Quote:
Originally Posted by BestBefore1984
Last night my wife and I requested an Lyft from San Mateo, California to Mountain View California (Where we live). About a 25 min ride. We had a beautiful human moment that put things in perspective. Specifically, I am referring to the Nativist sentiment that some Dreamers here seem to strongly believe in. See my post here for reference: http://dreamact.info/forum/showpost....6&postcount=12
What happened: This very nice lady picked us up. She ended up going to the wrong pick up spot, but it was actually my bad. When my wife and I entered the car, she apologized profusely. Based on her name, accent, and appearance — I thought I was about to get a good opportunity to practice my Russian or Ukrainian. She actually said “Sorry my English is no good I’m from Brazil….”
Boom, My wife has been studying Portuguese and I know some from passive learning and the similarities between Spanish and Portuguese. When the wife and I uttered a few phrases, she was pleased to know we were Spanish speakers. This is where things got fun. In Spanish, I informed her that we can speak to her in Spanish and she can speak to us in Portuguese. Long story short, we were able to carry a 25 min conversation completely using two different languages.
Why am I bringing this up? Imagine if I carried some of the Natavist sentiment that DREAMers here seem to carry? This interaction would not have happened. From these Natavist point of view, I would say “Sorry Lyft driver. Please learn English. I don’t need to accommodate to YOU because you’re in America and you SHOULD know English.” The human connection in this instance may not have occurred in the way that it did.
So this morning I started to reflect on our conversation, again from this post regarding FORCING or dictating WHAT language migrants/immingrants should learn/speak in this country.
Listen. I speak English without a ‘foreign’ accent. I speak the Queen’s English sans the British accent (what I am highlighting here is that if you speak to me on the phone without knowing my demographic data, you’d expect I was a white nigga).
I am not highlighting this to ‘toot my own horn’ (maybe just a little). But what I really want to emphasis here is the ignorance of some of you so called “DREAMers”
What do I mean?: Well. If you’re a DACA that has a thick fucking foreign accent and you’re in this country screaming that people SHOULD learn English — I’d like for you to take a step back. For example: If you’re Indian bobbing your head speaking a terrible variation of the English language that no one understands or your parents do —and you finish your sentence with “Ok, ok, ok” (whilst bobbing your head). Like “Oh my friend. You should really speak English. OK OK OK” Or if you’re Korean/Chinese/Japanese/Bietnam Doooo and you say “Oh herro mista Mesican. You leally LEALLY need to realn uh da Engrish ranguage. You rive in Amelica. We euhspeak the Engrish language hele. Ok Hunny?” Or you’re a black man/woman from Africa and you come in here with your THICH fucking accent. Let me tell ya eyyyy coco willy ‘click click’ speak da English language mon. We gotta be like da white man mon ‘click click click’.
If you belong to one of the IGNORANT group of people I mentioned above or a variation of that. Do me a favor. Go back to your shithole country that your boy aka your Natvist in Chief (Trump) calls it and the ignorant white folks like Biden who have ZERO fucking clue on sociolinguistic manners and focus on your accent or your parents accent. You’re not speaking English. You are bastardizing it.
I normally would say, being that we are all DACA DREAMers here, I’d offer you free accent reduction lessons, because I know with almost 100% accuracy WHY you speak with an accent and how we can funnel your cemented phonological constraints and work on your phonetics in such a way that you speak like a REAL American.
But if you’re still too ignorant to see that these policies and mindset are toxic —which could be simply either your ignorance or lack of understanding on socialignustic matters (I hope it’s the latter) and if its the former…look:
I am not a perfect person by any matter. I am not the best version of myself that I can be (I continue to work on that everyday) —but you don’t even deserve to get on your knees and blow me. So a big fuck you to you ignorant Natavist mentality. You want others to speak English? Well look in the mirror, look at your family, and if they speak with a foreign accent —you’re failing YOUR duty to learn the English language and it’s phonetic inventory. You’re not learning English and you should leave this country immieetely and self deport.
You’re not liked by the white nativist man that you are trying to appease and now you’re disliked by the immigrant community that continues to improve this fucking beautiful country we live in.
As a white illegal wetback immigrant Mexican that speak English above 99% of the population, I shouldn’t be the one calling you out for your ignorance. YOU should be the one backing the immigrant community and making a better understanding why forcing people learn a language is not only ignorant, it goes against American ideals of personal freedom.
If you meet the above criteria...
You get three middle fingers. One from my white wife, me a white latino with a great handle of the English language, and my boy from the DEEP south, where Nativism is prevalent.
[IMG]i.ibb.co/xJk3DtP/3lx59z.jpg[/IMG]
That is all. |
This article is a large rant sounds like it really made you angry, but you factually misunderstood what was said.
Pretty much nobody on this forum said that you should go out of your way to be an assohole to non-English speakers, and if you did recieve that sentiment then I apologize for their shortsightedness.
Nobody said be an asshole to the Lyft, lady, and I am sure nobody here would hate on her for Speaking Portugese from Brazil, but all they ask is that she learn English as well so that miscommunication errors like not finding you dont occur. It was your fault, but it just as likely is her fault as well. It is a benefit to her enterprise as a lyft[IMG]www.pngmart.com/files/8/Pineapple-PNG-Transparent-Photo.png[/IMG] driver that she learn English as quickly as possible. Not only that, but now with a domain over English she can now access greater opportunities in English. It does not hurt to know English and can only benefit her.
Accents don't really matter for Speaking English properly, you can have an accent and as long as you are understandable to a reasonable degree nobody will care. They will be like oh hmm and carry on their business. This is a made up grievance designed to be as offensive as possible, and maybe a little racist towards non-whites. Why do you assume that the English language must carry a white american accent?
To your three middle fingers I respond with
The pineapple of bi-lingualism, it makes as much sense as hating DACAs, and others for having accents, or for hating those who want people to know English in addition to their native language. Nobody is forcing them, and nobody will ever force them to learn the English language, because the secret is this, if they don't learn it, it wont harm those who know English. Their educational and socio-economic advancement is stunted because they didn't adapt learn and overcome. Now requiring them to learn English for a greencard, I could see that being a valid argument, but again, it does not somehow remove their ability to know their native language. It is only a benefit to them.
DACAs should be well versed in the English language if they want to seek sympathy from an English speaking majority. If anything, for having the outward appearance of assimilating and integrating into American culture, instead of refusing to learn English, sticking out from American culture, creating their own Ethnic enclaves, and increasing the opportunity for Misunderstandings.
I don't see your citation for "appeasing whites" since its not about appeasing them, its about using a language, a tool, for our own betterment. The whites are more than happy to have us not knowing English, staying doing construction, staying dish-washers, and becoming a Spanish only permanent underclass. No, DACAs knowing English in addition to their native languages, whether Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portugese, Portual Portugese, Or Korean, is about betterment of ourselves and adapting, learning, and overcoming a language barrier.
Knowing the English language has unlocked full and wide opportunities for the Immigrant community, and is a hallmark of assimilation, because once English is owned and controlled, it can be used to propel oneself forward towards education, business, and unlocks all the opportunities this great nation brings to us. Again, nobody is saying you must speak English a certain way without an accent, or that you must ONLY know English. Nobody cares that another language is used primarily, but that for their own benefit, and for a greater societal benefit, bilingualism is a tremendous benefit to the immigrant.
Feeling you are above someone else because you have a domain over the English language is like feeling better than someone else can you can talk the loudest, it's dumb, its foolish, and I completely agree.