Congressman calls Miami a `Third World country'

[Scott & Lai 12]

If Miami is Third World, what does that make L.A. ...Fourth World??

I am from South FL and I have to say there's a lot more to it than Wil Smith's song about how great Miami is.

It is beautiful and the 'good' parts are lovely....but if you get lost and you don't know Spanish, you're in trouble.

I wonder...are there places in Mexico or Central/South America where if you get lost, and don't know English, you're in trouble?

[pedroh 21]

I am from South FL and I have to say there's a lot more to it than Wil Smith's song about how great Miami is.

It is beautiful and the 'good' parts are lovely....but if you get lost and you don't know Spanish, you're in trouble.

so are you saying all hispanics from those poor hoodz are dangerous? meaning all hispanics in general are dangerous and will do something bad to ya, especially if u dont speak spanish? aren't there any bilingual bully brownies?

Edited November 29, 2006 by pedroh

[Caladan 19]

Just because his lily white suburban heart races when he sees someone brown doesn't make it the third world. Tancredo's pretty much had his head up his a$s for a while now, though, and he lost his tinfoil hat somewhere up there. A while back he wanted to stop all legal immigration, too, because well, head, aS$, see previous.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I am from South FL and I have to say there's a lot more to it than Wil Smith's song about how great Miami is.

It is beautiful and the 'good' parts are lovely....but if you get lost and you don't know Spanish, you're in trouble.

so are you saying all hispanics from those poor hoodz are dangerous? meaning all hispanics in general are dangerous and will do something bad to ya, especially if u dont speak spanish? aren't there any bilingual bully brownies?

I think she meant that many rather crime-ridden areas in SFL are populated to a significant percentage by hispanics. Haven't been to Miami but judging from what what I see around here in Tampa, I would tend to agree. There are areas around here that I would hate to get lost in being a gringo that knows no Spanish. That does not mean that I think all hispanics are dangerous people. It would suck if I felt that way seeing that the majority of my staff and co-workers fall into that category.

[Fandango 1,440]

but if you get lost and you don't know Spanish, you're in trouble.

but does that make it a 3rd wold country? Around here, if you fall into a neighborhood that is primarily Spanish speaking, the best part are all the salsa clubs & live music.

Sorry, was remiss in not saying: no of course it doesn't make it '3rd world' but it does seem like it's another country sometimes. Billboards/signs in Spanish...no one speaks English. You're sat thinkin 'did I warp into another country or summat?'

There are many poor parts of Miami which are dangerous and look terrible...very poverty striken....not all of them are populated by only Hispanics, mind you...but no, not 3rd world.

Sorry I didn't clarify that in my first post

I am from South FL and I have to say there's a lot more to it than Wil Smith's song about how great Miami is.

It is beautiful and the 'good' parts are lovely....but if you get lost and you don't know Spanish, you're in trouble.

so are you saying all hispanics from those poor hoodz are dangerous? meaning all hispanics in general are dangerous and will do something bad to ya, especially if u dont speak spanish? aren't there any bilingual bully brownies?

My 'you're in trouble' comment was meant as 'you'll get lost/no one will help you/you might get mugged/etc' And in many parts, it's the God's honest truth. Nowhere did I say 'all' hispanics, but the sad fact is that some areas don't take too kindly to 'gringos'. I happen to look Hispanic (although I can only speak it like a gringo) but I have many Spanish friends who would 'pick up the slack' and carry conversations and whatnot.

I'm not trying to be confrontational, pedroh...I'm just relaying my experiences from my hometown.

Miami is beautiful, but just like with any big city it's big on crime as well. Anyone remember the tourists getting shot? If you were driving with a rental car you had to worry cos people were just being shot for no good reason other than they had a rental car.

I am from South FL and I have to say there's a lot more to it than Wil Smith's song about how great Miami is.

It is beautiful and the 'good' parts are lovely....but if you get lost and you don't know Spanish, you're in trouble.

so are you saying all hispanics from those poor hoodz are dangerous? meaning all hispanics in general are dangerous and will do something bad to ya, especially if u dont speak spanish? aren't there any bilingual bully brownies?

I think she meant that many rather crime-ridden areas in SFL are populated to a significant percentage by hispanics. Haven't been to Miami but judging from what what I see around here in Tampa, I would tend to agree. There are areas around here that I would hate to get lost in being a gringo that knows no Spanish. That does not mean that I think all hispanics are dangerous people. It would suck if I felt that way seeing that the majority of my staff and co-workers fall into that category.

Yep, exactly...thank you.

[pedroh 21]

it's cool.. I just don't like the negative connotation some politicians or some arseholes give to spanish as just a language poor uneducated hispanics use, rather than what spanish represents as a cultural expression and stuff..