Eatery's English-only sign raises ire

[tocqueville]

By Jon Hurdle
Fri Jun 9, 9:32 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A sign in a landmark Philadelphia restaurant asking customers to order in English is sparking controversy in the metropolis known as the "City of Brotherly Love."

The owner of Geno's Steaks said on Thursday that the sign, "This is America -- when ordering speak English," is intended to encourage immigrants to learn the language and assimilate into U.S. society, but one Latino activist said it's racist.

The controversy comes amid a national debate over immigration in the United States. The U.S. Senate passed an immigration bill last month that includes a provision which would make English the national language.

"They should be glad that I put the sign up. I'm trying to help them to speak English," said Joey Vento, 66, whose grandparents moved to the United States from Italy. "Without the English language, they are going to have a lot of problems in this country.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060609/od_nm/life_english_dc_1

[AnnieBW]

1. How Do You Say "Cheesesteak" In Spanish?

Much less "Cheez-Whiz"?

[Kutjara]

6. Bistecca con Queso?

Just a guess. :)

[petronius]

38. Why would anyone want to say Cheez-Whiz in any language?

:shrug:

That stuff is nauseating... (IMO, of course)

[Flubadubya]

2. Wonder what Joey Vento would say if his grandparents....

had been forced to face his kind of bullshit after they had just come from Italy? What would he think if someone had refused to serve them if they only spoke Italian?

Get a clue Mr. Vento... we're a nation of immigrants, like your predecessors. Idiot! :dunce:

[pinto]

3. The guy can do what he wants w/his business. This is petty

pandering from the media. Freedom fries were such a great story, dig this! I'd ignore the whole thing.

[theguvnorgc]

26. Fries

I never had any Freedom Fries. Were they any good?

[proud2BlibKansan]

34. Wrong crowd to be asking that question of

LOL

Welcome to DU :hi:

[kiahzero]

4. Ha!

Gotta love the rationalization: "I'm just trying to educate them!"

* The sign's apparently in English - if you don't know English yet, how the hell are you going to read the sign telling you?
* As a corollary to this first point, the people who can speak English will see the sign, and get a different message entirely - if you don't speak English you're inferior and not worthy of serving.
* It's a pretty obvious statement that learning English will help you out in an English-speaking country, not some great bit of insight that needs to be imparted upon people.

[Mandate My Ass]

5. The sign is macho posturing. He doesn't want to "help" anybody.

If someone can't speak english, it's almost certain they can't read it either. He's signalling his racism to the community.

I live here in Philly and there's been a significant influx of Latinos from NYC since 9/11. Many of them have opened successful businesses in an area that was, until recently, primarily Italian-American.

What an asshole.

[NYC]

13. Why are Latinos moving from NYC to Philadelphia?

Just curious. I hadn't heard.

[MrSlayer]

He's laughing all the way to the bank.

So much free publicity for this jackass and his shitty product. Jim's on South street is the best cheesesteak in Philly. Geno's and Pat's are both inferior products and only the tourists go there. All he's doing is making us in Philly look bad. This fuckhead also was on the "Freedom Fries" kick back at the start of the war. Screw him.

[mcscajun]

8. You're six for six! All points Dead ON!

Screw him, indeed.

All publicity, even bad publicity, is good for business. He knew that. So do we.

[NYC]

15. Aha! So this is Freedom Fries, Part II.

I guess Part I paid off for him. (I hope he loses customers.)

[LostinVA]

30. The best cheeseteaks are on the other side of the river in Southern NJ

Where white American is used, not CHEEZ WHIZ. *gag*

[MrSlayer]

43. I'm anti-whiz myself.

You don't have to get it that way.

[LostinVA]

45. That I did not know

Every time I had a cheesesteak in Philly it came with the Whiz...

Of course, you can't touch Philly pretzels or Tastykakes,

[MrSlayer]

54. You ask what you want.

American or Provolone, otherwise they just assume Whiz.

[partylessinOhio]

7. Stop picking on Geno! This is an English speaking country.

Like it or don't come here.

There is no reason to coddle people who enter illegally and don't want to melt in the pot.

[NWHarkness]

9. That's an inane comment

There is no reason to assume that everyone who does not speak English is an illegal immigrant.

Well, there is one reason to make such an assumption, but it tells us only about the character of the one making the assumption.

[partylessinOhio]

12. Your attack on me is totally unnecessary. Each of us has a right

to state our opinion. You need to adjust something there.

[Karmakaze]

48. Yes, each of us has a right to express our opinion...

And my opinion is that your post was bullshit. Racist bullshit at that.

[slor]

14. You must be one of the many...

reasons I left Ohio a few months ago.

[RebelOne]

20. One of the many reasons I moved from Miami, FL

is because no one spoke English anymore.

