The article said that instead of going to Spanish class, the kid was writing a report about France. That kid and her puta mom should move to Montana. That way they’ll most likely bump into Canadian immigrants and that French will come in handy!

So it’s ok to expose your kid to the culture of WHITE foreigners, then? Nice

if that little girl with the funny name learns spanish the terrorists win

Good luck getting into college, kid. This Latino distinctly remembers “having three years of a foreign language” as a major pre-requisite at my university.

i wish my parents would have taken me out of the spanish class taught by the inept mrs. english. i got a fucking C for not making an amazonian tree house out of popsicle sticks.

L_P: speaking of geography lessons. Montana is nowhere near Quebec, where they speak french.

First of all, I’m disheartened when a Latina like L_P demonstrates her ignorance in a public forum. It just reinforces stereotypes about (dumb) Latinos. El smrtmnky is right. Montana is close to Alberta, Canada, and as far as I know, it’s a strongly Anglo-Canadian province. New York state and Vermont are close to Quebec.

Also, am I the only one who thinks this mother has EVERY right to challenge the school? I think it’s great that they want students to learn a foreign language, but to make Spanish mandatory is not right. She and her child should have a choice. Are we turning into communist China?

Well, it’s Grapevine. That completely explains it. People there are too rich and too white, and have no idea how the world actually works. They’re the types that will go to a foreign country and yell at someone in English, thinking by raising their voice, the person will understand them, then they walk away in a huff and wonder “why don’t these people just learn English?”

I despise rich, white northeast Tarrant county. My aunt lives there, and it takes all I got when I visit to not slap some of her neighbors.

that is one ignorant mother but if she feels it’s not right for her daughter than it’s not right.
Im sure it’s only mandatory because it’s Texas.

Well, Texas was technically kinda stolen from Mexico by whitey. So, maybe they shouldn’t have such an issue speaking spanish down there.

In Texas, Spanish is mandatory from 4th-6th grades. It’s not really a “foreign language course” in the sense that the Foreign Language Requirement from 9th-12th grades is. The point of having mandatory Spanish is to help the white kids fit in, actually. I’m from Texas and happen to love the school curriculum. I took the required Spanish in middle school and then I took German in High School. As it turns out, I know speak no Spanish and speak German (rather) fluently.

*know = now.

Apparently I now speak little English as well.

“I think it’s great that they want students to learn a foreign language, but to make Spanish mandatory is not right.”

What is wrong with that? Nothing. In that case, it’s great that they teach science classes, but to make Biology mandatory isn’t right either. Jeez…

Stories like that just make me sad. Can’t even get angry because it is so bizarre and ridiculous to think that learning a second language “sends” the wrong message to someone, or a group of someones, you don’t like. Que pena.

@Fat Elvis: I also went to school in Texas, and Spanish was not mandatory when I was a student there (times must be changing). My school offered other foreign languages. Also, I’m worried that bilingual programs in this country are actually hurting Latino children. It’s a shame that Latinos often can’t speak either language properly—enough to compete with other immigrant groups. Seriously, when Asians outperform you, there’s a problem (one would think that Latinos should have the advantage, unless you presume that Asians are smarter … that’s another story). It’s also no secret that schools with a predominantly Latino student population get more funds if they have more students in ESL classes. Teachers are sometimes encouraged to pass them even when they can’t speak English. Some of these kids never even participate in a regular English class. So, I think Spanish in the schools is a bad idea.

@Benito Camelas Bolas: Oh no, are you a right wing nut (i.e., creationist) from Alabama? I find it bizarre that you would question the importance of science classes like Biology. Anyway, you’re comparing apples to oranges. Science (and math) is usually considered a vital subject in most compulsory education programs around the world. Foreign languages haven’t always been a part of these programs. You shouldn’t be forced to learn a particular language if you don’t want to.

A friend forwarded me this. Unlike Carrie_in_TN, I’m very pissed off. In the original story the mother says something to the effect that her kid shouldn’t have to take Spanish because ‘she has no future plans that include bilingual expertise, nor does she want to accommodate non-English speakers.’

