Do you remember the case of the restaurant owner in Philadelphia who posted a sign by his service window that said: "This is America, when ordering speak English". (Some say it says Please before the words speak English, but when I look at the pics I have seen I do not see that word - not that it matters to me).
Well, as I just discovered over at Michelle Malkin's site here, the case is coming to a head and Mr. Vento is being tried by the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission. I am aghast at the prospect that the unifying force within our borders, the English language, also seems to be on trial as being discriminatory against people and their civil rights. How can the city which houses the Declaration of Independence (our founding document written in English), and from whose towers rang the Liberty Bell, and wherein whose halls were many meetings of the Continental Congress (all held in English mind you), how can said city be against one of our citizens requesting, even demanding, that his customers speak English?
I decided to put finger to keypad, and I wrote a letter to the above mentioned commission voicing my displeasure that they would even consider this case let alone bring it against Mr. Vento. My letter follows, and after reading it I urge you to do likewise. Should Mr. Vento be found guilty of violating any one's civil rights, should he be required to remove that sign, should the English language in this country be diminished by the city of Philadelphia, then I would urge you to boycott Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania.
"Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations
34 South 11th Street, 6th Floor
Philadelphia PA 19107
Dear Sirs and Madams,
As a United States citizen by birth, but with ancestors on both sides of my family who were immigrants, and with my wife being an immigrant and naturalized citizen of this great nation, I am incensed that you are seriously considering the case against Mr. Vento regarding the speak English sign posted at Geno’s Steaks (restaurant). To say that asking customers to speak English when ordering is discriminatory is reprehensible. It is not discriminatory, but rather it is unifying with regard to our culture. When Mr. Vento or anyone else asks an immigrant to speak English, it is in fact asking that person to assimilate into the culture of the United States of America which has been, and remains, a primarily English speaking republic. For people to complain about being asked to, or being required to, learn how to speak English in this country is unpatriotically outrageous and it is racist and discriminatory on their behalf, and not on the part of Mr. Vento. When my great-grandparents told me of how they immigrated to the USA, they also told me how they learned English once they arrived. They said it was tough, but they were extremely proud of the fact that they learned how to do so, and that they then went on to pass the citizenship test and become United States citizens. For any immigrant to this country to do otherwise would show them to be divisive, and prejudice against our culture here in America. It would also be disgraceful because it would be counter-productive to assimilation, and simply un-American.
Any decision by you saying that Mr. Vento’s request to have his customers speak English was wrong, or was discriminatory in violation of the law, would be blatantly un-American. It would also show that you are promoting separation/division of the cultures in what was once the melting pot of the world. The one great unifying force within a country is not its politics, is not its laws, is not is religions, is not it citizens, is not its immigrants, but is definitively its language. Note I did not say its languages, as multiple languages only cause and lend to divisiveness among a nations peoples.
The government of the United States of America requires it workers to speak English, the government of the state of Pennsylvania requires likewise, and the government of the city of Philadelphia requires the same; yet somehow you seriously consider whether or not Mr. Vento asking his customers to do the same is a violation of people’s civil rights. It is his civil right to free speech at stake here. It is the right of a nation to expect its immigrants to assimilate that is at stake here, it is the language, the culture, and the borders of the United States of America that are all at stake here should you decide against Mr. Vento.
I can assure you that should you decide against Mr. Vento, I will express myself by way of my first amendment right to free speech and I will discourage anyone from visiting your city and your state. I have visited Philadelphia and other parts of Pennsylvania many times throughout my lifetime (and spent lots of money there), and had planned on doing so in the future. However, if your city becomes one that is geared at ignoring the duty of each and every immigrant to learn that language, and therefore if your city is geared at destroying the unifying force within our borders, I will rally myself and as many others as will heed the call against you, your city, and your state with all I can muster under the laws of our great nation.
With all due respect,
Glenn R. Bartley"
You too can contact the commission at the following:
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations
The Philadelphia Fair Housing Commission
The Curtis Center
601 Walnut Street, Suite 300 South
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: 215-686-4670
TTY: 215-686-3238
Fax: 215-686-4684
E-mail: faqpchr@phila.gov
All the best,
Glenn B
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