I Speak Spanish Because This Is America

We can speak whatever we want, that’s the whole point!

Image courtesy of Walter Rhein

The problem with social media is that people give glimpses of themselves you’d prefer not to see. It’s like living next to a neighbor who has a bay window in his bathroom and no curtains.

Not a pretty sight.

The other problem with social media is that people are careless, they post things that have inadvertent, long-reaching consequences that they haven’t considered. But when you call them out on these things, they are more likely to defend themselves than back down.

Hostility directed against non-English speakers

The other day a friend of mine posted a block of text written by some nameless armchair philosopher (probably in Russia) that had the line “This is America, we speak English, don’t speak…” and then it went through a list of other languages.

Usually the best strategy for social media is to read something until you encounter a point you disagree with, and then stop reading to address that point. There’s nothing to be gained from building a castle on a foundation of broken glass.

Now, one of the things I like to do is speak Spanish in public. I do it because it is completely legal, totally…