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DEAN'S LIST - 08/03/2008
(by Dean Naddeo - OpEd Columnist - August 06, 2008)
The death of the English language
For some time now, the Queen’s English has been enduring a hostile takeover, and evidence of its pending demise has clearly reached the readership area.
The primary assassin, of course, is the unofficial establishment of Spanish as America’s Alternate Language. True, the novelty shirts reading “Welcome to America, now speak English” have long faded, but the not so subtle indoctrination of the world’s second most popular language into our culture has succeeded in a visible and not revocable fashion.
Examples can be seen in places like the Verizon store in Butler, where patrons are greeted with a large banner reading “It’s the Network” with the Spanish translation, “Es la Compania” appearing prominently below the company’s popular tag line. Here, the racks and shelves are also laden with accessories and products that boldly list the product names in both English and Spanish. A quick glimpse at the stock of other area stores reveals that the Verizon store is certainly not unique, and is only a sample illustration.
Now, this would not be an issue if this were El Paso or Santa Fe where there are certainly enough Spanish speaking residents to argue the need for both idioms. But this is Butler, New Jersey, where only 5 percent of the population is Hispanic.
And this past June, local primary voters were directed by printed signs that mysteriously proclaimed “Vota Aqui” at the poll sites. Where were the signs translated into German, Italian, or Dutch, far more common as an ethnicity for this area?
So why must the entire nation be forced to accept Spanish as a second language? The bottom line is that traditional English is being attacked from too many angles to effectively defend itself.
On one hand, you have the multiculturalists and politically correct types actively encouraging various social groups to maintain their own language and customs in lieu of assimilation. On the other hand you have politicians on both sides of the aisle flagrantly pandering to the Hispanic vote in hopes of retaining, or gaining power. And a third hand is needed to identify the most influential force of all, the Almighty Dollar.
Unquestionably, capitalism is playing a colossal role in the engineering of Spanish into American society. Of course, there’s the whole argument about immigration and cheap labor, but that’s a discussion for a different day. The dialogue today centers around the fact that companies are simply using Spanish to sell their products. Advertising in Spanish allows the marketing people to effectively kill two birds with one stone: Prove your “diversity” to the whole world while simultaneously appealing to the nation’s largest minority.
This tactic must be highly successful, as most major corporations have already apparently signed on to the strategy. It is likely then that the Spanish language will continue its meteoric rise to prominence until eventually, all Americans will have been wholly conditioned into accepting it as an alternative tongue.
Hasta la vista, Ingles.
Columnist’s Note: Due to escalating career and family obligations, “Dean’s List” will now be published on the first Sunday of each month. Thank you for your continued support and feed back.
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