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.
How so?...........I consider myself to be an American, first and foremost. Don't you?
I guess I should have ladled the sarcasm on a little thicker. Believe me I'm on your side.
Yes - I'm not getting the sarcasm even after re-reading, but I do apologize for misunderstanding
"Measures of great temper are necessary with the Germans," Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1753. "Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant, stupid sort of their own nation, and . . . 'tis almost impossible to remove any prejudices they entertain. . . . Few of their children in the country learn English . . . and of the six printing houses in the province, two are entirely German, two half-German, half-English. . . . Advertisements intended to be general are now printed in Dutch [i.e., Deutsch] and English; the signs in our streets have inscriptions in both languages, and in some places only German. They begin of late to make all their . . . legal writings in their own language, which . . . are allowed in our courts, where the German business so increases that there is continual need of interpreters."
"Stop the flow of Germans into Pennsylvania, Franklin warned, or "they will soon so outnumber us, that . . . we will not in my opinion be able to preserve our language, and even our government will become precarious."
I guess you turned out OK...in spite of Ben's concerns about your great, great, great whatever's inability to assimilate.
BTW, was Oktoberfest celebrated here when the first German immigrants arrived?
Appealing to a pride in my ancestry won't win it for you.
You are attempting link people who feel that immigrants should learn our language with a feeling that all immigrants are unwelcome.
I'm not saying that. I don't have a problem with immigrants who want to come here, become Americans, and be a part of America.
It's not a case of, "because I don't like hispanic people who refuse to learn English, I therefore don't want any hispanic people here."
No, those who come here and get insulted because they are asked to blend in in a most reasonable should go home. They don't belong here.
Nobody is asking them to give up every shred of their former identity.
...and for you to equate a request for them to adopt the official tongue of their adopted country is racebaiting, Luis.
It appears Ben was wrong, wasn't he?
Now, about your friends walking out in protest........
...and for you to equate a request for them to adopt the official tongue of their adopted country with bigotry is racebaiting, Luis.
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
.....it does appear however that these folks have made plain what their intent is. Or isn't.
Or maybe it's easier to be a "Libertarian with anarchist tendencies" as your profile states. Take your open borders and multilingual idiocy and stuff it. Anarchists are by definition anti-government, so it's easy to understand your scorn for any policy that would unify the U.S. rather than fragment it. Anarchists could even be considered disloyal to established governments, and I think people should understand where you're coming from here.
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