Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk.

   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #31  
Re: Being Caucasian Isn\'t Worth The Risk.

I must have been too busy in the 80's to realize that we are no longer just Americans. My belief is that as long as a group separates themselves (African-Americans, Asian Americans, ??-Americans) we will remain a bigotted society.

We had a mayor in Detroit for many years that was the biggest racist I can recall. When they pushed for tighter gun control, his remark was "I will not leave my people unarmed against the white suburbs". He did more to perpetuate racism than George Wallace.

BTW- my definition of gun control - hitting what you're aiming at.
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #32  
Re: Being Caucasian Isn\'t Worth The Risk.

in the same vein ... I managed to cut down several acres of pesky willows last weekend. They were really starting to bug me and no matter what the Sierra Club says ... I have a right to keep my horses in grass instead of willows!
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #33  
Re: Being Caucasian Isn\'t Worth The Risk.

Michael Jackson is black? You're kidding, right?
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #34  
Re: Cops, Firefighters Forced to Learn Spanish

I just can't leave well enough alone...here we go again...
Cops, Firefighters Forced to Learn Spanish
Michael L. Betsch, CNSNews.com Wednesday, July 10, 2002

Police officers and firefighters, sworn to serve and protect, sometimes find it difficult to communicate with the Spanish-speaking victims they're trying to rescue. But the growing demand for emergency responders to communicate in Spanish is "political correctness run amok," according to some conservatives.
"If a fireman or a policeman or someone happens to speak the language and can help someone, more power to them," said Jim Boulet, Jr., the executive director of English First, an organization dedicated to making English the official language of the U.S.

"But [speaking Spanish] is a courtesy, it's not a legally enforceable right," Boulet said.

However, according to Dr. Sam Slick, president and CEO of Command Spanish, Inc., "the country's largest provider of occupational Spanish training," teaching emergency responders to communicate in Spanish fills a "very important need."

According to Slick, the United States has millions of either Spanish-only speakers or those that are "limited English proficient," which he defined as "primarily Spanish speakers with a very small amount of English."

"How do you attend to those needs in any kind of conceivable way?" Slick asked.

Command Spanish offers clients, including "many local, state, federal and private agencies" a curriculum that is "workplace specific," Slick said.

"We teach firefighters how to control fires and crowds and save people's lives at a fire scene, but we don't teach them fruits and vegetables," Slick said. "We don't teach them how to arrest people, because firemen don't arrest people. We teach them only what they need to know."

In some cases, Slick said it's mandatory for emergency responders to learn Spanish.

For example, Slick said, the State of Texas mandates that its police officers learn to communicate in Spanish as a requirement for their intermediate police certification. Command Spanish offers customized Spanish courses to both the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and the Texas Probation Academy for an undisclosed fee.

"It generates an awful lot of money," Slick said of Command Spanish's local, state and federal government contracts.

Records Closed

When asked just how much money Command Spanish earns from its government-funded contracts, Slick said "those records are closed," assuring CNSNews.com that "It's a very lucrative business."

"Some of the money being spent for all of this mandatory translation would buy a ton of English classes," English First's Boulet said. "The government is sending the message, 'If you come to America, don't bother to learn the language. We'll tell you everything you need to know.'"

Russ Bergeron, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, explained that there is "no law which requires an individual - even if they do acquire a functional ability to read, write and speak the English language - there's no law that requires them to use English.

"In terms of our people having to have an ability to speak Spanish, I think the need for that is obvious," Bergeron said. "If you can't speak their language, then obviously it becomes very problematic from a law enforcement standpoint."

Roy Beck, the executive director of Numbers USA, a public policy group in Washington that studies the annual numbers of legal and illegal immigration, wants to know why only the Spanish-speaking immigrants get this "extra consideration" from the police and firefighters.

"In every city, there are dozens of immigrant languages being spoken. In some cities we're talking about 120-140 languages," Beck said. "All these other people are being really ripped-off."

Tim Richardson, a senior legislative liaison with the National Fraternal Order of Police, said the current preference for Spanish stems from the fact that it's the second most spoken language in the United States.

"In general, I think [learning Spanish] is going to make the officer a more valuable person to his community, so it's a good thing," Richardson said.

But Richardson said local and city police departments should be cautious when considering mandatory Spanish courses, especially if the order is coming down from the federal level.

Richardson has no objection to such a mandate if "it's a decision reached by the state and funded and the officer is not forced to buy his own Spanish lessons.

"You're, in a sense, arming that officer with that tool," Richardson said of teaching police officers Spanish.

Richardson said police departments should first determine their personnel and equipment needs before spending money to train several or all officers in a second language.

"I think it's probably, in many cases, unrealistic to expect every officer to be bilingual," Richardson said.
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #35  
Re: Cops, Firefighters Forced to Learn Spanish

One of the biggest quandries I face in life is why do we have to categorize people at all. You are either an American or your not. By that I mean if you are a US Citizen you are an American.

We don't need term or label XYZ-American etc. We need to focus on a single united society, not fragments of many societys.

