Gingrich calls Spanish the "language of the ghetto"

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich equated bilingual education Saturday with "the language of living in a ghetto"...

[...]

We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto," Gingrich said to cheers from the crowd of more than 100.

[...]

Peter Zamora, co-chair of the Washington-based Hispanic Education Coalition, which supports bilingual education, said, "The tone of his comments was very hateful. Spanish is spoken by many individuals who do not live in the ghetto."

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/N...mp;pageId=3.3.1

[missjones 0]

I am not even Hispanic, and I am offended. That is so ignorant. He doesn't speak spanish himself, eh? I will pray for his ignorance.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I am not even Hispanic, and I am offended. That is so ignorant. He doesn't speak spanish himself, eh? I will pray for his ignorance.

Yes, the remark is quite ignorant.

[mawilson 2,133]

What's true however is that if you don't speak English, you can't succeed in this country outside of the ghetto.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

That was pretty crass. Español es una lengua muy bonita.

[Nagishkaw 510]

I never did like salamanders .

[Hornet 2]

He should have changed "Ghetto" to "Barrio" LOL

This country would be better off economically if we taught CHINESE!!! At the rate the Chinese economy is growing. What do we export to Mexico??

I'm just sick of the preferential treatment given to Spanish!! I SHOULDN'T have to press one for English.

[peejay 327]

"The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. ... We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto."

Regardless of making such an insulting statement...the rest of the points mentioned are valid. Instead of the modern day pandering that has produced masses of immigrants that have little to no incentive to assimilate, we should return to what worked in the past. Which was to immerse them in English instead of accommodating and pandering to them to the point of ridiculousness in their language.

My grandparents arrived in America 97 years ago not speaking any English as many of the era did and they were not pandered to like the immigrants of today. The result...they learned English and my mom and aunts did too. There was no Russian bilingual education and they learned English anyway.

We spend millions on bilingual education and roughly half of Hispanics drop out of school. Something doesn't add up in that equation.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Hmm...I am an immigrant, and I had to learn English hardcore. What makes them special to have immersion? Nowadays, even in college, students cannot speak proper English.

An example, " He's like so handsome. And I was like...stunned......Me and you need to get a tanning. "

When I walk by these kids, I am amazed that they are college students.

[GaryC 7]

I saw this article earlier and I thought the "ghetto" comment was a poor choice of words also. Unfortunately his correct message will get lost because of this. There is nothing wrong with being bi-lingual as long as you are fluent in English. In fact there is an advantage in knowing more than one language. The idea of teaching in ones native language however, is going to hold someone back rather than being inclusive. Someone that does not speak English in America is at a disadvantage. It reduces their employment opportunities and subjects them to bias. I believe that the focus in our schools should be to bring non-english speaking students up to speed with English as quickly as possible. I will be dealing with this soon. Luz's son Robin can speak English but his skills are not up to speed yet. He will be at a disadvantage unless he gets better. I always want him to know and speak Tagalog but he must speak English first. I have sent him to an ESL school in PI and I will have him tutored some more when he gets here. It can only help him.

[Hornet 2]

I agree with you guys totally. Good posts

It's just polically correctness sucking up to the largest minority group! The irony is it's hurting them.

Lea's daughter is only 2 years old, but I want her to continue to learn Tagalog as she grows up.

It's not anti-spanish! It should just be fair for all non-english immigrants....

What would the Duke do??

[Scott & Lai 12]

I agree with you guys totally. Good posts

It's just polically correctness sucking up to the largest minority group! The irony is it's hurting them.

Lea's daughter is only 2 years old, but I want her to continue to learn Tagalog as she grows up.

It's not anti-spanish! It should just be fair for all non-english immigrants....

What would the Duke do??

I wonder if they have to press "uno" for Spanish in Mexico....

[Scott & Lai 12]

Hmm...I am an immigrant, and I had to learn English hardcore. What makes them special to have immersion? Nowadays, even in college, students cannot speak proper English.

An example, " He's like so handsome. And I was like...stunned......Me and you need to get a tanning. "

When I walk by these kids, I am amazed that they are college students.

It's worse than that....using an actual descriptive word like "stunned" would be an improvement. Often you get, "I was like....," followed by an attempt to pantomime the intended emotion

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Hebrew is the language of the ghetto.

[mawilson 2,133]

Hebrew is the language of the ghetto.

Nope - that would be Yiddish.