Is refusing to learn English in America, a sign of racism ?

sassy

Generally -- very generally -- you may not be naturalized unless you:

1. Are at least 18 years old and a lawful permanent resident ("green card" holder);
2. Have resided continuously in the United States, having been lawfully admitted for permanent residence, for five years immediately preceding the date you filed your application for naturalization, or
3. Have, after having been removed from conditional permanent resident status, based upon your marriage to a U.S. citizen, having resided in the United States for one year after the date the condition was removed;
4. Have resided continuously in the United States at all times after your application to the time and date of your admission for citizenship;
5. Have, during all periods of time referred to above, been and still are a person of good moral character;
6. Have no outstanding deportation or removal order and no pending deportation or removal proceeding;
*****
7. Have the ability to read, write, speak, and understand simple words and phrases in English;
*****
8. Have knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of U.S. history and government;
9. Are attached to, and can support, the principles of the U.S. Constitution and can swear allegiance to the United States.

Richard

Not racism, but a clinging to past culture. This is not a matter of one language better than another. This is a matter of allowing communication.

Any person who travels to another country and does not know the language or does not learn the language spoken there is either arrogant or ignorant.

With Americans (citizen of the USA) traveling elsewhere, it is arrogance as much or more then ignorance. I would not guess about others who come to this country. I only know that they do miss out on much of the experience if they do not speak English.

spyderman131

It is a sign that the person does not want to be a U.S. Citizen.

howard the duq

No. It is a sign that the person does not want to become a part of mainstream america.

Jax4all

It is not sign of racism, it's the sign of ignorance and disrespect.
Sign of racism will be if you refuse to shake hands whit someone who is different than your self. But not learning language (in this case English) is just plain ignorance...

TRUTHSEEKER

your right. by then not wanting to learn the English language says they want to control. you know like a kid that is rebellious. but there in another country they should learn the language or be deported back.

wendy g

Your point is moot because most immigrants DO want to learn English, it just takes time. A while back I worked at a school that taught English to immigrants, and we had a HUGE student body of "brand new" immigrants who came in at night, after a hard day of manual labor, to learn our country's language. Their enthusiasm and drive was truly inspiring. Plus, these classes weren't free, so a large part of their paycheck was going to pay for this, since financial aid usually didn't cover everything. (LOANS, people, not GRANTS, in case you were wondering) AND many of them would say that were going home after class to teach what they learned to their family. My experience with immigrants, (ESPECIALLY those from Mexico and S. America, but other nations as well) is that they are extremely willing to assimilate, want to learn our language and culture, and want to learn it as quickly as possible. Many "home grown" Americans are given years to learn what these immigrants only have a few months to learn. And, I hate to say, wind up knowing a lot more about our govt. and history than many of us do.

Alex B. Ph.D.

Yes, those illegals won't speak English for you, so why should we speak Spanish for them

lefty

I think it is. But beware, you are making a valid argument so emotional people may get angry.

Carol R, Europe also has a long history of Nationalism that has resulted in the bloodiest wars known to mankind

Â»Â»Â§@Î·â€ i@ÄŸÇ¾2á»¤â„¢Â«Â«

"...also Native American tribes were in constant warfare with each other..."

Yep. Native Americans Indians help Pilgrims to eliminate their stress allowing'em to kill'em ...._But that was not racism.Right?

And all of you, you're coming from inmigrants too, or are you a Indian's grandchild?

bconehead

Hmmmmm......no. I think it is a sign of ignorance! The US government gives no incentive for any foreigner to learn English as non English resources are as close as the nearest Department of Motor Vehicles for example.

I think those that refuse to learn the language of any country while living there, are missing out.

HawkDog

There is another side to each question:

Is refusing to learn Spanish in America, a sign of Racism?

Think about it....

Zoe

It's a sign of the country being divided

Id Pro Quo

Of course not. Stupid question. I live in China and most foreigners (especially Americans) do not, or do not want to even try to learn Chinese. So, are they racist? America is a melting pot you simpleton...you should be proud of that.

