Tonight's issue came to my attention due to the controversy stirred up in Australia over these two t-shirts:
The t-shirts, particularly the one that says "we eat meat, we drink beer and we speak f**kin English," have been branded as "racist," as reported by the Herald Sun:
RACIST T-shirts on sale at the Queen Victoria Market are telling people from international backgrounds to "speak f-----' English''.
The shirts, which are on a stall close to shops selling stuffed koalas and boomerangs, have been branded ignorant by a multicultural group....
The discovery of the provocative shirts comes after the Federation of the Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia met sporting, religious and ethnic groups around the country last month to tackle racism nationwide.We frequently hear people refer to English-only policies as "racist," but I think that is a misnomer.
Queen Victoria Market spokeswoman Misti Dullard said the market was "investigating the appropriateness" of the T-shirts and other items sold by stall operators.
"We have noticed that recently there has been an increase in (those) types of T-shirts," Ms Dullard said.
The desire to maintain a nation's predominant language is not a racial classification. The French are not racist for wanting to maintain French as the nation's language, and that goes for just about any other country.
An English-only policy here would apply as equally to immigrant Swedes as it would to Argentinians. A black person from Britain would have no trouble complying while a Caucasian who grew up in Spain might have trouble. The American child of a Chinese immigrant would not have a problem, while the parent may -- yet they are of the same race.
Applying the term "racist" is simply a means of preventing a rational conversation on whether an English-speaking nation has the same rights as other nations to maintain the predominant, and in many cases unifying, language. I say Oui!
Indeed, I'm wondering why the t-shirt is not under attack for being anti-vegetarian, since it also demands that people eat meat.
As we know, hatred of vegetarians is a growing problem (even the vegans hate them). Godwin must be turning over in his cabbage patch, because they're already comparing vegetarians to Hitler.
And while it is not acceptable to make fun of racial minorities, anti-vegetarian humor is out in the open:
First they came for the vegetarians ....
I demand that the Southern Poverty Law Center add the Anti-Vegetarian Society of Meat Eaters to its list of hate groups. Think how many donations it will bring in for SPLC from the vegetarians, and those who love them.
Now repeat after me, in English only:
We are all vegetarians now.Update: Thanks to reader Helen for this photo taken last August in Sheridan, Wyoming:
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the one thing I want to know is, do those shirts come in American as well :P ?
ReplyDeleteThink of the cognitive dissonance if such shirts were made of hemp and earth-friendly dyes!
ReplyDelete"We have noticed that recently there has been an increase in (those) types of T-shirts," Ms Dullard said.
ReplyDeleteFrom the wilfully clueless statement, as to cause and effect, to her name, a perfect encapsulation of the progressive mentality.
Ms. DULL-ard. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteI need one of those tee-shirts. And meat? The guy is right. Pigs would taste bad and cows would be faster. Vegetarian: Old Indian word for "Lousy Hunter".
I agree completely with the video. First it was vegetarians, then vegans, then gluten free, next was lactose intolerant. Who knows what will be next. They just want to suck all the joy out of life. If I'm at a banquet and someone serves me a meal with canned peas(I don't like 'em), I don't make a scene, I just don't eat the peas.
ReplyDeleteHey, vegetarians and vegans demonize omnivores all the time because we violate animals "civil rights" and start all the wars or something.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Hitler was a Veg certainly is worth pointing out because it belies the "all vegetarians are peaceful" meme. Also, George Bernard Shaw was a Veg, and even Stalin thought he was a jerk.
I disagree with this sentiment, Professor. As a Spanish speaking bilingual, I'm baffled by the English-only crowd. It's like they celebrate being ignorant. I don't get their silly tendency to "preserve language." Anyone who has taken the most basic linguistics class knows this is a waste of time. Language changes, it evolves. There will never be one perfect way of using language. Where do you think English came from? If our ancestors had the purist attitude that the English-only folks have today, we would've never had English, or any other modern language for that matter. The corruption and convolution of language is a beautiful thing and history has proven that.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I tend to see this whole English-only business as racial, because at times it really is racial. Like that time years ago I was having a private conversation in Spanish with a few colleagues and this older white lady angrily approached us to tell us, "This is America, speak English!" For some, it stems from this desire to preserve a type of ideal American (or ideal Australian in the case of those t-shirt chaps)... "someone who talks like me, who behaves like me." Language is an integral part of how we look at ourselves, and it just rubs me the wrong way when other folks want to impose their own identity onto others.
Live and let live, is what I say.
I do not care what language people speak in their private lives (or businesses). Their choice of language is up to them and their associates or customers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I firmly believe that all governmental communications should be in English. Voting guides and driver tests in foreign languages are particularly egregious illustrations of the insanity of multiculturalism.
So, when at the Department of Licensing, welfare office, or voting, speak f***ing English!
"Speak f***ing English, if you'll pardon my French"?
ReplyDeleteRandy, I disagree with your disagreement(now I'm confused!).
ReplyDeleteIt is one thing for language to grow and change. American English is fairly far removed from English English, as Cuban and Mexican Spanish increasingly do not resemble Spanish Spanish, and so on.
Indeed, even here in the good ol' USA, we can have trouble understanding each other. You get a Cajun talking with a New Yorker and the issue will be obvious. Nonetheless, we do have a common mode of communication.
Notice how "communicate" and "community" derive from the same root? If you cannot communicate, the community ceases to exist. Without a reasonably common language, there is no community, no nation, no country.
This is America, and we speak American here. I'm not "imposing my identity" on you in the slightest, but don't expect me to accomodate you simply because you refuse to learn the language and customs of the country you voluntarily came to.