Basically, that mother should just stick to the truth that she doesn’t like brown people, and ease up on the ‘my 12 year old doesn’t anticipate using other languages in her future career’ argument. ‘Cause she sounds like a complete idiot trying to spin that one. What kid can anticipate what they’re going to do at age 12?

@pakaal: The great thing about this country is freedom of choice (as long as we’ve got good Democrats around). The woman in the article has every right to feel a certain way. If she doesn’t want her child learning Spanish, that’s her right. She doesn’t have to answer to you or anyone, as long as her actions conform to the rules and regulations of our society.

Of course, Latinos also have every right to say and think as they choose, too. If Latinos want to perpetuate misogynistic attitudes toward women, they can. If Latinos want to worship some fictitious deity, let them do it. It’s a free country!

Guana Bust A NutOh no, are you a right wing nut (i.e., creationist) from Alabama? I find it bizarre that you would question the importance of science classes like Biology.

Couldn’t be further from the truth! I’m an atheist born in Mexico. You talk about how “bilingual programs actually hurt Latinos”, but this isn’t about bilingual programs! It’s about a foreign-language class, big difference! I remember growing up in Mexico, English classes were mandatory in middle school. Nobody ever cared.

I agree with pakaal, sounds like the mom is a bigot and the daughter is probably just following mommy’s example.

Guana Bust a Nut, let’s not talk about worshiping fictitious deities, looks like others are just as guilty…

@GBAN and el smrtmnky: Don’t be so mean. It is unfair to assume that French is only spoken in Quebec. Just as it is unfair of others to assume that English is the only language in America. My friend’s life-partner is a French-loving Canadian and he met him in Montana.
We all know that Montana isn’t near Quebec and that was part of the jab. I admit, I may not have expressed it very well, but it was a jab at those who believe only one language can be spoken in a specific country.

I grew up here in Texas and Spanish was never required at my school either. However, in elementary school we did have mandatory “fine arts”, which alternated throughout the year. We would do like six weeks of arts & crafts, six weeks of Spanish, six weeks of music, etc. Even if it was a mandatory class, it’s an elementary school and one would think there is only a limited supply of foreign language teachers and the majority of those teachers would be teaching teaching spanish simply for the fact it’s Texas. Also, we take mandatory Texas history here so Spanish does relate in that sense. Once you’re in High School and you actually have options, you’re free to take whatever electives or foreign language you’d like. This woman’s an idiot for depriving her daughter of what every other student in the school is going to learn and putting her at a disadvantage. Grapevine, TX isn’t exactly overflowing with latinos so it’s not like she’s the only poor little white girl being subjected to this. If she wants a specialized curriculum, she should find a private school that fits her needs and take her out of a public system funded by a people who I can only assume are the majority in preferring their children learn Spanish as a second language.

My highschool, in Arizona, required a foreign language as did the university I later attended. In both cases you could pick from several different languages. There are benefits related to being bilingual and not just in regards to employement oppurtunities.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39338-2004Jun13.html

There are so many places in the world where you can walk down the street and hear more than one language being spoken. I think narrow attitudes about being bilingual, specifically Spanish in America, have racist undertones.

I would not have my child speak no language he/she does not want to! I agree it is not right for people to say english is only to be spoken in america i mean if you from somewhere else then so be it! come on now!!!!!!! well i dont know about yall but i’m not speaking english if i dont want to!!! they put someone in jail for having an accent in japan. was acusssed of being british!!!!!!

damn I am late to the party. Whats the big deal, if the kid and the mom do not want to learn spanish in grade school, it is their right. Just like how kids are not forced to learn about the birdz and beez, or evolution, or anything else that involves touchy feelings being hurt.

At the age of 12, I didn’t want to take a lot of classes either. Know why? Because they had homework, and that took away from my “talking on the phone to my friends” time. Yeah, show me a 12 year old that’s gung-ho about doing their homework, and I’ll show you 3 dozen more that would do away with most all their classes if they had the choice to.

D’oh. I just destroyed that third sentence. Damn this commenting while at work. Anyway, I meant “Because the classes had homework, and that took away from my ‘talking on the phone to my friends’ time.”

