Posted on 07/09/2002 10:43:24 AM PDT by Tancredo Fan
Singer's remark riles Hispanics -- Greeley debates 'English' comment
By Michael Riley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 09, 2002
A country western singer who told his audience at the Greeley Independence Stampede that immigrants should learn to speak English ignited an emotional debate in a community that has seen an influx of Hispanics over the past decade.
Warner Brothers recording star Chad Brock said Monday that his comments were meant to express his "pride in being American." But Hispanic leaders said they were racist and the failure of Stampede organizers to condemn them shows the refusal to embrace newcomers.
Brock stepped on stage Friday to belt out hits like "Lighting Does the Work," but he salted his performance with some sharp opinions.
In a speech between sets, Brock said he was tired of having to adapt to the widening influence of the country's newcomers. "You are coming to our country. We don't speak Russian. We don't speak Spanish. We speak English here," Brock told an audience of 7,000, according to the Greeley Tribune. While many Hispanics in the audience walked out, people who attended the event said many non-Hispanics cheered.
Brock, a former pro wrestler, said Monday that the comments came out of an honest patriotic fervor, inspired in part by a recent court decision declaring the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.
"I'm not a racist. I wasn't directing the comments toward any particular group. I was speaking my mind as an American" during the Fourth of July holiday, Brock said.
"But I had no idea there were so many Hispanics in Greeley," he said. "I didn't mean to offend anybody."
Hispanic leaders said "offend" doesn't even begin to cover it.
"His comments were bigoted, inflammatory and hateful," said Roberto Cordova, a local college professor.
The issue goes deeper than Brock, said Jorge Amaya, director of the Northern Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce. "The problem isn't what Brock said. The problem is that our community leaders didn't step up to condemn it."
At a news conference Monday, the Hispanic leaders demanded an apology from city officials, the event's corporate sponsors and Stampede organizers. They said this isn't the first time the Stampede has offended the city's growing Hispanic population.
Citing poor ticket sales, Stampede organizers last year canceled the fiesta section of the annual event.
Stampede marketing director Kyle Holman said organizers wanted to make the fiesta more inclusive and renamed it Family Night.
"Mr. Brock has the right of free speech just like every other American," Holman said. "But his opinion aren't necessarily the opinions of the Greeley Stampede."
But some here said they share Brock's sentiments.
According to census figures, Greeley's Hispanic population nearly doubled in the 1990s, as immigrants, many with limited English skills, took jobs in the region's meat packing plants and feedlots.
As the ethnic makeup of schools and neighborhoods shifts, some residents say they feel left out. Language has become both a divide and a flashpoint.
"If we're going to communicate, everybody needs to speak the same language," said Billie Messner, a patron at a local coffee shop.
Greeley City Manager Leonard Wiest said the city is working to accommodate newcomers.
Brock said Monday that while he's sorry if his comments offended anyone, he won't apologize.
"I had the guts to speak out, but I think a lot of people feel the same way," he said.
If I decide that from this moment on I will communicate only in Nepalese, Norwegian, Hindi, or Bantu, that's my right as an American citizen. The fact that I will be marginalized by this decision is my problem, no one else's. And no one else has a right to place the ability (or the willingness) to speak English, or any other language for that matter, as a condition of citizenship, anymore than anyone has a right to do the same with any religion.
Look it up, it's in the Constitution under First Amendment.
Amen! God Bless Chad Brock for saying it...and someone please explain to me how in the hell this comment can be construed as racist???I welcome all legal immigrants who want to come to this country and find a better life and who want to become American. But only those who want to become American...I don't care if they're Polish, Italian or Hispanic. That means learning the language as your first priority.
Then tell them to become the English speaking population, because I'll tell you brother, patience for this kind of crap is running real thin. My Spanish and French speaking ancestors were here before Lousiana became part of the USA too...and my family ALL speaks English as our primary language. My great grandmother spoke Spanish and French at home...depending on who she was talking too, but outside it's always English.
As I mentioned in my post, I don't care if they speak Spanish, or whatever language they want to speak. To become a naturalized citizen though, I believe a requirement of knowing basic English is appropriate.
The reason I brought it up however is because we have so much illegal immigration, and the illegals have no interest in learning the language, we are seeing stories like this one. The two issues are related.
Close the borders, enforce the laws, and many of these type problems will subside.
