Dems once again show how little they think of their constituents
Dems have, for decades, shown how little they think of the African-Americans who constitute their most loyal and reliable constitutents. In statement after statement, and policy after policy, they show that they believe African-Americans to be incapable of caring for themselves without government intervention; incapable of making educational strides without government intervention; incapable of functioning in the workplace without government intervention; indeed, even incapable of making the right political choices without the Dems on their sides (as evidenced by the Dem statements about defective African-Americans who choose to be Republicans). Now, having destroyed the blacks, the browns are in the Dems' sights as helpless people incapable of functioning without intensive government oversight.
Frankly, that's the only way I can explain Sen. Harry Reid's response to a Senate initiative to make English the "official" language in the United States: "This amendment is racist. I think it's directed basically to people who speak Spanish." (You can hear Reid's statement here.) The unspoken subtext in this statement is that Hispanics are too dense to learn English. Wow, is that an insult or what! All people, at all times in this history of spoken human-kind, have been capable of learning multiple languages except, apparently, the Spanish, whom Reid thinks just can't handle it.
At least one Senator — Sen. James Inhofe — saw through Reid's faux concern for the "poor Hispanics" among us:
When Mr. Inhofe took to the floor yesterday, he didn't address Mr. Reid over his charge of racism but did defend his proposal.
"I think it's an insult to Hispanics to say that we are not going to have English as the national language because you're not capable of operating and speaking and succeeding in a country like this," he said.
To their credit, eleven Democrats agreed with Inhofe, since they voted for the initative. However, the majority of Democrats, who did not vote for the initiative, should be reviled in the Hispanic community for having revealed their true feelings about the minorities they purport to represent: They want to keep them entrapped in ghettoes forever, perpetually barred by language from tasting the real fruits of American prosperity.
UPDATE: The audio link I inserted above comes courtesy of Webloggin. It's totally worth listening to. In addition to his "racist" remark, Reid rounds out his statement with a little narrative. In it, he describes his frustration, after being locked out of his hotel room, at dealing with a Hispanic maid who couldn't understand his plight, since she spoke no English. Riding to the rescue was Reid's son, who spoke Spanish. So clearly, Reid thinks true bilingualism — the ability to communicate well in English and another language — is a virtue. Even more significantly, the story illustrates his underlying belief that bilingualism is a skill that is, or should be, reserved to the white middle class. Otherwise, how can he explain why it's okay for his son to speak Spanish, but racist to urge that maid to speak English?
Reid's story, frankly, is one of the ugliest examples of the old "white man's burden" mentality that I've ever seen.
Talking to Technorati: Harry Reid, James Inhofe, Bilingualism, Multiculturalism, Racism, Hispanics, Official language