I cannot correct the injustice or cruelty of centuries past, or fix the ones last week. But I have noticed a trend towards reverse discrimination by the very groups who claim they are being discriminated against.

You are either qualified or not for the job, you either have the grades to attend college or you goto a community college, get your grades up and transfer or you don't.

I recall my days in college. I attended a Community College, worked 40hours a week, finished and attended a 4yr college but left in disgust of the administration (SUNY Campus). I knew a girl you had flunked out three (3) semesters in a row. Each semester she wrote a letter to the dean of students and was allowed to stay. I left college, got a job and have worked hard ever since. That student most likely flunked out for good. Don't kow, just remember the special treatment she got because of the race, gender and where she moved from (NYC).

So if we just make everyone American (learn english) then we won't have to keep making rules, excuses and ways to move someone ahead without merrit.
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #36  
Re: Cops, Firefighters Forced to Learn Spanish

Right on brother! ...one nation... What better way to have one nation, what better way to unify a nation than to have a common language so we can communicate and cut down the barriers that artificially separate us.

It is human nature to assume that in the presence of folks talking a language that you don't understand and especially if they laugh a bit, that they are talking about you and not complementarily. This sort of thing runs deep in our subconscious.

I have no real problem with folks bringing their cultural heritage with them as long as it is legal in this country. BUT coming to this country and demanding to remain apart, an enclave of the "old country" with its language, custom, and practices, although legal, seems to reveal a certain atitude or mindset of wanting to reap the benefits and protections of this country without actually being a part of it. Folks flee danger, poverty, etc for good cause but are they really desirous of being Americans or just looking for a safer or easier environment to be whatever they were?

Why must our efforts be polarized like an on off switch. Why must we choose making everyone bilingual (why not trilingual or jilion lingual) versus teaching everyone ENGLISH. Any bilingual energency services programs should be stop gap with the major thrust being teaching everyone in the country English. We need both. One is a needed bandaid and the other a long term cure.

I am old enough to recall Negro as a polite term (still think it is). I was raised to think that calling someone black was demeaning them because of the color of their skin and was insulting. Now I have to call folks black to avoid being thought abusive. I really do not like the hyphenated nationality identifiers. I can see why Harv likes to use them and that is fine for Harv but I don't like to emphasize differences that are not under the control of the folks being named.

I will refrain from quoting my sometimes hero MLK Jr. but I will mention that my Mississippi and Alabama relatives were just slightly removed from slave holders and were yellow dog democrats (would vote for a yellow dog if it were on the democrat ticket). I truly loved my paternal grandmother, a staunch democrat (yellow dog variety) and strangly enough was a super avid fan of the NY Yankees (all other yankees were damnyankees- one word) I cannot recall a single time that she ever refered to a "black person" as any thing but a ******. Entrenched racism taught as family values is a bad thing but is changing. I recall the rural deep south pre-MLK and no one can convice me things haven't improved mightily.

Reverse discrimination and entitlements should be phased out as rapidly as possible. They serve to foster racisim and create new generations of victims.

American indian does NOT equal the ONLY early people of the continent. One of the bigest myths is the noble savage as original conservationist, caretaker of the land, living in harmony with nature, steward of the natural bounty etc....NOT. Disney script, not reality. European settlers (including some of my ancestors) did them (some of my other ancestors) poorly on many occasions but there ought to be a statute of limitations on reparations. At some point everyone needs to get on with the future. There should be a national convention attended by elected tribal reps to press any claims and get it over with. After which, BIA could be disbanded and yet another artificially maintained group of second class citizen welfare cases could be assimilated.

We need to get shed of the VICTIM mentality and reinstitute meritocracy. A kinder gentler form of "no work no eat."

Harv, I have serious reservations about methods and goals of liberals but do not dissagree with everything espoused. Well, I have reservations about methods and many goals of conservatives but find personal responsibility considerations and fair play and even handedness do tend to drive me toward the conservative camp. The paternalism and do as I say not as I do THING drives me away from most major practicing ideologs of the liberal persuasion. The general attitude of "we know what is best for you" but don't want it to apply to us leader types leaves me a bit cold.

Ahh, cops and firefighters... additional languages. Sue the cop or fire fighter because the new arrival didn't understand English and the cop/firefighter didn't understand Urdu or Swahili, or Gaelic. Sure, why not a wrongful death suit because the cop didn't say halt in 140 languages before returning fire.

Patrick
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #37  
Re: Being Caucasian Isn\'t Worth The Risk.

Its too bad that it takes adverse conditions for people to see themselves as equals. I bet our fellow Americans that served in Afganistan, Bosnia, Granada, Panama, Viet Nam, or any persuit of freedom regard themselves as equals. I other words, I bet the white guy with the shot off leg calls the black guy that pulled him to safety American, not the N word.
 
   / Being Caucasian Isn't Worth The Risk. #38  
Re: Being Caucasian Isn\'t Worth The Risk.

quit complaining marrt, how would you like to be identified all your life by a variety of swiss cheese ..... Emmenthaler ... which i hate .... i really like Gruyere.

happy tractori
 

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