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Is it racist to ask for immigrants to speak English?

Is it racist to ask immigrants to speak English?


  • Total voters
    118
It depends on the circumstances I suppose. If they do not speak one of the languages I speak, they will not understand me and I will not understand them. If it is a restaurant where you want them to speak English to fit in, it is wrong. There are two Mexican families on my street. When they moved in, everybody thought "There goes the neighborhood". Not all of them speak English but they are trying and they are the best neighbors on the street IMHO. Even their guests will knock on the door to ask if it is okay to park in front of my house on the street. Very respectful even though I have no control over the street. Their kids are super-friendly and go up and converse with the elderly widows/widowers who like having them around. It is just a matter of getting over the stereotypes we have of them. Language is a tool, not an identity.
 
As a side question, should companies that do business in America make sure that their customer service representatives and call center employees can effectively communicate with their English speaking customers in the United States?

Here we go.

Of course they should. But many times their call center is farm out to India or elsewhere and while their reps seem to be fluent in English they don't communicate it well.

If you're unhappy, let the company know. It's the only way it will be fixed.
 
It depends on the circumstances I suppose. If they do not speak one of the languages I speak, they will not understand me and I will not understand them. If it is a restaurant where you want them to speak English to fit in, it is wrong. There are two Mexican families on my street. When they moved in, everybody thought "There goes the neighborhood". Not all of them speak English but they are trying and they are the best neighbors on the street IMHO. Even their guests will knock on the door to ask if it is okay to park in front of my house on the street. Very respectful even though I have no control over the street. Their kids are super-friendly and go up and converse with the elderly widows/widowers who like having them around. It is just a matter of getting over the stereotypes we have of them. Language is a tool, not an identity.

Tell that to the French.
 
I think it's funny the OP used the term "racist", is it racist if the person is a Frenchman speaking French?

What he probably meant was asians and mexicans speaking to him in public.

This poll is a floater.

Well I once had to try to speak to a Haitian woman who only spoke Haitian French (aka Creole).
Now I knew some French but for the love of, I couldn't communicate with that woman for ****.
 
Well I once had to try to speak to a Haitian woman who only spoke Haitian French (aka Creole).
Now I knew some French but for the love of, I couldn't communicate with that woman for ****.

My wife and I travel abroad, and we're *this close* to becoming those lame white tourists who only travel to English speaking countries because going to countries that speak no English at all is such a fantastic pain in the ass.
 
I don't like it when I go to the store and the person working can barely speak two words of English, and they can't understand you, and you can't understand them. It takes like 10 minutes to order something or to pay for something that would normally take 2 minutes. That is so annoying!
 
My wife and I travel abroad, and we're *this close* to becoming those lame white tourists who only travel to English speaking countries because going to countries that speak no English at all is such a fantastic pain in the ass.

I hear you on that.
I hate to be the rude and obvious American that butchers another country's language.

I've got a some what crappy working knowledge of most of the prime European languages.
It's just that I almost never get to practice it, so it sucks.
 
I don't like it when I go to the store and the person working can barely speak two words of English, and they can't understand you, and you can't understand them. It takes like 10 minutes to order something or to pay for something that would normally take 2 minutes. That is so annoying!

I think it's bad management to hire someone who can't communicate with your customer base. What was the hirer thinking?
 
I don't know if it's racist. It's pointless, small-minded and entirely unrealistic.
I'm with you. I wish we all could speak different languages. That way we'd be forced to become multi-lingual.
 
I hear you on that.
I hate to be the rude and obvious American that butchers another country's language.

Oh, nothing wrong with butchering another country's language. Trust me: they know you're not from around there. But not even trying to speak their language? That's bad.
 
I think it's bad management to hire someone who can't communicate with your customer base. What was the hirer thinking?

Go to any convenience store in or around Boston. It's not just Spanish either. There are Indians, Asians, etc. Try to buy something from behind the counter - :roll: But Massachusetts is a "sanctuary" state, so what would you expect?
 
I'm with you. I wish we all could speak different languages. That way we'd be forced to become multi-lingual.

Yeah that would be great. Then none of us could understand each other. Nice.

I find this kind of thing to be especially dangerous on job sites, like construction job sites too. Communication is very important.
 
Tell that to the French.

That is one of the languages I can allegedly speak. I can read it well and write it okay, but getting my southern tongue to spit out words Frenchy can understand is a different story LOL.
 
Oh, nothing wrong with butchering another country's language. Trust me: they know you're not from around there. But not even trying to speak their language? That's bad.

Things I've learned, working with non native English speakers is great, they seem to like it when you take an interest in their country/language.
One thing I like a lot about foreign born people.
 
Go to any convenience store in or around Boston. It's not just Spanish either. There are Indians, Asians, etc. Try to buy something from behind the counter - :roll: But Massachusetts is a "sanctuary" state, so what would you expect?

Yeah, that's just weird. The only way I can explain that is the clerks are members of the families who own the stores.
 
Yeah that would be great. Then none of us could understand each other. Nice.
Hey, it's diversity and tolerance rolled up in one. The ingredients necessary for an enlightened society.
 
Yeah, that's just weird. The only way I can explain that is the clerks are members of the families who own the stores.

Nope, in certain cities, it is ALL foreigners who, for the most part, speak VERY broken English. They figure it out eventually, but you have to point to what you want and they pick up the wrong things repeatedly. I could use Framingham (a suburb of Boston) is a good example with a HUGE Brazilian population. Nice people and rich culture, but it would be nice if some people put more effort into learning the language or at least being able to understand adequately for communication purposes.
 
Things I've learned, working with non native English speakers is great, they seem to like it when you take an interest in their country/language.
One thing I like a lot about foreign born people.

Fun fact: when I lived abroad and someone was hilariously rude to me, the most effective way to insult them was not just to pretend to not speak their language, but to be really really okay with not being able to speak their language.
 
Hey, it's diversity and tolerance rolled up in one. The ingredients necessary for an enlightened society.

It's a stupid idea that serves absolutely no purpose except to divide us up into tribe-like communities.
 
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