Speak Our Language or Go to Jail
“Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all of your life?” the judge asked them.
If you had the option of going to jail for two years or learning a second language, what would you do? Such was the proposition that three Spanish-speaking men faced when arrested for accosting two men on a street. The judge ordered that instead of sitting in jail for 24 months, the men could learn English, get their GEDs, and find a full-time job.
This ruling is unsettling to me in that it associates learning English with a good and proper lifestyle.
Now, I am obviously all for learning a second language, but not when it’s forced upon you as though your native language (and hence culture) is inferior. Being an English speaker does not a wholesome person make. Hell, I can think of a lot of English speakers that know the American constitution inside and out and do horrible things. And while I do agree that learning English (as with any other second language) will help them in the long run, it is that quote above that makes me think the ruling was made out of annoyance than anything else.
Source: Judge sentences Hispanic men to learn English - MSN
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