I think when the liberals began Balkanizing this United States, they did it for exactly this reason: So that Americans of a more patriotic and conservative bent would be shouted down and shamed into silence whenever they spoke their minds and expressed their opinions. This kind of episode is no accident.
In 1990, the Hispanic population in the state was about 1%. Therefore, you can see how much it has grown in such a short time. Mind you, most of this population has arrived since 1995. I noticed a general trend since the Olympic Games. I think the Olympics bolstered Atlanta's "big city" image, and that, along with our state government's pandering speeches, have allowed illegal immigration to become a problem.
I do agree with you that most of them are illegal. In fact, I tend to believe that 70% of "Hispanics" within the Atlanta area are illegal, and an even higher number, 80%, of Mexican are illegal.
My parents, aunts, and uncles learned English. They also can till speak Italian, and when my grandparents were alive, they spoke Italian to them.
However, nobody demanded ballots in Italian, hospital workers to speak Italian, etc. etc.
Brock was not being insulting at all -- he is expressing a commonly held truth: This is America. We speak English. Learn it. Love it. Or leave!
This is not true. I grew up in the desert southwest, and half my friends were either from Mexico or from Monument Valley. They learned to speak English, and were accepted everywhere they went as legal citizens of the U.S. Any immigrant who comes to the United States legally won't mind in the slightest learning the language of the country. If you move to France, you WILL learn to speak French. If you move to the Czech Republic, you'd better learn Czech. Tell me why it is not good for a country to demand that its newcomers speak the official language of the country they are arriving in? There is only one reason why: Because the people who are complaining are illegals.
Should school children be beaten for speaking Spanish among themselves (happened here in NM, and in Texas, albeit 40 years ago)?
No. But they should be reminded that English is the proper language for classroom activities, unless explicitly told otherwise. Moreover, thjey should be instructed in standard english. Likewise, they should be encouraged to learn proper Spanish in Spanish classes, not Mexican.
Having the laws in English would seem to be a good idea (or even in legalese, a dialect of English.) Telling people how to speak among themselves is another thing entirely.
We have a point of agreement.
Most of the Hispanics that I know believe that comments like Brock's are aimed at personal habits.
They should be encouraged to act as Americans, not as a Balkanized ethnic group. They need to grow up.
I've worked places where the boss would tell people not to chat among themselves in Spanish. I even know of a bank that wouldn't allow its tellers to use Spanish with customers; the policy lasted about 4 hours.
Businesses have a right to set whatever policies they want. (Or at least they did until the PC thugs told them otherwise.)
My parents are immigrants. My father runs a succesful medical practice. All employees are expected to speak english except on their lunch hour or when speaking to patients who are english-impaired. (Occasionally, my parents and aunt will speak in Hebrew, if they do not want the employees listening in.) It is disruptive when the staff (almost all Puerto Ricans) speak spanish amongst themselves. It makes it difficult to keep track of what they are doing. It also makes the non spanish speakers feel left out. (The PR's also seem to have an expectation that we will learn Spanish!)
Other places, (governmental) there would be orders that Spanish could not be used for chatting (however Polish, French, and German were allowed.)
It is far easier to tolerate small groups than a large ethnic block. The former is not a threat. The later is.
The Legislature unfortunately just granted illegals in-state college tutition which is just going to encourage more to come here, so the PC bull in NY is alive and well just like the rest of the country.
People who wish to live here without ever learning English, have that right protected under the First Amendment, albeit marginalized by their inability to communicate in a common langauge, as long as they obey the laws of the land, pay their taxes, and are willing to defend the nation when needed.
Please show me where the right to speak a language other than English is enshrined.
Like it or not, freedom of speech extends itself unto language.
Congress has the right to set a national language.
Setting a national language for official purposes is supported by Article 1, Section8:
"To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;"
And BTW, "sir"...not everyone with a Hispanic surname is an illegal.
I should hope not. Then again there are far too many illegals with all names.
Now, stop and think for a second, that doesn't even make any sense.
The greatest fear that an illegal has is detection, because detection brings about repatriation, and avoiding that is an illegal's foremost concern.
Illegals are also among the most recent arrivals, thus English proficiency is a few years away. While I was able to learn the language in a relatively short period of time after our arrival here, it took my parents considerably longer, and my grandparents never learned English at all.
Now, my kids speak no Spanish whatsoever.
I am neither defending illegals nor justifying their being here, I'm just saying that given sufficient time, the same would happen to them.
Trust me when I tell you that it is inevitable.
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