Obama’s “Spanish Speech” in Text
Rachel Lucas was nice enough to transcribe Obama’s “eloquent” speech about the fact that we should all learn Spanish.
“I, I don’t understand, when people are going around worrying about, ‘we need to have English only.’ They, they wanna pass a law, ‘we want just, uh, we want English only.’ No, I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that.
But. But. Understand this. Instead of worrying about whether, uh, immigrants can learn English. They’ll learn English. You need to make sure your child can speak Spanish! You should be thinking about how can your child become bilingual. We should have every child speaking more than one language.
“You know, it’s embarrassing, it’s embarrassing when, when, uh, when Europeans come over here. They all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe. All we can say is merci beaucoup. Right?”
And she has this to say:
Now, Spanish is a different story. There are good reasons to learn Spanish if you live in the southern parts of the U.S., or California. And I happen to love Spanish and am passably literate in it. But for a presidential candidate to tell me I need to know Spanish? That kinda pisses me off. It especially would if I lived in Utah or some place where Spanish was completely useless.
And for him to say not to worry about immigrants because they will learn English, well that’s just stupid. If that were so, every single government form in this state wouldn’t have to be in English AND Spanish. Billboards would not be in Spanish. And does Obama not see the flaw in his logic here? If all Spanish-speaking immigrants will learn English, then why should Americans learn Spanish unless they’re involved in teaching Mexican kids and adults how to speak English?
Gah. Like I said, I love Spanish and wish to speak it fluently, and maybe some day I will. Because I want to. Not because I’ve capitulated to the fact that my state is being overrun by folks who only speak that language. Obama’s insistence that we all learn Spanish tells me a few things, not least of which is that he has no intention of doing anything about rampant immigration.
Wow, Rachel Lucas is a moron. Thanks for pointing this out. I love the part where she things that Obama said that immigrants will learn English means that they already know English when they get here. Rachel Lucas might want to take a course in basic logic before she tackles Spanish.
Also, why are you guys taking this as an order. He’s not saying you must. He’s saying it would be better if we could all communicate with eachother.
Posted by jesusisjustalrightwithme on July 10, 2008 at 2052 hrs
Having never shopped there, does Whole Foods have bi-lingual signage?
Como se dice “arugala” en espanol? Did I say that correctly?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 10, 2008 at 2055 hrs
No. He’s dismissively saying that immigrants will learn English, but that the rest of us should learn Spanish. Then he goes on to ridicule Americans who are not multi-lingual.
Posted by Owen on July 10, 2008 at 2056 hrs
Thanks to Rachel for putting it in written form - still worth it to watch the video to really get the drift. To me, he sounded like he was trying to convince himself that he believed what he was saying.
The debates shall be real interesting, if McCain can push him off-script.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 10, 2008 at 2059 hrs
It’s sad that so many conservatives are angry—no, incensed—when someone suggests that English speakers should learn a second language. It strikes me as hopelessly small-minded.
Posted by scott on July 10, 2008 at 2127 hrs
There’s no ridicule in that transcript and no mandate either. He uses Spanish as an example for his next line where he says that Americans should learn another language.
That’s hardly a revolutionary idea. There have been language requirements in schools for decades and it’s well known that a second language makes a business career easier.
I’m not sure when the GOP became the anti-intellectual party but it’s starting to show abd effect for all of us. Soon we’ll have to call them the Know Nothings.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 0605 hrs
Scott:
We are not incensed that we should learn another language. We are incensed the foreigners (usually Mexican illegals) INSIST we cater to them! How many have been their entire lives and not learned one iota of English and actually refuse to do so? I travel to Europe a couple of times a year and have started learning German. Do I EXPECT them to communicate with me in English? No!
One also has to remember the size of the USA. Most Europeans are multi-lingual out of necessity rather than accommodation; there are multiple nations, all with different languages consolidated into an area the size of the Midwest.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 0749 hrs
Maybe I now see the source of our disagreement, bajaskier. You live in a fantasy world where illegal Mexican immigrants (and likely other relatively powerless people in our society) are exerting far too much control over our lives, taking advantage of us and just generally threatening our Way Of Life. At least that’s how I read it.
Me, I think we all should conduct our threat assessment in the most rational way possible, striving not to let things like jingoism, fear, cultural chauvinism, and even racism, unduly influence it.
