Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Pyrian, what I wrote it had nothing to do with languages. I commented on why this is an issue now. Your reading comprehension skills need work.
The best that can be said for protesting restrictive immigration policies by singing songs and chanting slogans in a foreign language is that it's counterproductive. Ditto for the signs and banners.
I am a regular and long-time Salon reader with a strong liberal learning who thinks the National Anthem should be sung in English and that it does matter. English is the language of the land, whether officially designated as such or not, and speaking it is the bare minimum that should be expected of those seeking to benefit from all this country has to offer.
The protesters have already lost the war if they can't make their case in English.
Pyrian, what I wrote it had nothing to do with languages.
It is the subject at hand, however. Perhaps you're in the wrong section.
I commented on why this is an issue now.
With a claim that is so patently absurd I've had to question your basic understanding of the English language.
Your reading comprehension skills need work.
The breakdown in communication is at your end. You could start by explaining what you meant by "blackmail".
I believe the United States should allow all foreigners in this country, provided they can speak our native language:
Apache.
Like most Americans, I am shocked! Shocked that evil people would sink so low in their attempt to destroy our fine country as rewriting our sacred national anthem. We need a law requiring that only the original lyrics may be used in public or private (all those bugged phones would help us enforce this law).
And, just in case people forget them, here are the original lyrics to that tune, written long before Francis Scott Key broke the law I hope we will soon have on the books:
To Anacreon in Heaven, where he sat in full glee,
A few sons of Harmony sent a petition,
That He their Inspirer and Patron would be;
When this answer arrived from the Jolly Old Grecian
"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute,
"no longer be mute,
"I'll lend you my Name and inspire you to boot,
"And, besides, I'll insruct you like me to entwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine."
Yes, it's true. Key stole the tune from an old English drinking song. See http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anacron2.html for details.
On a national stage, then yes it should be sung in English
Then someone should tell the Bushes and Cheneys, who seemed to enjoy hearing Jon Secada sing it in Spanish at the first inaugural (ThinkProgress has the goods on that one.)
Why is this an issue now? I'll tell you why: because the GOP is desperately trying to pander to its dwindling base of rednecks who are still pissed off about the Dubai Ports deal.
Only the words to our national anthem are an American product. The actual music was lifted from an old English drinking ditty called "To Anacreon in Heaven." If we're going to get worked up about something, shouldn't it be the fact that the tune of our national anthem is not our own? No? Or maybe it is better to continue on our "blame brown people" path and let history sort itself out?
I know it can get a little confusing, especially for places like Canada (where, Lord knows, if you get an English-speaking Canadian going on the topic of bilingualism, they won't stop until you cry mercy), but many countries actually have more than one official language. In some places, like India, a few languages are chosen as official state languages, and hundreds of other languages are "recognized". I don't think it's unreasonable to think that one day, we might have more than one official language in the US. First candidate is obviously Spanish.
Now, I'm a linguist, an a liberal one at that, but I do believe that people who move to a country should make an effort to speak the main or official language of that country, if only to help themselves and their economic prospects. When I lived abroad, I made a point to earnestly study the official language of my country of residence, even though most people could communicate with me in English if they wanted to, and I could have gotten by living with groups of ex-pat Americans. I thought it was respectful (and empowering, to say the least) to be able to communicate in Chinese, Japanese, or Spanish without consulting a phrase book.
That said, I don't think it would hurt our country to have more than one official language. It will happen, be it in 20, 50, or 100 years. And those wrinkled old white folks shrieking about cultural heritage and insulting our forefathers are going to look even more desperate and pathetic than they do now.
Brian: Ever hear of something called language change? It has to do with the gradual processes in which languages evolve. It's why you and I can't read Chaucer without translation, even though it's in the same language. It all boils down to this: languages are not pure, perfect things. They do not make us who we are. They change over centuries, and a few hundred years from now, English will have changed so much that our Bill of Rights will need to be updated and translated so that your descendants can read it.
Chew on that.
I got into this debate with a colleague at work who thought singing the anthem in Spanish was despicable.
Turns out the last time he sang it was at a Dodger game. And before that at a USC football game. I would safely bet that's essentially the only time most of us sing it. And next time you do, listen to your neighbor mangle or totally forget the English words.
This is a non-issue.
This whole thing reminds me that when some 25 years ago, French pop artist, Serge Gainsbourg, released a version of "La Marseillaise" on a reggae beat, the reaction among the French political class was exactly the same. Idem for polls. Listening to them, one would have thought that the end of civilization had been reached! Result after 25 years: zip! nada! and I doubt that anybody even remembers except spme olf foggies llike me (who enjoyed the twist Gainsbourg made on very bloody anthem)!
Cynical politicians love this kind of things; it allows then to look like they are on top of things, to take vigorous stances (at no political cost since everybody agrees anyway). It is a lot easier than to make actual decision on the business of running the nation!
Since Colbert has already commented on the Spanish language anthem last week, shouldn't that put the issue off limit to Frist and others? But I forget, reight wingrs do not have a good sense of irony!
When one thinks that Congress will be in session only 97 days this year and that it is willing to spend time on such nonsense, it shows how low our democracy has fallen.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