If I want to speak your language, I'll go to your country. I'll be carrying a phrase book or some sort of translation device, and I will do my level best to respect your ways, for I am a guest in your home. All I ask is the same courtesy when you're in my house.
What's so 'racist' or 'ignorant' about expecting some manners?
Once upon a time, people agreed "When in Rome, do as the Romans." But since Rome collapsed about 1600 years ago, I guess it's now twice upon a time.
ReplyDeletePerverting language is what Progressives do: Killing an unborn human being is "choice." Defending traditional morals is "intolerance." Engaging in aberrant sexual behavior is "lifestyle," etc.
The most recent absurdity involves countering these obtuse Progressives with "What race is Muslim?"
It's all part of the Progressives' "Alinsky-ization" of society: "Pick the Target, Freeze It, Personalize It and Polarize It." Then destroy by any means necessary.
The BORG did the same thing (ha ha).
You will be assimilated Tees available soon.
I've been a vegetarian (not vegan) for almost 40 years. Wife longer than that. All three children vegetarians, all in highly responsible professions, to include national security.
ReplyDeleteI discourage people who inquire about becoming vegetarians. I don't say don't do it, I say it's far more than what you eat. It's a way of living that involves all five senses, not only taste. And it involves intellectual and spiritual outlook. It's a way of seeing, which means a way of life. And it's very difficult to change over from a flesh diet (which includes eggs). VERY difficult. It's akin to drug withdrawal. So I discourage inquiries and disparage trivial efforts.
Everyone in my orbit knows I am a vegetarian and almost none disparage me on that account. I hold considerable responsibility in one circle that is almost uniformly flesh-eating.
As some observe, accurately, recently minted vegetarians -- and most vegans, BTW -- are usually censorious of non-veggies, to the point of making the latter want to run from the former. Who likes a smug, judgmental personality? They don't like themselves even.
Vegetarian diet does not necessarily make one peaceable. Arjuna and his brothers were vegetarians. There are US Armed Forces members who are vegetarians, more than one might imagine, including in line units.
Vegetarian diet promotes, but does not make, one tend toward the calm, which is of great military and other advantage, BTW. It also, as is known, promotes freedom from toxic substances found in flesh. And it promotes compassion for all creatures, a phenomenon in short supply today.
That said, I discourage anyone from becoming vegetarian by pointing out its difficulty, akin to withdrawal from drugs, and its life-guiding effects. I also point out that the Rule of St. Benedict, which is the basis of Western Civilization, specifies a vegetarian diet with one exception, animal broth during illness.
And I condemn efforts by any politician or government agency to force a diet on anyone. That's un-American, Michelle, or whatever your name is, and I know you know it is.
And I condemn organizations and persons who use the pretense of serving animals to bully or terrorize for a political agenda, usually pro chaos.
Finally, the reason one does not eat cows is the same reason one does not eat one's mother. She and her mate raise us with their milk. One does not eat pigs because they are filthy and eat anything (i.e. indiscriminate). One does not eat fish because they are stupid. One does not eat birds (including their eggs) or wild animals because they are innocent. And one does not eat flesh generally because it is exciting and therefore unbalancing, burning merit.
Now, those are facts and should not be governmental or peer-pressure policies. Not eating flesh should be like not murdering unborn children and not engaging in behavior that is unproductive: neither legal nor illegal, just unthinkable.
Oh, come on, ck, give peas a chance.
ReplyDeleteAnd Professor Jacobson, you are a lawyer and should be expected to be able to understand the precise meaning of words. Of course these t-shirts are racist. "Racist" means "I disagree with something." If it ever had any other meaning that has long since been lost.
For example, Jane Austen used "wonderful" to mean "something to be wondered about," e.g. when she writes in "Northanger Abbey" that "it was wonderful that her friends should be so little elated by possession..." she doesn't mean "great," or "keen," she means something to wonder about.
Similarly, "racism" used to mean something like "treating people differently because of their skin color" or "ascribing certain abilities, talents, or opinions to someone because of that person's skin color." But doing so is now a hallmark of virtually every imaginable liberal social policy and liberals, as we know, are profoundly not racist.
There are many issues involved in those T-shirt statements. Do I agree with wearing such an item? Actually NO.
ReplyDeleteWhilst I would agree with the bilingual person above, I have to disagree with his statements for the following reason:
Australia was colonized by English speaking people in the initial phase. This made English the dominant language. Even the Aborigine have to learn English.
The requirement is speak English, even as a second language... it is not about English only.
On this last point I want to tell a story that involves a Polish migrant and his family who had come to Australia after the second world war. This man, a friend of my late father, would not allow his wife to speak English. It also meant confusion for their son, who would have to speak English at school and then converse in Polish in the home. This is something that goes both ways.
We have many migrants who have come to Australia without knowing English. Prior to the era of the Whitlam government all intending migrants had to pass a written or oral English test. When you think about it, by being able to speak the language of the country where you want to migrate makes a lot of sense. It helps most of all with integration.
I have many friends who have an Italian background. The children were usually the first to learn English and to act as interpreter for their parents. Ditto for the Greeks, French, Germans, Hungarians etc.
As a little side note, one of my great grandparents did not come from that English background. He came from Saxony in Germany, and this was in the 1800s.
The flag t-shirt could be just as pointed towards those who are insisting that once again we visit the perennial whining about wanting to change the flag. These are usual the pro-Republic anti-Monarchist crowd.
Those t-shirts are not against those who are bi-lingual but indicate the sentiment of those who feel that we are getting migrants who have no desire to integrate into our Australian society. Our main language is English and if you cannot speak English then it is difficult to become integrated into our society.