Delightful language attitude
Oct 2nd, 2007, 06:04 AM
#22
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In my opinion, people took Joe Vento a little too seriously.
The background is that he's a South Philly guy raised by immigrant parents, and most people in that situation know that they were encouraged (even forced) to speak English at home, rather than the language of their parents.
Vento was reacting to the changing of the neighborhood to a new immigrant group -- Spanish-speaking immigrants. This is a simple story about a simple guy whu doesn't like change.
I'm not condoning what he did, but as usual, the media picked up the story and ran with it. There really wasn't much of a story there to begin with, since there are no documented instances of Vento's refusing service to anyone.
The background is that he's a South Philly guy raised by immigrant parents, and most people in that situation know that they were encouraged (even forced) to speak English at home, rather than the language of their parents.
Vento was reacting to the changing of the neighborhood to a new immigrant group -- Spanish-speaking immigrants. This is a simple story about a simple guy whu doesn't like change.
I'm not condoning what he did, but as usual, the media picked up the story and ran with it. There really wasn't much of a story there to begin with, since there are no documented instances of Vento's refusing service to anyone.
Oct 2nd, 2007, 06:23 AM
#23
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A hundred years ago there were many languages spoken all over the US. I grew up in Nebraska, and I recall grandparents of friends of mine who spoke Polish all the time (his parents spoke it with them, too.) They could speak English, but no one blamed them for using the language they were actually good at! Half the town were of Polish descent and thought it more amusing than upsetting.
My own granparents lived in the next town over, which was about 50/50 Czech and Irish. I recall often hearing older women downtown chatting in Czech or Bohemian (?), and some of the old farmers my veterinarian grandfather visited had accents so thick that I, as a little kid, wasn't sure what language they were speaking!
Grandpa's own father had been a German-speaking member of the state legislature in the 1880s.
A lot of this language color disappeared because the generations born in the US naturally had English as their first language - and the next generation rarely learned any of the old language. But in the case of GErman, during WWII hundreds of Germans were imprisoned (many executed in fact) in the midwest on accusations of treason, etc. German-language newspapers had been common, but were shut down everywhere. And most if not all German speakers switched permanently to English.
My own granparents lived in the next town over, which was about 50/50 Czech and Irish. I recall often hearing older women downtown chatting in Czech or Bohemian (?), and some of the old farmers my veterinarian grandfather visited had accents so thick that I, as a little kid, wasn't sure what language they were speaking!
Grandpa's own father had been a German-speaking member of the state legislature in the 1880s.
A lot of this language color disappeared because the generations born in the US naturally had English as their first language - and the next generation rarely learned any of the old language. But in the case of GErman, during WWII hundreds of Germans were imprisoned (many executed in fact) in the midwest on accusations of treason, etc. German-language newspapers had been common, but were shut down everywhere. And most if not all German speakers switched permanently to English.