There’s no conspiracy of Mexican terrorists seeking to steal English away from our precious children. Thus, nobody needs protection from such a scheme. Even if you were to come up with one or two news-of-the-weird examples of such situations, that wouldn’t make it a widespread problem, nor even a salient aspect of American immigration as a whole. The sorry state of American language learning is a far more important thing to worry about than whether it’s a good idea to have the courthouse supply Spanish language forms at the front desk. To believe that the latter is more worrisome is both to under-appreciate the problems of American educational system, and also to allow ones fears and prejudices make mountains out of molehills.
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 0825 hrs
Scott:
As usual, you did not address the problem…we are EXPECTED to accomodate the immigrants by speaking their language rather than expecting them to learn English.
Now who is in Fantasyland?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 0950 hrs
We’re expected by whom to learn the language of immigrants? Well-meaning purveyors of social and government services? BFD.
Immigrants themselves actually do a pretty decent job of learning English, as can be seen here. And I’m all for helping them do it. But this irrational hostility is totally unwarranted.
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1011 hrs
I don’t really care who speaks what language (primary or secondary). What bugs me is the “moralistic” tone that Obama takes - “You need to make sure your child can speak Spanish! You should be thinking about how can your child become bilingual. We should have every child speaking more than one language.” I took German when I was in school, my daughter has taken Spanish at pre-K, that is our choice, not Obama’s.
Let’s change to a conservative candidate making similar statements, but using church as an example to improve behavior & responsibility - “You need to make sure your child goes to church! You should be thinking aobut how can your child become faithful. We should have every child attending church.”
No disrespect intended, Scott, but such a candidate would get ripped a new A-hole so big even your head could fit in it.
How about this for a McCain ad to play in Milwaukee - “McCain, the candidate that does not believe your children need to know Spanish to get your food stamps”. No amount of free cigarettes to the homeless could counteract that!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1016 hrs
You are in a fantasyland Baja.
There is nobody suggesting that Spanish speakers shouldn’t assimilate.
You and Rachel Lucas can misinterprete and spin what Obama said to mean whatever you want but you are just reading in what you want in his statements.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1018 hrs
Learning a second language is one of the hallmarks of a superior education. It double damned well does behoove a presidential candidate to advocate things like this. Remember the department of education? It’s an executive department—something the president would be ultimately responsible for.
Let’s change to a conservative candidate making similar statements [...] You need to make sure your child goes to church!”
Come on. You don’t seriously think that’s a meaningful and fair comparison, do you? I mean, are you aware that there is a constitutional imperative for the government not to advocate religious views? I don’t recall any such imperative for the government not to advocate educational views.
such a candidate would get ripped a new A-hole
Damned straight. You really need to think these things through a little more carefully if you don’t see why.
As for the food stamps and cigarette comments, I don’t really know what you’re talking about or how it’s relevant to the issue at hand.
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1036 hrs
3rd way
Read posts carefully before criticizing. . I never said anybody suggested that Spanish speakers shouldn’t assimilate. That would be assinine.
I said many (Spanish speaking) Mexican immigrants expect us to cater to them and do not bother to try to learn English. Simply a known fact.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1054 hrs
Insert calculus for Spanish. Does the debate change?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1110 hrs
Simply a known fact.
Simply an imaginary fact.
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1126 hrs
Scott:
Have you lived in San Diego? No? I have. It’s a reality. How long did you live in Southwest Texas? I did. Also a reality there. Ever been to Palm Desert, Ca? I go there frequently. Also a reality there.
Don’t speak from experience if you haven’t any.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1129 hrs
Calculus is not required for basic communication.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1130 hrs
I’m originally from Los Angeles and I’ve traveled all over southern California. Last time I visited San Diego was two years ago.
But let’s not quibble about who lives where. Do you or don’t you have something convincing to say about whether illegal immigrants “expect” you to learn spanish?
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1132 hrs
Okay, since were parsing words, By not (or refusing to) learning English, I am making the assumption said people expect us to speak Spanish. How else would they communicate?
Re: Proof:
I’m not doing your homework for you, son. Do some internet research as I have. You remember things longer if you have to look them up yourself.
