Posted on 07/09/2002 10:43:24 AM PDT by Tancredo Fan
Singer's remark riles Hispanics -- Greeley debates 'English' comment
By Michael Riley
Denver Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 09, 2002
A country western singer who told his audience at the Greeley Independence Stampede that immigrants should learn to speak English ignited an emotional debate in a community that has seen an influx of Hispanics over the past decade.
Warner Brothers recording star Chad Brock said Monday that his comments were meant to express his "pride in being American." But Hispanic leaders said they were racist and the failure of Stampede organizers to condemn them shows the refusal to embrace newcomers.
Brock stepped on stage Friday to belt out hits like "Lighting Does the Work," but he salted his performance with some sharp opinions.
In a speech between sets, Brock said he was tired of having to adapt to the widening influence of the country's newcomers. "You are coming to our country. We don't speak Russian. We don't speak Spanish. We speak English here," Brock told an audience of 7,000, according to the Greeley Tribune. While many Hispanics in the audience walked out, people who attended the event said many non-Hispanics cheered.
Brock, a former pro wrestler, said Monday that the comments came out of an honest patriotic fervor, inspired in part by a recent court decision declaring the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.
"I'm not a racist. I wasn't directing the comments toward any particular group. I was speaking my mind as an American" during the Fourth of July holiday, Brock said.
"But I had no idea there were so many Hispanics in Greeley," he said. "I didn't mean to offend anybody."
Hispanic leaders said "offend" doesn't even begin to cover it.
"His comments were bigoted, inflammatory and hateful," said Roberto Cordova, a local college professor.
The issue goes deeper than Brock, said Jorge Amaya, director of the Northern Colorado Latino Chamber of Commerce. "The problem isn't what Brock said. The problem is that our community leaders didn't step up to condemn it."
At a news conference Monday, the Hispanic leaders demanded an apology from city officials, the event's corporate sponsors and Stampede organizers. They said this isn't the first time the Stampede has offended the city's growing Hispanic population.
Citing poor ticket sales, Stampede organizers last year canceled the fiesta section of the annual event.
Stampede marketing director Kyle Holman said organizers wanted to make the fiesta more inclusive and renamed it Family Night.
"Mr. Brock has the right of free speech just like every other American," Holman said. "But his opinion aren't necessarily the opinions of the Greeley Stampede."
But some here said they share Brock's sentiments.
According to census figures, Greeley's Hispanic population nearly doubled in the 1990s, as immigrants, many with limited English skills, took jobs in the region's meat packing plants and feedlots.
As the ethnic makeup of schools and neighborhoods shifts, some residents say they feel left out. Language has become both a divide and a flashpoint.
"If we're going to communicate, everybody needs to speak the same language," said Billie Messner, a patron at a local coffee shop.
Greeley City Manager Leonard Wiest said the city is working to accommodate newcomers.
Brock said Monday that while he's sorry if his comments offended anyone, he won't apologize.
"I had the guts to speak out, but I think a lot of people feel the same way," he said.
Most hispanophones (my word) would disagree. It's not your business what language they speak at home.
Do we have an INS or what? Does this agency serve a purpose, and if so, what is it?
Most of these "newcomers" are probably illegal. I find it hard to believe that so many could come in in such a short period of time legally.
So you agree that New Mexico rightly belongs to Mexico? And that we should turn it over ASAP, if not before?
Piffle ... we won it fair and square. And what parts of it we didn't win in battle, the Mexicans sold it to us.
According to some dirt bags, we are racists if we eat, sleep and breathe. To h*ll with em. Speak English, fly the American flag, and buy his music.
It is not unreasonable to expect people to speak a common language in commerce and government.
...and it's not their business what Brock says, either. The incessant sniveling coming from these so-called "Hispanic leaders" (aka illegal alien cheerleaders) is getting to be pretty annoying of late.
If they don't like hearing the truth, then they should keep right on going until they pass over the river Rio-Grande into the promised land.
This is the United States. The language is English. The English language has over 25,000 words. The Spanish language has something like 6-7,000. I don't see a reason why we should surrender our heritage in the interest of kissing immigrant ass.
Either adapt to our nation, or go back to the one that most closely resembles the one you wish to live in. Quit trying to make this into your nation, not our nation.
Which is it? Should New Mexico be a part of Mexico, or the United States? Make up your smarmy little mind.
The reason the United States has been a melting pot of cultures such as the world has never seen before is precisely because we all shared a common language. Destroy that, and in a hundred years the US will be more fractured and backward than the Balkans ever thought of being.
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