“Go
Home,” was the
message a Korean American businessman found spray-painted recently on
the front window of his store in Palisades Park, New Jersey.
The
hate graffiti, spelled out in large black letters was seemingly in
response to the introduction of a new curfew ordinance by the Borough
Council, replacing one Korean merchants had considered discriminatory.
Although
on the whole, problems have been minimal, this is not the first time
anti Korean comments have been heard in this growing and ethnically
diverse community. “If you don’t like it here, why don’t you go
back to your country,?” and “We fought for you and now you think
you’re going to take over this town,” stirred the emotions at the
Council meeting.
Local
authorities stated that they would investigate this incident as a
“criminal mischief offense” and
that the matter would be treated as a bias crime. Let’s hope
so.
This
is not an isolated incident. There are too many racist cases reported
across the nation. Jews in nazi Germany were also subjected to hate
graffiti on the windows of their stores... and they were home. Well, the
Koreans in Palisades Park are home too.
We
would be setting a sad example for our children if we allowed racism to
grow here, especially now as we enter a new century, a new millennium, a
new era of global communication, where tolerance and cultural
sensitivity and cool heads simply must prevail.
Letters to the Editor
Proposes Expansion of Children
Section
We
have been enjoying your Children Section for some time now. Our children
(we have two: one is 5, the other 7 and a half) and they enjoy reading
this section together. They love the crossword puzzle, and the Our History
page.
Unfortunately
we do not have access to the internet at home, so they are missing
a lot. Their school has access to the internet, but it is very
difficult for all children to use it; time is so limited.
Is
it possible to expand this section to eight pages? I am sure that you
could print so many interesting articles written by children, like Amanda
Hernández, a student from
Our Lady of Angels School, who wrote a wonderful little essay on wild
turkeys.
Althea
Smith
Heine in the Bronx
I
didn’t know that the Lorelei Fountain in the Grand Concourse was built
there in honor of the German poet Heinrich Heine.
I
don’t understand a word of German, but I ran across your multilingual
section and saw an photo of the fountain, with an insert of the poet.
I
am a bit ashamed I didn’t keep up with my German; my parents came from Düsseldorf
in the forties, when I was seven. The idea then was to learn English and
forget our German.
It
is too late for me now; I am forced to read Heine in translation. I just
hope new immigrants --from any nation on earth-- maintain their language
and heritage.
Fred
Fritz
Arab Voice
I
read sometime ago about a newspaper in Arabic called the Arab Voice, but I
don’t remember exactly where. In fact, some friends think I am making
this up. I own a store in an area with a large Arab population.
Can
you please clarify this for me?
John
Walters
Note
from the Editor:
Our
researchers found an Arab newspaper called Arab Voice in Paterson, New
Jersey; the editor is Walid Rabah. We hope this will help you.
NIE Program
I
come from a country in Latin America where the concept of Newspaper in
Education is fairly a new one. I am here to investigate the different
newspapers which have this program; the purpose is to try to implement it
in my newspaper. I have been researching this issue for the past four
months, and came across quite a lot of information, but your publication
is the first one using more than one language.
I
was fascinated by The Bronx Journal. A newspaper in 11 languages is a
brilliant idea in an area such as yours. While we will be forced to do
this in Spanish only, I am bringing back to my Publisher a copy of your
publication; your Cities of the World page, the multilingual pull-out and
other sections have given me a few ideas on how to incorporate
multicultural subjects in our planned NIE
Program.
Eugenio
González
Letters to the Editor must
include your name, address and telephone number so we can verify your
comments. The letters may be edited to conform to space limitations.
Commentary
The
quicksand of semantics
Miguel Pérez, columnist
The Bergen Record
Just
when we thought we were beginning to understand and accept the “Hispanic
vs. Latino” quagmire, now comes a new “politically correct” twist
that is likely to really confuse even the enlightened. Back we go into the
time-wasting and divisive quicksand of semantics.
For
years, we’ve had a useless debate between those who want to be called
“Hispanics” and those who prefer “Latinos.”
“Hispanics”
say their term recognizes the common language and Spanish roots
that Latin Americans share. “Latinos” say their term -- a short
way of saying “Latin Americans” -- recognizes their multiethnic and
multiracial background.
But
just when the long-standing debate seemed to be generally accepted as a
draw, when most are freely using both terms interchangeably, new
contenders have entered the stage with a new term.
As
if it wasn’t enough that Latinos Hispanics have an identity crisis over
what to call themselves, now those who prefer the term “Latino” are
having their own divisive and confusing debate.
Some
say the term “Latino” is gender-biased because it seems to include
only males -- although, in Spanish, the masculine term is always used to
describe both men and women.
In
Spanish, males are Latinos and females are Latinas. But if we’re talking
about both genders, it’s always Latinos. It’s also Colombianos,
Puertorriqueños, Cubanos, Mexicanos -- always the masculine term to
describe both men and women.
But
now, in the interest of politically correct inclusion -- an honorable
cause which can be overdone --
there is a movement for a new term. They want to be called “Latin@s.”
The
logic is that the “@” symbol, suddenly popular because of the
Internet, includes both the “o” and the “a” and thus seems more
appropriate to describe both male and female “Latin@s.”
Cute,
right? At first glance, it seems that way.
I
can see using “Latin@s” in fancy graphics, or even on special
occasions when trying to make a relevant point about gender. But to
require an organization to use that term in its name and written materials
-- that’s not only going overboard, it is counterproductive.
They
should not expect the media to quote their written materials verbatim when
referring to “Latin@s.” The broadcast media won’t be able to
pronounce it and the print media usually follows a stylebook that will
require it to change the term to “Latinos.”
It
happened to me. When I quoted the new organization’s mission from one of
its steering committee documents -- “to mobilize the Latin@ communities
for political, economic, and social empowerment . . . “ -- one of my
editors thought I had typos in my copy.
Those
journalists who persist, myself included, will be forced to do articles --
da, well, hello? -- about the significance of the “@” in
“Latin@s.” It will serve only to distract attention from the more
important issues the organization wants to tackle.
Interestingly,
in Spanish men are Hispanos, women are Hispanas and both genders are
Hispanos. But in English, the term "Hispanic" is not
gender-biased, and perhaps this is one time when it may have been a better
choice than "Latino."
Years,
ago, when the Hispanics/Latinos debate began, I was one of those who preferred
"Latinos." But over the years, I have come to accept the fact
that "Latinos" and
"Hispanics" are here to stay. We have to learn to accept certain
things, especially when they only deal with
semantics.
Personally,
I don't really like the phrase "people of color" because it
excludes many Caucasian Latinos. But I have
learned to accept it as a preferable substitute
for "minorities."
We
Latin Americans living in the United States should learn to accept that we
are both Hispanics and Latinos -- male and
female -- and proud of it. But frankly, when
it comes to "Latin@s," we should learn to pick our fights.
And
there are better fights out there. |
