Subscribe"'The bottom line is that I didn't do anything wrong,' said Vento, 68, who maintained that the sign was a political statement....'This is America. When ordering, please speak English.'
The millionaire businessman said the commission's action was an attempt to infringe on his freedom of speech - he refused to remove the sign, and put a second one on the bumper of his orange Hummer. Some commentators and Web sites portrayed Vento as the heroic victim of an overreaching government's attempt to impose political correctness.'"
"Critics charged that Vento had put up the signs because an increasing number of Mexicans had moved into the neighborhood around the steak shop.
Vento said that he was disturbed only by 'illegals,' who were taking jobs from Americans.
Vento acknowledged that his grandparents were Italian immigrants, but said that the family was forced to learn English when they came here."
Among second-generation Hispanics, 92 percent speak English well or very well [...] English-only is the predominant pattern by the third generation. These children speak only English at home, making it highly unlikely they will be bilingual as adults. [...] The level of English monolingualism is lower among Hispanics, but, at 72 percent, it is still a clear majority. Sixty-eight percent of third-generation Cubans and 71 percent of third-generation Mexicans speak only English. Third-generation Dominicans are an exception, with just 44 percent monolingual in English at home.Let me say that again -- that's 92% of the second generation speaking English well, and 72% of the third generation speaking English only (among Latinos.)
posted by ob at 5:48 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]