Major Media Perpetuates Blind Patriotism And Narrow Nationalism
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Not only is the Letter to the Editor below historically inaccurate, but in some ways it is also disrespectful and offensive. The article is dangerous in the sense that it represents the type of blatant misinformation,which serves to feed ignorance, blind patriotism, and narrow, white nationalism, which in turn, often underlies conscious or unconscious white supremacist thought and belief systems.
Letters to the Editor
(May 5, 2006) —
English language binds us together
Virtually all Americans have ancestors who came to this country for a better life. And they learned English because that's the language America speaks. My Italian grandparents never complained about this. They expected to learn a new language for the privilege of becoming Americans. They knew that language was the main tool that brings different cultures together. America wasn't going to change for them; they were going to change to become Americans.
FRANK PAOLO
ROCHESTER
Copyright © 2006, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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As evidenced by publication of nonsensical articles such as the one above --- the Democrat and Chronicle continues to engage in total disregard and/or apparent disrespect relative to scholarship and historical accuracy. As it relates to accuracy, the article is so distorted that (in my view) any credible publication would either not publish it, or at least probably consider attaching some sort of disclaimer.
It is not a matter or question of whether someone has a right to publish this type of wildly inaccurate "information," but rather an issue of scholarship and journalistic integrity, or the lack thereof.
The first sentence of the article is utterly ridiculous. It certainly does not take into account the people who have been dubbed as the first "Americans" or Native "Americans." Nor does it give consideration to the millions upon millions of displaced Africans who were kidnapped and hauled off to this super-racist, super-imperialistic, European creation called America (definitely not for the sake of having "a better life"), but instead to be enslaved in quest of super-profits, and subjected to some of the worst life-styles in the history of human kind.
Also, from Mexico to the tip of South America, and in significant portions of the most northern parts of America --- "English [is not] the language America speaks."
Unlike the writer’s Italian grandparents, since my African grandparents were conscious of the historical reality reference above --- they did not consider it as being a "privilege" to "become Americans." In fact, they saw it more as a curse than a so-called privilege.
