Is This Racist?
According to the Union Leader, Merrimack, NH has voted to update the signs at a local park in English only, not Spanish. 86 year old Finlay Rothhaus, a German immigrant and the councilor who made the initial objection to the Spanish-language signs, explains:
“My concern is that multi-lingual nations have a history of problems, and have no mechanism for unification. If you look to the north, Quebec made a move to secede from Canada, and the vote only failed at 49 percent. I don’t think we want that.”
Note: I lived in Quebec during the 1995 referendum. The 49 percent came (mainly) from spoiled ballots. For example, my largely-English riding had approximately 90% of the “No” (against Quebec separation) votes considered “spoiled ballots”. Also, the majority of inter-lingual problems are a result of the (subjectively) unconstitutional Bill 101, not being conveniently bilingual.
Police say that more than half of the visitors to the park on the weekends are often Latino, and a handful of those visitors do not respect the rules of the park by bringing alcohol, foul language and rough and tumble activity.
Rule-breakers often appeal to language barriers when confronted by police, saying they do not understand the park rules and cannot read the signs. Police, Parks officials and town staff supported an idea of a Spanish-language sign to mitigate those excuses.
The actions of a handful yet again affect the whole. So making signs bilingual will work towards REMOVING racism as an excuse – how is that NOT a good idea?
Proponents of English-only signs said that if the town were to adapt Spanish-language signs, the action could develop into a slippery slope with calls for signs in Vietnamese and Portuguese.
What? If there is a large enough population who can’t understand English, you SHOULD make signs in their language! I’m sure they can find 2-3 languages that accommodate the vast majority of park attendees.
Town officials yesterday learned the land had been purchased in two separate transactions, and Wasserman beach is not bound to public access. The finding means the town can close the park to out-of-towners, a proposal to be taken up early next year.
Yeah, this is all racist – or a cult.
Comments
[...] Without a doubt, I spent more time thinking about why I didn’t like “Families” as I was reading it than I actually spent reading it. I tried to like it, I really did. The first 50 pages were incredibly enjoyable – unfortunately, the last 200+ pages were agonizing. I felt like I was wasting my time. [...]
Post a comment