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Okay, SO! I can accept English being the official language of the United States, that's cool with me. However, there's two little issues that bother me a bit. First off, some people who push for English as the official language are cannot speak - let alone write in their own language. The woman in the picture above is just one example. The rest, I'm sure you've seen everywhere on the internet. I just think that, if you're going to campaign for your native language, shouldn't you at least know how to write properly?
Now, I know what you're thinking: "golly gee-whiz, NV, it's just grammar. It doesn't matter!" Oh, my naïve little friend... *pats you on the head* Hate to tell you this: but yes, it does. If you were writing an essay for class and you wrote the same way you write on the net, do you think you would receive a good grade on it? Or if you were writing a cover letter for a job and you decided to be lazy with spelling and grammar, do you think you'd get that job? The same goes for campaigning - especially if you're campaigning for the English language. You'll seem like an educated individual with a cause that you truly believe in, and worthy of respect. Instead of an idiot.
Speaking of idiot, this also ties to my next issue. These same clowns who cannot even write in their own native language seem to have the nerve to tell immigrants "learn to speak English or don't come here" anything along the lines like that. Now this one is more than just a little pet peeve for me. I can accept that English, being the language the majority of the people here speak, is important for everyone entering the country should take the time to learn; I realize that it's very important in order to survive.
But one thing these guys fail to realize one thing: some immigrants are naïve...but not stupid. Many come to America out of some sort of urgency. Whether to find work to support their family living in horrible conditions, and the pay is very, very shitty. So, they come here to take whatever they can get - most often jobs Americans don't want to do (tell me, do you want to scrub toilets and sell fruit on the roadside? This is going to be a rant I will get to in the future).
You know what's another urgent situation? When their life - literally - depends on it. Sometimes people flee their country because of war. Other times people who come from countries ruled by a dictatorship do need to get the fuck out of their country or be arrested - even executed. When your life and/or the life of your loved ones is in jeopardy, do you think anyone has the damn time to sit down and study English until they are fluent?? Hell no!
Honestly, when was the last time there was a war fought on American soil? Pretty freakin' long time, right? Therefore those of you born here have no clue what it's like to constantly fear for your and your family's life. You have never known, nor will ever know the need to escape to a - any country - not torn apart by war. Knowing that country's language can wait.
Now, on living with oppression...If you were born in this country, chances are the closest thing many of you will ever get to experiencing oppression is none other than: your parents. Oh, yeah, your parents were iron-fisted dictators alright...telling you to clean your room, do your homework, go to bed at a reasonable hour. This calls for a revolution...
And if you're a conservative Republican: Obama. *headdesk* Okay, sparky, tell me: does Obama tell you how to dress? Does he tell you what religion to believe in? Does he tell you what you can or can't say? Has he thrown you into jail for even criticizing him on your own little blogs? Does he?? Hmm?
Ask someone from Iran about oppression. I fucking dare you. Now. some of you might already know this, but I run a blog called Green With :N:V: - which is basically where I compile news links and other types of news from various sources as a way of showing my support for Iran's Green Movement. And everyday that I update it, I read about real oppression. Did you know that earlier this year a group of political prisoners were executed for standing up against this oppressive regime? They didn't inform the families or their lawyers. No one knew this occurred until after the execution, and the families were still not notified. They only managed to find out about the fate of their loved ones through the media.
This is a government that has literally given the okay to hurt - even kill anyone who protests. Say that you are someone living in Iran...you aren't normally politically active but you feel the need to stand up for your rights. They threaten you, but you refuse to give up. So what do they do? They go after your family. And I have read so many horrifying stories where this government has involved the families of political prisoners. One of the most heart breaking is when they attempted to pressure one political prisoner to cooperating with them by arresting his sister. Because of the torture she went though...she suffered a miscarriage.
When you know something like that is bound to happen to you and your family - who cares whether or not you know English? It's not just Iran too, but so many other countries are living through oppressive regimes. So cut people some slack, okay? You don't know their stories, you don't know why they're here. You just know that the fact that they speak a language you don't understand bothers you so much, because you're afraid someone is a "threat to national security" or whatever, when they're really just another law-abiding individual. If the fact that they don't know English bothers you do much, then why don't you try to find some way to help them out?
And another thing: if you think you're oh-so-American-as-apple-pie, guess what? Unless you're Native American, there's a chance your grandparents, great-granparents, great-great-grandparents, etc also came to this country without knowing a word of English. They just knew they needed to make a new life for their children, who made a life for their children, who also made a life for their children, who then made a life for you. Again, unless you're Native American, the only reason you're in this county in the first place is because a family member from a previous generation was...guess what?! An immigrant. And like I said, they probably didn't know English either unless they came from another English-speaking country. So when you look down on immigrants for not knowing English, you are also looking down on your own family.
Well, that about wraps it up for tonight, sleepiness is finally kicking in. Until next time, good night!
By the way, I realize that my own grammar isn't perfect either, but hey, I do actually put some effort into writing. But not bad, considering English isn't even my first language. But still better than certain groups of people. :)
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