Obama’s position on Spanish language not as bad as Bush’s

Carol Iannone writes:

Regarding Obama’s statement that English speakers should learn Spanish, I actually find that less offensive than what candidate George W. Bush said in August 2000 at a campaign event in Miami. I have cited this before but it is apropos of this issue once again. Bush said:

We are now one of the largest Spanish-speaking nations in the world. We’re a major source of Latin music, journalism and culture.

Just go to Miami, or San Antonio, Los Angeles, Chicago or West New York, New Jersey … and close your eyes and listen. You could just as easily be in Santo Domingo or Santiago, or San Miguel de Allende.

For years our nation has debated this change—some have praised it and others have resented it. By nominating me, my party has made a choice to welcome the new America.

Obama actually did say that immigrants should learn English and, yes, he also told English speakers that they should learn Spanish and other languages, but that advice could be seen as being in the interest of uniting us as a people and expanding our capacities. George Bush on the other hand asserted that we now have large enclaves in America that are culturally and linguistically Spanish and entirely separate from the mainstream, and that that’s the way it’s going to be, the debate is closed, so just get used to it. (And he still barely won Florida.) I’ve often wondered which speechwriter worked on that Miami speech.

LA writes:

Here is the full text of the Bush speech, given August 27, 2000 in Miami, in which he said, among other things:

I have a vision for our two countries. The United States is destined to have a “special relationship” with Mexico, as clear and strong as we have had with Canada and Great Britain. Historically, we have had no closer friends and allies. And with Canada, our partner in NATO and NAFTA, we share, not just a border, but a bond of good will. Our ties of history and heritage with Mexico are just as deep.

Here is my article about that speech, “My Bush Epiphany,” published at WorldNetDaily in September 2000.

And here, showing the continued relevance of the speech, is a Free Republic discussion from July 8, 2008, about the arrest of an illegal alien from Mexico for molesting an eight-year old girl, in which a commenter quotes the same passage from the speech that Miss Iannone quoted.

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Stephen T. writes:

I have felt all along that Obama’s attitude toward illegal immigration, unacceptable as it is, is at least noticeably lacking the trembling lips, brushing-away-tears, phony romanticism which Bush exhibits toward Mestizo Mexicans solely (he couldn’t care less about the fate of an illegal alien from eastern Europe) and which McCain is attempting, so awkwardly, to imitate.

It makes sense: You normally see that attitude mainly in wealthy, baby-boomer Anglo males, who have never done a lick of low-paying manual labor in their lives (and thus have an idealized view of it,) yet have greatly personally profited by having it done by others—obediently, uncomplainingly, at third-world wages.

As an aside: I wonder if you have a hunch about how the Spanish language press both here and in Mexico covered this story: A passing mention of Obama’s brief, almost brush-off aside that immigrants “should” learn English (if they feel like it) … or trumpeting announcements (“Victoria!”) that the likely next president of the United States is now emphatically advocating that the parents of America “must make sure” their children adopt the language of Mexico?

Any guess?

LA replies:

No idea. It will be interesting to see.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 11, 2008 08:05 AM | Send