For the record, by mandatory Spanish class I mean Senora Guion would come in with her cart once in awhile and teach us some situational Spanish. We had block programming up until Junior High (7-8), so it’s not like it was a Spanish course like someone would take in High School or at College. We also had an annual Spanish Spelling Bee where they gave it quilted (crocheted?) pens that said “Te quiero” and had a sombrero top. It was all very racist, but I liked it. Then again, I’m brown, so maybe the white kids aren’t as excited for sombrero-top pens as I am.

The girl shouldn’t be forced to take spanish. That’s going way too far. It should be her choice if she wants to learn spanish. Suppose we forced some of you Hispanics to learn black history.

@Buttface

who says we don’t? i mean, as i’ve talked to latinos in my university classes, we have all come to the conclusion that learning about black history is mandatory.

i can tell you that there were two brown v. boards, what de facto and de jure segreation are, white flight, plessy v ferguson, a whole bunch of stuff about about the civil rights movement, who angela davis is and what her stance is on the prison industrial complex and sooooooo much more, but i couldn’t tell you what cesar chavez did even though in elementary school we had a mural with mlk and chavez looking at each other.

so i call bullshit on that!

@Trapped in a box

….however, Black History is still optional in universities and not mandated. It certainly hasn’t been mandated in elementry school either. There are also Latino history courses in universities. If you want more of those courses, you won’t get it by making blacks your adversaries. You’ll have to do like us blacks are doing and demand it from the white dominated establishment.

The bigger issue is brown on black tension. The cause is Latinos who find it easier to align themselves with the white establishment who caused their plight against blacks who share their plight. That explains why they vote heavily against black politicians…but that’s another blog.

well here in chicago where everyone seems to be more cultured than white texans i was required to take japanese for EIGHT years of my grade school experience, i didn’t complain, even though it is not as useful as french or spanish, but come 7th grade i switched to spanish where i finally started learning something. and yes you neeeeed to fulfill foreign language requirements at pretty much any respectable university/ highschool, so this ashleigh is going to be held back and at a disadvantage, nice going Ma
idiot

@ Buttface: “Black History …certainly hasn’t been mandated in elementry school either.”

Actually, it is mandated. I don’t know about other states, but it is written into the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Elementary students in Social Studies. I was a teacher and I am a current administrator and I know first hand that students are required to learn it.

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter113/ch113a.html

Personally, i think the mom is taking this whole deal way out of hand. She needs to realize that when her daughter gets older and wants to get a job or go to college and a language is require, the only one to blame is going to be her. As a Latina i take this whole story very offensivelly, yes she has the right to request whatever she wants for her daughter, but its not right that she has to bring in the whole ” we are not going accomadeted to them” bull shit. Soon or later shes going to realize that America is a melting pot of cultures, races etc. Everyday new people and new LANGUAGES are bring brought over to this coutry. And no matter how many racist white people want to protest against it…ITS NEVER GOING TO STOP!. get over it. She also needs to realize that we as Latinos arent the only people considered immigrants, yes some Latinos do come over to America and cause nothing but trouble but theres no reason why you have to put everyone in that boat. Someone of us do come to America to have a better future and get the right education to become well-educated, sucessful people.
Just like everyone mention that is her right, but it is also her daughter right to make her own decision, as she will in the future. Dont take the privilege of your daughter become better then you away.
Tu hija tiene el derecho de aprender cualquier coso que ella quiere aperender, no es decision. Avara los ojos.

To Roba, I got to choose my lang. in High School, French, Spanish or German. I don’t think anyone should be forced to learn a lang. they don’t want to. I also think that if you are NOT legal you should not have access to our services. Mike

Spanish or anyother language that is should not be required for anyone under a College level. I personally attend high school and find it hard to maintain my credits because of mandatory foreign language classes. If students want to learn different laguages then more power to them, but for students like me that are great with school, but can’t get the language down that hurts anychance of maintaing the GPA that they are accustomed to. No matter how hard or long I study I find it difficult to obtain the information that is being taught. I am a A-B student and plan on graduating with my Academic Honors diploma, but I am not able to recieve just a regular diploma with out a second language coarse. That is rediculous and formidable to those whom have the accessibility to do great.