So said Raul Yzaguirre, the president of the National Council of La Raza until 2004.
Considering the man’s organization and its agenda, I guess no one should be surprised by what is (IMO anyway) a clearly racist statement.
What is suprising is that someone who thinks that way would be appointed as co chair of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Frankly, I’m more than suprised. I’m amazed. I had honestly thought Hillary would continue to trying to persuade people that she’s a moderate Democrat.
Silly me.
MORE: I thought I’d save readers a rebuttal of Mr. Yzaguirre’s comparison. (Do I really need to point out that languages are incapable of lynching people?)
“US English is to Hispanics as the Ku Klux Klan is to blacks.”
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3 responses to ““US English is to Hispanics as the Ku Klux Klan is to blacks.””
To be fair to Raul, he appears to have been referring to an organization, not the langauge itself.
It’s certainly fair to point that out, but it doesn’t make Yzaguirre’s comparison any more valid (or any less racist).
The organization’s board includes such noted “Klansmen” types as George Gilder, Nathan Glazer, two Hispanics (the organization’s Chairman Mauro E. Mujica plus Alex Olmedo) and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
http://www.us-english.org/foundation/about/advisory.asp
The group’s stated mission:
To help improve the teaching of English to immigrants, to allow them to enjoy the economic opportunities available in this country.
To study language policy and its effects around the world, so we can apply the lessons learned through the experiences of other countries to the United States.
To raise public awareness through the media about the importance of our common language
http://www.us-english.org/foundation/about/mission.asp
I think saying it’s like the Klan is despicable.
U.S. English was founded by S. I. Hiyakawa. (If you don’t know who he is, you’ve missed a couple of years of education. – Not “you=eric”, just “you=anybody.)