May 31 2006
English or else
I don’t know quite what to make of this guy…
An old struggle to adapt to a new country’s ways How do you say cheesesteak with in Spanish?
Joseph VentoJoseph Vento, the owner of Geno’s Steaks, doesn’t know. And he doesn’t care.
Just read the laminated signs, festooned with American eagles, at his South Philadelphia cheesesteak emporium: This is America. When Ordering, Speak English.
Vento’s political statement - from a man whose Italian-born grandparents spoke only broken English - captures the anger and discontent felt by many Americans about illegal immigrants.
With a battle looming between the House and Senate on legalizing some immigration violators, the public backlash is framed by two complaints:
One, my grandparents came legally. How come these guys can’t? And, two, my grandparents had to learn English. How come these guys don’t?
Okay… One, when your grandparents came here, it was a lot easier to enter this country legally. They weren’t faced with the quotas we have today. And, two, your grandparents did not learn English overnight. English is one of the most difficult languages to learn. It takes time.
Geno’s sits at Ninth and Passyunk, the hub of Little Italy turned home to thousands of Mexicans.
Some try to order a cheesesteak. And it bugs Vento if they can’t ask for American cheese, provolone or the classic - Cheez Whiz - without pointing.
“If you can’t tell me what you want, I can’t serve you,” he said. “It’s up to you. If you can’t read, if you can’t say the word cheese, how can I communicate with you - and why should I have to bend?
“I got a business to run.”
Vento, who lives in Shamong, put up the signs when the immigration debate seized national headlines six months ago.
This guy strikes me as the kind of person who would travel overseas and demand that everyone cater to him in English. He is very likely part of the reason Americans aren’t so popular and welcome in the rest of the world right now (George W. Bush’s screwed up foreign policy and xenophobia being the biggest reason).
I have very little patience with people who have no tolerance for people who are different from them. I guess that’s one of the reasons I am not a Republican.
Mr. Vento is, of course, one of Michelle Malkin’s heroes. You know for a certainty that Ms. Malkin’s forebears came to this country already speaking English.
6 Responses to “English or else”
One: While there are more hurdles to leap to become a LEGAL citizen of the USA, these hurdles were created by our elected representatives and are LAW. Don’t blame Mr. Vento’s grandparents if the laws were different then they are today.
Two: As my grandparents came through Ellis Isle, also from Italy, I can speak to how HARD it was for them to be admitted. If they were in any way sick - beyond the common cold - they faced immediate deportation. Tell me how that squares with the many who cross the border to the south, north, or through the ports undetected (especially with reports on the rise of TB and many other ‘cured’ diseases).
Your reasoning that Mr. Vento must embody the ugly stereotype of those who demand English overseas doesn’t wash with the man’s comments; because you leap to illogical conclusions, you think he’s illogical? And if you or anyone else don’t like Mr. Vento’s language policy, vote with your wallet and (literally) cross the street to his competitor.
I find it interesting your posts disclose your apparent intolerance with those on the Right, while you espouse your distaste for them. If that is not an example of a pot calling the kettle, I don’t know what is.
Wow, Charlie, I hope you didn’t hurt yourself jumping to all those conclusions!
I have no intolerance (or distaste) for anybody on the right. In fact, I have several friends who lean in that direction. Something that some people seem to have a problem understanding is that there is a difference between intolerance and disagreement. For example, why is it that I cannot disagree with George W. Bush’s politics without being labeled a “Bush-hater” or “Bush-basher”?
You and I disagree all the time, yet I tolerate you. In fact, since we seem to know each other so well, I think you are one of the sweetest people on the planet. (You wouldn’t say the things you said about me unless you knew me, would you?)
And, just as a by the way, I’m not blaming Mr. Vento’s grandparents for anything. I simply stated that emigrating to the United States was a lot easier in their day than it is now. That’s the truth. Ellis Island notwithstanding, it was.
Oh, and… “Why should I have to bend?” (Mr. Vento’s words, not mine.)
Speaking of jumping to conclusions….
There more than a few policy decisions President Bush has made that I disagree with (run-away spending, over-bloated Medicare system, allowing Sen. Kennedy to write the Education Bill, lack of any border control), but no one who knows me would call me a Bush-hater. You (somehow) equate his willingness to grant amnesty to law breakers a form of xenophobia; I call it bending over back-wards for Mexico President Fox. While I disagree with him on a number of points, I never forget he holds the highest office in the land, and is entitled to basic courtesy and respect.
We’ll agree to disagree (another common point we share) on whether immigration today is very different than immigration 70 years ago (or more); if the people in running Immigration were so willing to change family names for their own ease, I doubt it was a picnic for anyone.
I do not recall writing anything about Mr. Bush’s “willingness to grant amnesty to law breakers” (your words). In fact, I have gone to great pains not to reveal my position on that particular matter anywhere in this blog. The entry to which these comments are attached does not address that issue. If you can find, anywhere in this blog, where I state my position on the current immigration debate, please be so kind as to point it out to me. (While composing this entry, I was thinking about tolerance and how we relate to one another as human beings, not about immigration.)
I am sorry I cannot share in your respect for George W. Bush. In my mind, he will always be the spoiled, ignorant frat boy who has had everything in life (including the presidency) handed to him on a silver platter and has never had to work for anything a day in his life. That does not mean that I necessarily hate him, though. There are times I actually envy him.
You lost me in your second paragraph. Sorry. Immigration today is very different than it was 70 years (or more) ago. I don’t get the part about changing family names for their own ease, though.
I believe that it necessary for anyone working in the United States to learn English. I do not believe that everyone will. I work at a school, and I know that after a certain age it is impossible to learn any language. Americans, on average, are very poor language learners. However, we require people to speak English, even overseas.
What I want to know is if he will refuse service to an Italian that doesn’t speak English. They probably wouldn’t eat that stuff though.
Charlie is right, with regards to the last names. My family came from Europe back in the day, and do you know how hard it is try and do a family tree?
The people that they had working at Ellis Island and other places, (some family came into other cities) if they did not speak your native language, you were SOL. Why do you think so many people from Europe have names like King, Kane, Smith ETC.
Also, they did not just jump on a boat and say, “Hey were here”. Now you must conform to my ways.” They learned the language, they got jobs, crappy jobs mind you, paid taxes. They worked and learned, they wanted a better life for their children.
My family had to do all the paperwork and hire an agent to get here. The LEGAL way.
That is the point that I think everyone is missing in this whole problem. These people are here ILLEGALLY!
So, hey if Mr. Vento wants to hang up a sign that is a direct quote of a former President. (Roosevelt if you did not know) more power to him.
It is the same old philosophy that most people use anyway, you don’t like it, go somewhere else. This is America.