That said, here’s a starter for you from an ESL instructor.
http://www.vdare.com/guzzardi/esl.htm
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1145 hrs
I have met many immagrants here in SW Colorado. It is very clear many of them strongly resist learning English. Some companies answering machines go through a list of options in Spanish befor they do it in English, not a big point but it annoys the hell outa me. Too some extent many of them seem to segregate themselves and resent [if not race hate] anyone who isn’t a little brown. We have Mexican teen gangster wannabe’s jumping people of other race. Some seem to take perverse pleasure in making it clear they are talking about you in Spanish right in front of you, that drives me nuts. And yes, there is no question there are a lot of them who have been here for years and not only havn’t learned English but are clearly ANGRY that anyone thinks they should. They EXPECT all bussiness to have bilingual staff and I have lost out on jobs because I don’t speak Spanish even though the jobs had nothing at all to do with anything relavent to needing to speak the language.
The people who think it’s all imaginary or isn’t a problem are living in a fantasy world.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1253 hrs
By not (or refusing to) learning English, I am making the assumption [...]
Yeah, you’re assuming. It’s basically your rather creative and paranoid interpretation, not something that’s empirically demonstrable.
I’m not doing your homework for you, son.
Well, pops, I’m not the one making a claim—you are. You’re claiming that illegal immigrants “expect” you to learn Spanish. When you’re making a claim, the onus of proving it is on you, not me. (And—sweet Jesus—you must be kidding me with that link to a shrill, Minutemen-style anti illegal immigrant web site.)
It is very clear many of them strongly resist learning English.
But it’s not clear enough that you can provide any convincing evidence of this widespread problem.
Some companies answering machines go through a list of options in Spanish befor they do it in English, not a big point but it annoys the hell outa me.
Why don’t you call up those companies and complain, instead of whining that illegal immigrants—arguably the least powerful group of people in the country—are making your life hard?
Frankly, Jay, the rest of your comments read like the ranting of an old crank who thinks that everyone who isn’t a light-skinned English-speaker is plotting to pollute his precious bodily fluids.
ANGRY that anyone thinks they should. They EXPECT all bussiness to have bilingual staff
Evidence? Or is this another “assumption”?
I have lost out on jobs because I don’t speak Spanish
Your prospective employer thought it was good for business to have a bi-lingual employee. Sounds to me like Barack Obama was right after all—it would really have benefitted you to learn a second language.
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1321 hrs
Ah, but Jay..you’re not published, so Scott, 3rd Way et al will want proof that what you are saying is true!
Anyway, as Bartle & James said: “Thank you for your support”.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1323 hrs
Perhaps the pro-Spanish crowd would be better off in Mexico?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1324 hrs
It’s only not clear, Scott, if you choose to ignore and/or criticize the proof that you requested when same is presented to you, i.e. Jay’s story or the link I presented.
Now it is your turn to prove to me how the US benefits from illegals not choosing to learn English? A little harder when the roles are reversed , eh?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1329 hrs
Scott, 3rd Way et al will want proof that what you are saying is true!
And we all know that people who want proof to back up claims are just obstructionist twits, and not people seeking the truth.
Perhaps the pro-Spanish crowd would be better off in Mexico?
Sounds to me like they should move to where Jay lives—the employment’s good there for the bilingual. At least they’ll for sure have a leg up on Jay himself.
if you choose to ignore and/or criticize the proof
You haven’t got any proof. An anecdote, an assumption and a link to a web site with the question “are we a white supremacist group?” on their FAQ doesn’t constitute proof of anything—except maybe that you don’t know what proof means.
Now it is your turn to prove to me how the US benefits from illegals not choosing to learn English? A little harder when the roles are reversed , eh?
Whoa! Good one! Or at least it would be, if I was even remotely claiming that to be true—which I’m not.
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1343 hrs
Again, if one conveniently nullifies any proof contrary to one’s own opinion, then claiming victory to your own arguement is easy.
Putting it in terms you might understand: Never try to teach a pig to sing; It wastes your time and annoys the pig.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1356 hrs
How about this, Scott?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/meltingpot/melt0525a.htm
Posted by Owen on July 11, 2008 at 1405 hrs
Thanx, Owen! The odds of having to give music lessons to Arnold Ziffel are dwindling.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1415 hrs
Yeah, it really sounds like that family is having a problem assimilating.
her eldest son, a bilingual 11-year-old who wears a San Francisco 49ers jacket and has a paper route, comes in and joins his brothers and sisters in the living room to watch “The Simpsons.”
To a certain extent I think you guys are right. Adult non-English speakers don’t always easily adopt the language. It has always been that way with this nation’s immigrants. But their children have also always become bilingual or mono-lingual English speakers.