QUE PASA??

THIS IS AMERICA WE SPEAK ALL LANGUAGES. WE CHOOSE TO LEARN ENGLISH JUST AS WE CHOOSE TO SPEAK OUR OWN.

dre l

"Not racism, but a clinging to past culture. This is not a matter of one language better than another. This is a matter of allowing communication.

Any person who travels to another country and does not know the language or does not learn the language spoken there is either arrogant or ignorant.

With Americans (citizen of the USA) traveling elsewhere, it is arrogance as much or more then ignorance. I would not guess about others who come to this country. I only know that they do miss out on much of the experience if they do not speak English. "

i dont agree with richard at all. just because you dont learn a language dosent mean your ignorant or arrogant. ive been all over the world and have never had a problem with language. richard obviously hasnt gone anywhere. everyother country learns english because americans are their biggest customers. if we want to start selling to the spanish, then we may want to learn their language.

Ethan

thats a sign of retardness. Nothing will be accomodated for them. Either learn English or get out.

Tami W

Wendy G has it right. How are these new Americans supposed to get the schooling necessary and to also function in everyday life at the same time? They still need to buy food, use the ATM, visit the DMV etc. before they have mastered this whole new language. We need to show more understanding to these people who are really only trying to do the same thing that you are - make a living and to survive. Give'em a break! You try going to a new place & learning the language and still having to work & fuction. Do any of you EVER put yourself in someone elses shoes? Try it once.

dreamfactoryent

Wow. Loaded question. I think it is a form of racism to purposely separate yourself from the culture.

orlyandsa

i will not take it as racism eventhough, it is a personal choice. eventhough you just need it as you are in an english speaking society..

voice of reason

Refusing to learn any language has absolutely nothing to do with racism. It is a personal preference.
While I believe that english should be learned in the US, it is not racist not to learn it.
Any intelligent person can grab a dictionary or tranlation software and get the jist of the Constitution. With english not even the donminant language on the planet, and many elderly immigrants moving to the US, they are not being racist if they do not learn english. It sure does not help to intergrate cultural communties and leads to the seggregation of communites by language and culture, but it is not racist.
If you look at the worst rasism in the US, it is based not on language, but colour - so should everyone in the US be white - or more correctly - be red - or else be called a racist - based on your question....

Chetco

I worked in a birthing center for many years...Over the years, I helped the same lady deliver 9 children..She didn't speak English when the first was born, nor when the ninth was born...That is sad.. She cut herself off from learning the language her children were speaking..Missing the communications with their teachers and their friends..and being an embarrassment to her family.

lisa.ramirez

I think that writing a post like this is a clear sign of racism for sure.

When someone refuses to learn english, they can live in communities that speak much spanish, and there are many. People seem to have a big problem with people speaking another language in their country, even though some of their ancestors spoke a different language when they first migrated from places like Germany. Diversity is part of what makes this country so beautiful, that we aren't all cookie cutter versions of mainstream amerika.

People who refuse to learn english at all, may not be completely refusing, they may just be unable to afford to learn or find out how to learn.

Not all of our history was written in English, much of the South, Texas, New Mexico, etc. had most of their newspapers, official documents, etc. written in Spanish.

Adam

It is not a sign of racism. It is a sign of not wanting to learn the local language. It is a sign of not wanting to fit in with the mainstream. Racism, in my opinion, is aggressive behavior.

I highly encourage everyone to learn a new language. I think everyone should be bilingual. I don't care where you are from or who you are, but everyone should study a new language.

donielle

i agree that we should speak english here and if we want to learn spanish too

loveloyalty

I dont think it's a sign of rcism, but if you don't learn english, you won't go that far, because in America we speak English

Jaime T

I wouldnt say racism but I think that anyone who comes here should learn its not fair for me in order to get a regular job thats not even all that good that I have to learn spanish other countries do not accomodate as much as we have to and I dont want to sound racist but that is not fair that I have to learn there language and they do not have to learn mines english

Confused

It is not racism but the overall majority speaks English. If you live in America you should learn the English language.

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