John Kennedy Ran Spanish Ads in 1960

That's our former first lady making a Spanish ad for her husband. So to all you xenophobes attacking McCain and Obama for running Spanish ads this year, get over it. It's an American tradition. That's gotta hurt to learn there's more to this country than your narrow perspective.

If you're like me and don't speak spanish here's a translation.

“Dear friends, I am the wife of Senator John F. Kennedy candidate for the presidency of the United States. In these times of great danger when world peace is threatened by Communism we need a firm hand in the White House, a leader capable of guiding our destinies. My husband will watch out for the interests of all the sectors of society that need the protection of a humanitarian government. For the future of our children and in order to achieve world peace, please vote for the Democratic Party on November 8th.

“Long Live Kennedy!”

Thanks to the television series Mad Men for bringing this to my attention.

English Only On School Buses

I hope everyone remembered to do their part in stopping the Schuler - Tancredo Bill, if you haven't yet click here

It only takes 2 min.

State and national civil liberties advocates have compelled a rural Nevada school district to roll back a policy prohibiting high school students from speaking Spanish on the bus.

The guideline was approved at an October school board meeting and affected about a dozen children from Hispanic families who ride a school bus more than an hour each way between Dyer, in Esmeralda County, and Tonopah High School, over the Nye County line. Most of the Hispanic children are from immigrant families drawn to the area to work its cattle ranches and alfalfa farms.

Click here for the link.

This policy shows how ignorant people are. Children are learning English!! It is very easy for children (far, far, easier) to pick up new languages than adults. Go to any immigrant community and try to find a child who has grown up here that doesn't speak English fluently. They don't exist!

You know who thinks children of immigrants don't speak English, people who don't know any children of immigrants. I'm sure some of them know that these kids speak English in addition to Spanish but their bigotry against Spanish speakers got the better of them. God forbid we have kids that are bi-lingual.

On another note
When did it become acceptable for elected officials to target children in their hate mongering? What is this country coming to?

Salvation Army and English ONLY

My first day volunteering as a salvation army bell ringer was on a cold day with a wind chill of -15. I remember no one came to pick up the kettle when we were done. We waited for 3 hours until someone finally showed. When we got home and removed our gloves, our fingers had purple and gray burns from the cold.

Despite this experience, we showed up the next year and the year after. It turned into a yearly tradition. Friends and family began to stop by with tea and cocoa and of course donations every year. For nearly a decade no matter how cold, busy, or sick we were, we made sure to make time for bell ringing.

So imagine how disappointed I was when I found out The Salvation Army has decided to join in on the hostile anti-immigrant climate.

A few salvation army managers recently implemented an English only rule for their employees. This means that even if you speak perfect English, but want to speak to your co-worker in Spanish, you could be fired. According to current law a business can turn away applicants who do not speak English if it interferes with job duties or safety. However, this is not the case with The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is barring any language but English from being spoken in cases when it isn't necessary. If co-workers were chatting about non-work related issues in Spanish, that would be against the rules and possible grounds for termination.

I only speak English but even I was offended by that rule. This rule was meant to single out immigrants. It's one thing to require knowledge of English and require you to use it when necessary. It's another to force you use it when is isn't necessary. The only purpose this rule has is to belittle immigrant employees who retain other language skills.

If this were the case with the U.S. government, President Bush might have been in violation of these rules. He enjoys practicing his Spanish. I don't believe any of the major candidates running for his position speak a foreign language and I can't really judge seeing as how I'm guilty as well. In my lifetime I have been fluent in 3 languages but years of not practicing has left me with English as my sole means of communication (and like Bush, that's up for argument).

*I am not encouraging people to stop supporting the salvation army. I'm merely expressing my disappointment in an organization I once greatly admired. I still do and you should too but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be held accountable for these actions.