[Cleita]

18. It is?

It must be news to all the Native Americans on reservations, Cajuns in Louisiana, Swedes in Minnesota, Hispanics in the southwest and many Americans of German, Polish and Hungarian ancestry who still speak their native languages in their towns and churches. Also, there are restaurants in the borscht belt in Los Angeles where you will hear only Yiddish and Hebrew spoken.

[LostinVA]

29. How do you know they are all Illegal Immigrants?

How is recognizing English is difficult to learn for adults and cutting people some slack "coddling"? I guess your ancestors were English, Irish, or Scottish. If not, they had an even harder time learning English then these nasty Illegals in Philly are doing.

Sheesh.

And, yeah, you can state your opinion here on DU. We treasure and encourage that. But, you gotta have some factoids available to back up such broad, xenophobic statements as yours. Because, they are xenophobic, and that has nothing to do with so-called "Illegals." IT's not like saying, "Man, I love chocolate ice cream! It's the best in the world."

Sheesh redux.

Geno's family came from Sicily. So did mine. He's a frigging hypocrite, hiding his rampant racism behind some stupid jingoism. Shame on him.

[proud2BlibKansan]

35. The minutemen could use your help

[SemiCharmedQuark]

55. I always press 2 and always look for the Spanish Translation.

I'll Speak Spanish Twice as loud, just for you. My family and friends all do the same :)

[RB TexLa]

58. How about this, partyless I speak English fine but

Yo no hablo ingles con usted

[ContraBass Black]

10. All of the business he loses from international tourists

Will be more than replaced by the media attention.

[Minnesota Libra]

11. I'm completely surprised it took so long to post................

....this story on DU so we could get all that pent up anger out.:sarcasm:

The guy said he prefers orders be made in English but that he would also serve those putting orders in some other/any other language. Now what is wrong with that??:shrug:

The guy went on to admit his parents were immigrants from Italy and had to learn the English language. I'm sure it wasn't easy on them either. On top of that, it is a privately owned business, so he gets to set any rules/requirements he wants to set. So where is the problem in all this??

[Karmakaze]

17. Where the problem is - is the inherent racism in the sign.

Note the sign does not say "Please order in English" it says "This is America -- when ordering speak English".

That is not a polite request but a demand prefaced with an obviously racist "This is America" leaving unwritten "not some backwards gooobledygook speaking country like yours".

In other words, the wording of the sign itself is a clear indication of this guys attitude. Although I suppose there is one good thing about it - this guy couldn't have been clearer if he served customers in a Klan hat, so at least minorities can take their business somewhere it is appreciated.

Another aspect you are overlooking is the fact that there are people who might not speak English that are NOT illegal immigrants - tourists. What sort of image does this project to them?

I hope this guy's business tanks.

[Minnesota Libra]

42. What do you want to bet publicity alone will bring business in? nt

[Karmakaze]

49. Yeah, Im sure all the racists will be flocking there...

Hopefully this guy will forget to clean up properly and give them all a good case of the shits.

[slor]

23. Ok...I will bite...

If he is fine with orders in other languages, why put ANY sign up? Is the sign a recent addition, mysteriously appearing since the increased attention to the illegal immigration issue or has it always been there? The guy was said to use the term "freedom fries" on his menu; did he really hate the members of the Resistance movement in occupied France, that saved thousands of Allied servicemen or did he just get caught up in the jingoistic fervor spurred on by the chimp and gang? It is a private business, and he is entitled to display his bigotry, but we are also entiled to say our small piece here, to denounce it. Are you suggesting we just "shut up and eat"?

[Minnesota Libra]

41. I would never suggest anyone should not have their say...............

....about any and all issues of their choice. I'm the last one who would try to put the slightest infringement on anyone's rights.:patriot:

As for, "Are you suggesting we just "shut up and eat"?" - Please don't put words in my mouth, they taste bad.:rofl:

I just don't get what the big deal is about - it's a privately owned business so if a potential customer doesn't like the guy's attitude, then don't eat there. Issue over!!:shrug:

on edit: I'd be willing to bet that the publicity from this story will bring in more business than he could have ever hoped to buy.

[Nicole]

44. It didn't take so long

This is the 5th or 6th thread about Geno's. The first one I read was posted on Thursday & had about 100 replies to it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1384746

[Cleita]

16. Hmmm, I wonder if a French restaurant could demand that too?

As a former restaurant worker, I don't know of any immigrant who doesn't try to order in the language the menu is printed in. However, tourists from foreign lands often need a little help from the server. Must those tourists also order in English? If this isn't a tad bigoted it sure is stupid of the restaurant owner. I know if I were a tourist I would look for an eatery that is a little more helpful and friendly.

[malaise]

21. Bingo

Tourists stay away.

