what the Statue of Liberty is all about.
Yes, fine, go after illegal immigrants. That’s one thing. But arrogant posturing by a county council that finds it necessary to waste its time (and our tax dollars) declaring other languages unwelcome here? That’s another thing.
I’m glad you cleared this up, council members. Especially so close to the election. My choices in that voting booth are much simpler now.
Jeanne Malmgren can be reached at malmgrenjeanne@yahoo.com.
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Amusing, isn't it, that a columnist for an Anderson County newspaper finds time to mock Pickens County Council for a vote relating to a serious problem we all face.
Yeah, we may spend time chasing those gol-dern furreners who keep driving up our crime rates and keeping paying citizens out of the emergency rooms by their sheer numbers, but, by golly, we ain't no laughingstock for having to chase through finance department records to find credit card invoices from Hooters.
Having said that, yes, the Engligh-only part of that was probably ill-advised considering existing state statutes. I would have been happier if they had mandated that students graduating from our vaunted institutions of public education be able to speak English. Many of them I meet can't even write a simple paragraph that makes sense.
Yo! You down wit dat, homie? :)
One thing is clear, while Ms. Malmgren goes about her cute little jaunts around town enjoying the diversity in her perfect little Eden of a world, she has no idea what our emergency works go through on a daily bases with illegals who refuse to learn ,Yes, oh my stars, "OUR LANGUAGE". She's never been alone on a dark road on a traffic stop while 4 or 5 possible illegals speak to each other in a language that she doesn't understand. She's never had to take a "spur of the moment" statement from a subject at a stabbing when she has no idea if the very person she is speaking with is the suspect, or a wittness. Yes, in her little sheltered world, everyone gets alone and sips tea and nibbles on crumpets while giggling over those who have problems with folks who refuse to obey our laws, or learn OUR language. I'm glad some brave council members in Pickens, or anywhere else, are not afraid to go against the political correct tea sippers and do something that, your right shouldn't have to be done, yet somehow DOES need to be done.
Jeanne, I think you got this one wrong. I am all for people of other origins holding on to their birth culture but if they choose to live in a country that speaks another language than their native tongue then they should be required to at least learn that language if only at a basic level. Learning the language of one's chosen country doesn't mean that they have to give up their heritage, it means they can speak to be understood. For all sorts of reasons they need to be able to communicate. One example which will be forever in my mind is an incident that I witnessed back in Australia. A little child was playing along the sidewalk outside the mall while her mother chatted to a group of friends, the child wandered onto the road and into the path of an oncoming delivery truck, myself and others were shouting for her to "stop" but she just kept on walking, the delivery driver couldn't stop in time. She died. The mother screamed at everyone that she(the child) couldn't speak nor understand English!!! She wondered why someone didn't grab the child out of the way. We didn't have time and our question was why didn't the Asian mother, first of all teach her small child a few important words of English and secondly, why didn't she watch what the child was doing. No amount of blame would bring that child back, being able to understand a few words of English would have. As another poster commented there is a need to speak the language of the country you reside in. I am sorry it is such a hot issue for you but there are good reasons for it maybe some people and places go to extremes to enforce the reasons.
Hay there,
I bez mad about that there kollum ewe wrote about furreners. How dare ewe right that kind of thing? Why, if somebuddy disuhgrees with ewe they caint be too smart, can thay?
Okay, no, I don't really talk like that. Obviously, I found your column offensive. Nothing too new there- you've written some stinkers over the years. I was a little disappointed that you couldn't offer much to bolster your case besides lame sarcasm and insults to those who oppose you. Didn't journalism school teach you any better persuasive techniques? Oh, and a pig is still a pig, even if you use your liberal lipstick of diversity and multiculturalism. If you are so big on multiculturalism and diversity, why were you so condescending toward southern hicks (or whatever group your offensive language was directed at)? Practice what you preach. Oh that's right, some cultures are more equal than others.
It was also silly that you labeled the council as "arrogant" while simultaneously writing such an arrogant column. You might want to look in the mirror when you hurl such insults. Next time, try addressing the substantive arguments of your opponents instead of setting up "straw men" to attack. Do you support the US taxpayer paying for translators (at police departments, EMS, etc) for those who don't speak English? Did you discuss the additional costs incurred by our schools to have special classes for non English speakers? Did you discuss the costs of printing ballots, gov't documents, etc. in multiple languages? Do you look at cities like LA and Miami and think this is what you'd like America to look like? Do you want to tell the average person who speaks only English that they are going to be required to learn Spanish in your world or else be left behind? Do you address any of the balkanism that occurs in a culture where people cannot even
communicate with each other?
The answer to all the above questions is of course, no. All you did was trot out your tired old war horses of diversity and multiculturalism and expect them to do their work for you. Guess what, they flopped and so did you.
Mark
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