Radiofree West Hartford -- The Crow's Nest by Tom Evers

THE CROW'S NEST

Even in West Hartford, cultural diversity has its limits

By Tom Evers

October 14, 2005

Although this past weekend was pretty much a washout, I took the opportunity to visit a local West Hartford Center café with a small group of friends. The topics were the usual with some additional whining about the Red Sox unfortunate exit from the post-season playoffs. Next to us sat a group of young ladies who were engaged in a lively chatting session that perked (pardon the pun) our interest. The discussion made for an interesting discussion around a cup of latte. (West Harford residents are too sophisticated to drink a simple cup of "coffee").

"Don't people need to speak English anymore?" cried one of the ladies. "I mean I asked her three times what flavors they had, and she just stared at me with a puzzled look on her face. Then she turned to someone and said something to them in Spanish."

"Yes, I know," replied her friend, "It's getting out of control. I had a similar experience at (local store name omitted here to protect the innocent), but in my case the person spoke Russian or something. You'd think that if you are going to be hired in a position to deal with customers, you'd think that the first requirement would be the ability to communicate properly with customers."

As I sat listening to this discussion, I thought about my own similar experiences and how we as a society tend to enable this kind of behavior. I have mixed feelings about all of this, some from a practical standpoint and some from a more human standpoint.

We don't know the background of these individuals, what hardships they may have endured to arrive here, or what circumstances surround they're hiring. For all we know, both of these individuals could be taking evening English classes at Conard High. On one hand, I'm happy to know that these people are working, or trying to be productive members of our society. It's hard to fault someone who tries to make a go of it.

On the other hand, we need to set up people for success. That means we need to be sensible and not put someone who doesn't speak English in a position where they would be fielding questions from impatient customers. This was the manager's failure for sticking someone not up to the task behind the counter. Notwithstanding, the customer had the right to be angry - although perhaps not with the Spanish lady - but at the store management for having poor judgment.

But there are also other considerations to take into account on this topic. Some of which deals with our manner of handling immigrants and those who apply for United States citizenship.

Over the years, and to its discredit, the federal government has lessened specific English language requirements for citizenship; including its testing of English fluency and comprehension. Today questions and answers can be flawlessly practiced, memorized, and rehearsed. No one is turned away. And as a result, everyone suffers, especially the new citizen.

West Hartford has been seeing a rise in Russian, Ukrainian, and Slavic immigrants, who have seemed to set up there own neighborhoods near parts of Farmington Avenue. School officials report that the immigrant children stick together, eat together, and do not mingle with those outside of their ethnic group. The group tends to be considered "troublesome" to the faculty and students because of their self-imposed segregation. Even some West Hartford Synagogue leaders have voiced complaints that those immigrants that claim to be of Jewish heritage don't understand anything about what it means to really be Jewish, act Jewish, and moreover - they don't want to learn. They want to do it their way. There is no commonality. There is no unity.

Much of what we are taking about in this essay is a lack of willingness of some immigrants to assimilate into American culture and society. Some would wrongfully argue that white folk are simply trying to squash diversity and pigeonhole everyone into one standard mold. But this simply isn't the case. In order for society to function properly, it must have a standard set of rules, a standard language, and predominate culture that everyone acknowledges as legitimate. Without this there would be chaos and no national identity. American needs to be more than a plot of land with a flag and a constitutional document.

Many first generation citizens will tell you that their parents intentionally refused to teach them their native tongue with the hope that they would learn English and not be tainted or handicapped by the culture and language of the "old country". They wanted their children to fit and conform into American society. Today, its seems many of the notions of new immigrants are exactly the opposite. But that is partially because we now reward such reluctance to assimilate into American society with cold hard cash, housing, food stamps, and a fairly decent life-style even if you're on government assistance. And in some cases, it might be easier to stay on the dole than to become a productive member of society.

Wal-Mart is notorious for putting non-English speaking persons in the front of the store to greet people. I once visited the Wal-Mart in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. I entered the store and asked the "greeter" where a product was kept; he responded to me in Spanish and starred blankly at me. I inquired again and got the same response. Quickly moving on, I asked another employee who was standing nearby, and got nearly an identical response. So I approached the manager in a quiet fashion and voiced my dissent. Instead of taking constructive criticism, he opted to stretch out his hands in the center of the store and make a big scene. He yelled, "You're saying that I shouldn't hire any of these Spanish people." Now naturally, this guy was an imbecile, who couldn't handle his position (neither could his boss as I found that he was of the same mindset), but it illustrates what is clearly a problem in our local area.

There used to be a time when learning English was required for success in our society. But it seems that with an abundance of micro-cultures that abound, people can work, collect unemployment, find food and clothing, and live a segregated life without learning one iota of English. And the pitiful cycle can continue over and over again for generations. In some areas, children are not exposed to any English at all, and live out there existence in the custody of immigrant parents, who insist on rearing their children in their own culture and language. And they do it proudly.

The end result is that these children grow up with a societal handicap where they can't escape and move to the next tier of economic achievement. They are eventually set for a meager existence and sometimes, a life of crime. And it's amazing to think that those people who worked tirelessly to squash out the notion of an English comprehension requirement for citizenship are also the same people who have worked for reduced sentences for minority and immigrant criminals. Do they see no correlation?

With the unchecked borders between Mexico and New Mexico, California, and Texas, the United States is suffering immensely from this kind of overpopulation of ignorant, migrant workers who do not legitimately fit into our society. One of the Bush Administration's most hideous errors is allowing illegal immigrants legitimate status. This action doesn't speak of compassion as much as it punishes those who have worked hard by rewarding those haven't, or worse - those that won't.

Unfortunately, the hope of some is that the Spanish population will explode and eventually English will become the minority language, and Spanish the majority language.

One additional point that will get me in trouble with some readers is that it appears true that over the short American experience, immigration has paved the way for improvements and added flavor to the American way of life. These are notable in architecture, food, fashion and many other facets of American life. But that seemed to be the case only when immigration was both 1) legal, and 2) European. Since Congress limited European immigration quotas, we have seen the rise in non-skilled workers from Latin and Spanish speaking countries and territories, and an increase in enrollment of these groups in welfare and government programs. The idea that immigration of this variety is good for America is a questionable notion at best.

The economic costs in all of this haven't been mentioned; aside from the truism that people on welfare are a burden to the tax system and overall economy goes without saying. But there are also other costs involved that impact business and government. These include the billions spent annually to multi-print everything in multiple languages, and supply mandatory multi-linguistic personnel for hundreds of positions in the name of diversity. Think about the incredible dollar savings, and rerouting of capital for productive purposes if English, our native American tongue, was a mandatory requirement for its citizens.

"Americas strength lies in its cultural diversity", say the proponents of liberal teaching. But the reality is that too much diversity is subverting our American society and putting us on a collision course with eventual disaster.

Until next time, I'm Tom Evers and I'm looking out for you!