[tocqueville]

27. you mean in France ? I think it would be illegal

because it would discriminate against other members of the European Union. And probably fall under general discrimination laws too. Besides anybody can now order Chicken and Fries after listening to Air America's ads...

seriously

many restaurant's menus in France are printed in several languages. Most services like trains etc.. have signs in at least one language (English) and often a second one mostly Spanish.

A basic knowledge of French is required to acquire citizenship according to a recent law. But free courses are provided.

[porphyrian]

19. Isn't there another cheesesteak place across the street?

Fuck him, don't go there if you don't like it.

[Tsiyu]

22. I guess that means if Jesus comes back some day

he won't be eating at Geno's :(

[tocqueville]

31. No Aramaic spoken here

[Maestro]

24. Well what that implies is that immigrants do not learn English

which is pure, unadulterated bovine excrement. Even some people responding to the OP seem to think that this is true. It is not! Stop buying into ignorance!

Immigrants are learning English faster than ever. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/JWCRAWFORD/census02.htm

And this is great article on the English Only crap!

http://users.rcn.com/crawj/langpol/NationalLanguage.pdf

[Timmy5835]

25. If they want to lose business........

.....fine by me.

[bluestateguy]

28. I must defend his right to do this

But oppose the wisdom of doing this, which I think is stupid.

He would be forbidden from barring customers on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex under the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He also would not be allowed to ban people because English is not their main language. He is not doing that, however. He is only saying that you must order your meal in English. He has the right to require customers to order their meals in a way that his employees will understand. You can speak whatever language you like at the table with your companions. The only exception to this might be if he banned a deaf person from ordering in sign language, which would probably violate the ADA.

Again, I defend his right to have this policy, not the correctness of his decision, which seems bigoted.

[Dead_Parrot]

32. Sort of valid...

If I went to my local pizza place and asked for a "nga wā", all I'd get is a blank stare, even though Māori is an "official" language in NZ: But I could order a "quattro stagioni" with no problems at all.

I seriously doubt he's doing it for reasons of understanding, though. I'll wager his staff know enough Spanish to handle the menu easily, and he's just being a prick.

[Pied Piper]

33. I share an office with a guy...

who completely buys into this BS. He should know, after 3 years, that he should just keep his trap shut around me. But no, "Hey Pied Piper," he says, "did you see that article..." I expressed sentiments similar to those revealed above. I asked him if he has ever been to Europe (the answer, my friends, should be obvious). I told him that I have dined in London (no problem, obviously), Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, and Budapest. And in each of those cities I was met with courteous waitstaff (the French were appropriately surly, hah!), and in every instance, after I faltered in my attempt to speak their language, the waitstaff carefully explained to me, first in the native language, and if that wasn't enough, in English. Courteous interaction is all that is required.

I wrapped up the discussion by telling him one of my favorite jokes: "What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call someone who only speaks one language? An American." End of discussion.

[proud2BlibKansan]

36. Ok maybe this is a dumb question

but if a customer doesn't SPEAK English, can we conclude that he also probably doesn't READ English? So, how can he read this sign? Is Geno providing translators?

[bobbieinok]

37. John Gibson on FAUX talk radio is making a GIGANTIC thing out of this

He interviewed the owner and his sub the next day continued the story.

[MODemocrat]

39. He might just want to understand what they're ordering

I wouldn't be able to understand any other language myself; so, I don't see this as a racist issue, because he's not asking them to stay out of his restaurant. :dilemma:

[Telly Savalas]

40. How many people do you think go in there and order food

in a language other than English each week?

[RebelOne]

46. There must have been quite a few,

otherwise he wouldn't have put up the sign.

[Telly Savalas]

56. You really think so?

What's more plausible:

Dozens of people go into a cheese-steak place where the menu is in English and they are greeted by staff in English, and go ahead and order in Spanish or some other language anyway

or

One single person who's watched way too much FOX News, puts up the sign to promote a distractionary right-wing agenda despite the fact that everybody orders in English?

[MODemocrat]

51. I have no idea how many people go into his eatery

but I still don't see how that is being racist. Discriminating against anyone because of their race is 100 per cent wrong. Making a mountain out of a molehill is also wrong IMO.

47. big deal - when I have been to Mexico, I certainly didn't expect

to be understood in English. This is just common sense.

[ulysses]

57. and yet you probably *will* be understood in English.

Think about that.

[raccoon]

50. This can't be! I am shocked, shocked

that a restaurant north of the Mason-Dixon line would post such a sign.
:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[SoCalDem]

52. Too bad sandwich shops feel the need to 'educate', instead of

just preparing food..

I guess restaurants all over the world now can eliminate their english menus .. I chuckle when I think of what American tourist might end up with :)

[Obamarama]

53. Okay...so what about foreign TOURISTS?

I'll be if Joey da wiseguy ventured to Spain, France or Germany for vacation he wouldn't be able to order in those countries'languages.
What a goomba.