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Ping!
I have mixed feelings on this. I applaud the young person for striving for excellence, but I have trouble with activities that reinforce a subgroup’s tendency to not adopt our country’s language and such.
This is a direct assault on our culture,by the language of failure.
How do you spell “multiculturalismo no funciona”?
It’s been over 160 years since Mexico ceded to the US what is new New Mexico. In many parts of the state, Spanish is still the first language and the state constitution requires official documents and voter ballots to be printed in both languages. NM is a minority Anglo state with Hispanics and Native Americans making up almost 56 percent of the population.
Now having said all that, there are many here whose Spanish heritage dates back several hundred years and are fully assimilated except for the last name. An interesting aside is that a friend’s wife is Hispanic and works in a bank. Many Spanish speaking (laborers, many illegal no doubt) cash their paychecks at a window with a teller having an Hispanic name. However, she is Americanized to the extent that when they speak Spanish to her, she doesn’t understand and they get angry and berate her.
The gap here between those who have been here for generations and those who have only recently jumped the fence is much greater than would be expected. Just like a century ago immigrant Irish were called “mics” and Italians “wops”, so it goes with the conflicts between old and new Hispanic cultures in New Mexico.
As far as the subject of the article, a Spanish spelling bee in New Mexico is of little importance given the state’s long bilingual history. However, it is of much more importance in other states where Spanish is encroaching on English as the primary language and events such as this do not aid in the goal of a single assimilated nation.
NM list PING! Click on the flag to go to the Free Republic New Mexico message page.
(The NM list is available on my FR homepage for anyone to use. Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
My congratulations to this young girl. Good job Evelyn.
The fun will start when a non-hispanic kid wins the contest one year.