English Only at Famous Philly Cheesesteak Joint.

[undergroundrailroad]

English Only at Famous Philly Cheesesteak Joint


June 9, 2006— As the debate rages on about whether the national anthem should be performed in languages other than English, there's no question about which language you should use to order your sandwich at one of Philadelphia's most famous cheese steak joints.

"This is America. When ordering speak in English," proclaims the sign at Geno's Steaks. Owner Joe Vento put up in the window of his shop six months ago.

"Your loyalty should be to America and America only," Vento said. "All I did was quote Theodore Roosevelt, 1907."

When immigration reached a record 1,285,000 that year, President Roosevelt said: "There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room but for one language here and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality; we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people."

In Philadelphia, 2006, Vento said he was referring to the growing Mexican population. There are approximately 20,000 Mexican immigrants in South Philly, and 4.5 percent of Philadelphians are Latino.

[Droopy]

1. I think I will take up Spanish

I'm a truck driver and I've spent some time down around our southern border. It could be said that if you don't speak Spanish down there you are at a disadvantage. I've heard white truckers on the CB speaking to Mexican drivers in Spanish. It is not uncommon for the total working force of a dock down in Laredo, Texas to be Spanish speaking immigrants. I've seen a white dock supervisor speaking in Spanish to his employees on more than one occasion. Not only would it be cool to learn a new language, but it might prove to be a good asset to my career if I would learn to speak Spanish.

[kwassa]

2. Much of the southwest USA was Mexico, first!

Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, parts of Colorado.

Their second language was Spanish, the first being the various indigenous languages of the area. English, a distant third.

The major cities in California are named in Spanish for the missions that preceded them. Mostly, the names of saints in Spanish. San Francisco, San Bernadino, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Fernando, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Rosa, Santa Clarita, San Jose, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, Santa Monica, and many more.

[fortyfeetunder]

3. Anglicizing California

What's the translation for California....?

Or starting with cities....
Saint Francis
The City of the Angels
Saint Ferdinand
Saint Diego
Saint Rose
Saint Claire(?)
Saint Joseph
Saint Clara
Saint Louis Obispo
Saint Monica

[bliss_eternal]

4. Is it just me, or does this incessant cry of "English only"

sound hateful? I don't like it at all. :mad::grr::mad:

I feel that people's ethnocentric tendencies are only going to leave them farther and farther behind. While they are yelling about English only, I'm going to brush up on my Spanish. I took it all through high school and enjoyed studying it as well as other languages. (I studied Spanish and French, wanted to take Latin but it wasn't offered).

Any business in this day that refuses to address our more diverse population and human landscape is merely hurting themselves. I wouldn't patronize this business if I was in Philadelphia... out of principle, and...well, and the fact that I'm not fond of Cheesesteak... :P