In response to your #99
I repeat what I said earlier, "The inability to communicate with one another is what divides us".
United we Stand, Divided we Fall. I want every immigrant that comes to America to be proud to be an American. "Melting Pot" describes, to me, a conglomeration of many cultures who come together to be one.
You know, I'm trying to figure this out in my mind, I see "Chinatown" in San Francisco and love it. Am I racist? I certainly never thought so, I believe God made man in many colors and don't care what color a person is born under.
I think my resentment of speaking Spanish is because I have to "dial 2" for Spanish and the fact that I feel America should take immigrants from many countries and cultures around the world and we all together will make Americans. What we are getting from Mexico is not "immigration", it is "invasion" with the expectation that we must assimilate into their culture, not the other way around.
Not going to argue that some people move here with the expectation that the country should change for them. My grandmother got ticked off at my father for marrying an "American" as opposed to a "Russian." I think the first generation of immigrants clings to the old country much more than the kids do...
As for pressing "2" for Spanish...I think these types of business responses are for that first generation/wave of immigrants...the ones that have a hard time learning a new language...To me, it's no big deal.
If you go to an ATM in London, there are prompts in several languages...yet London and the UK are doing just fine (save a few Muslim malcontents, and earlier a few Irish malcontents).
In the end, immigrants to this country will assimilate. Why? Because here they will have a chance to succeed and take part in public life (and many of them will do just that).