Metropolitan areas like Miami could have a future problem if the Spanish speaking community never assimilates and makes life too difficult for non-Spanish speakers. But that is a local problem… let Florida, CA, AZ and TX deal with it.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1416 hrs
I like the thing about the singing pig. It reminds me that I shouldn’t bother coming here to argue with people who think they are thinking but who are instead, as William James once observed, merely rearranging their prejudices.
Owen, that’s an interesting link—and I mean that sincerely. However, it doesn’t really demonstrate the central point of contention above: That illegal immigrants expect us to learn Spanish for them.
What it does say is that because of the sheer numbers of Spanish-speaking immigrants from a contiguous country, and because they are concentrated in certain geographic locations, they can and do form communities in which they can stave off full-fledged assimilation for a time. At least until their kids learn English and start watching The Simpsons. Then it’s pretty much assimilation-city. Is that not how you read it?
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1418 hrs
My two Mexican American nephews only speak English. Their father was born in Mexico and immigrated her when he was 10.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1423 hrs
As someone who has lived in Texas practically all my 53 years, I can say that the contention that there is anything other than a miniscule fraction of immigrants, legal or otherwise, who “...INSIST we cater to them!” by speaking Spanish is absurd.
Are there Spanish billboards? You bet. Are there Spanish instructions on phone menus? You bet. It’s good business; Texas is a majority-minority state. I’d think a bunch of conservatives would be all about companies doing everything they could to improve their bottom lines, even if that included catering to their customers who preferred speaking Spanish.
This whole notion that Obama is ridiculing people is ludicrous.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1511 hrs
If I wanted to live in a Spanish-speaking nation, I’d move to one. If I moved to Mexico and expected the ballots, welfare forms, driver’s license exams, traffic signs, etc, to be in English, they’d laugh at me (as they should). And American ‘progressives’ would lecture me about the evils of ‘cultural imperialism’ and ‘privilege.’ How dare I go to another sovereign nation with a different history and culture and expect my American preferences to be honored.
I don’t understand the double-standard.
Posted by HeatherRadish on July 11, 2008 at 1517 hrs
Heather, it’s not that someone is demanding or “expecting” that these things be multilingual. It’s that the people who are offering the services and products are sometimes choosing to do so in a multilingual way simply because that is the best way to reach their audience/customers.
You conservatives are all about letting businesses do as they will, market forces and all that. But when Wal-Mart puts up a Happy Holidays sign or a business puts Spanish signage up, suddenly it’s an affront to your sensibilities. And then—unable to face the cognitive dissonance of the situation—you turn on the Spanish speakers themselves and insist that they are ungrateful wretches who “demanded” that we all accommodate them.
Christ, aren’t there enough real problems in the world without making shit up?
Posted by scott on July 11, 2008 at 1522 hrs
I will have to admit that businesses (rightly or wrongly) are catering to a bilingual culture…free markewt and all that. A good point, Scott. Scary…I agree with you on something.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1545 hrs
I got in a little late in this discussion, but I agree with a lot of what scott has stated.
The only thing I would add: I don’t refer to “these people” as conservatives. It’s way too polite a term and besides, I’m very conservative when it comes to conservation: “reuse, reduce, recycle” as best I am able, so help me G-d!
Right-wing/er is a more appropriate term. This is especially appropriate for those in southeastern Wisconsin who consider Barry “kick Jerry Falwell in the *ss” Goldwater as a liberal.
I wish I knew how to say “kick Jerry Falwell’s fat *ss” in Spanish, but I going to find out.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1551 hrs
di una patada al culo gordo de Jerry Falwell
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1644 hrs
http://www.johnmccain.com/espanol/
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1753 hrs
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/espanol
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 11, 2008 at 1826 hrs
Wow, I’m suprised how many people thought my observations were racist, hateful or right-winger stuff. They were simple observations of fact, not rampent paranoia. I’m far from a right-winger, I never voted for a single “R” befor 9/11 in my life.
I don’t need a published report to tell me what I see and hear.When I went to high school Spanish was an “option,” My kid just had a mandatory Spanish class in 1st grade. Manditory might not be right but it was part of the curiculum and she was expected to partake. Theres at least a dozen things I’d rather her learn in 1st grade. The culture of expectation to cater to the immagrants is so great we’ve started placing it on ourselves, and the Gov on our children. I don’t see any reason why the expectation shouldn’t be that they learn the language of the nation they want to live in other then the other way around.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 12, 2008 at 1323 hrs
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