Gingrich and the Ghetto
Over the weekend, as you may know by now, Newt Gingrich said this in a speech to the National Federation of Republican Women:
The American people believe English should be the official language of the government. We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.
Whatever the problems with this English-only view — I do think that any political community, including one as vast as the U.S., needs a common language to facilitate communication, but it is completely ridiculous to suggest that learning other languages should be abolished (such linguistic isolationism is entirely counter-productive in a world that is growing ever smaller with the increasingly rapid and kinetic expansion of the forces of globalization, positive and negative alike) — the particular problem with Gingrich’s comment lies in his use of the word “ghetto”. Just what did he mean by it?
Surely the language of the “ghetto” to which Gingrich was referring is Spanish, right? (One of my commenters at The Reaction, where this post first appeared, suggested ebonics, but that hardly qualifies as a separate language, let alone one that is the subject of bilingual education.) Canadians like myself may learn French alongside English, but the second language of the U.S. is, without question, Spanish.
Here Gingrich’s evident bigotry turns comic — sort of. On Monday Gingrich told Hannity and Colmes that he was not referring to Spanish at all. Rather:
Now, I’ll let you pick — frankly, ghetto, historically had referred as a Jewish reference originally. I did not mention Hispanics, and I certainly do not want anybody who speaks Spanish to think I’m in any way less than respectful of Spanish or any other language spoken by people who come to the United States.
Oh, I see. He said something that was quite clear, but now he’s spinning himself silly. He may be running for president, after all. Can’t alienate Hispanics, once, not so long ago, thought to be a key constituency for the GOP to target — even the insular Bush speaks Spanish, although perhaps Newt thinks it was wrong of him to learn it?
Otherwise, though — huh?
You can always count on Gingrich to hide behind revisionist history — he’s not a racist, he just writes books that celebrate the Confederacy; his presentation of the past has nothing whatsoever to do with the present — but this is just weird. It may be that “ghetto” refers literally to a Jewish neighbourhood — in 1516, Venice ordered that its resident Jews were required to live on the nearby island of Ghetto Nuovo, and from there the term spread — but did Gingrich really mean that he was referring to Hebrew or Yiddish rather than Spanish?
Well, yes, that seems to what he said in his defence, but of course he was referring to Spanish. I suppose he could have used the word barrio, but that would have been too obvious. Besides, unless there’s something I don’t remember about my years in the U.S., I don’t think either Hebrew or Yiddish is threatening the primacy of English in Gingrich’s homeland. Perhaps he has in mind some final linguistic solution for America’s Jews?
Regardless, what seems clear is that Gingrich thinks that any language other than English is the language of the metaphorically ghettoized Other, that is — according to the retrograde view of linguistic identity propounded by the English-only movement — un-American. The inhabitants of that “ghetto” may be Hispanic or Jewish or whatever, but, in Gingrich’s narrow view, they are certainly not American — not fully, not even close — and they certainly won’t share in America’s “prosperity,” whatever that even means.
Whatever else one can say about Gingrich, he certainly has the language of ignorance and bigotry down pat.
14 Responses to “Gingrich and the Ghetto”
Not that I like defending Newt, but English immersion doesn’t mean no foreign language departments. It means taking immigrants and teaching them in English, not having, say, a Math class taught in Spanish.
Well said, carpeicthus.
And as long as the author gets to indulge in pure speculation, I should be able to as well………perhaps “ghetto” is simply referring to the antithesis of assimilation.
I agree wholly that there needs to be some program available for teaching immigrants English. However, where is the funding for such a program going to come from? Also, assuming that we are able to establish and fund an effective system for teaching immigrants English, one must also remember the fact that they are not all going to be able to grasp English enough to become good speakers. Some people are just not capable of effectively learning another language, it does not matter who you are. Also, I know that many immigrants are embarrassed that they are unable to learn the language even though they may have been here over a decade. It must also be realized that historically in this country assimilation does not necessarily happen with those who immigrate here but to the next generation. It is therefore a generational process rather than the instant one we would like.
The ghetto reference though I think was either highly ignorant, or truly racist. In this country, it is the fault of pro-white policy of government. If you look at the flight from the cities that was most obvious right after WWII, the government subsidized home loans for whites but typically did not provide the same for minorities. So when Gingrich refers to the ‘language of the ghetto’ he is referring to the language of non-whites in general.
Now, usually I’d be the last person defending Newt, but I think he merits some defense here. No, his choice of words is not the best one, but I’m sick and tired of bad word choices becoming more important than the message that they attempt to convey.
As has already been pointed out, he is in no way suggesting that no language other than English is to be taught. He’s obviously referring to programs for new immigrants, not foreign language courses for native English speakers.
An additional thing is the “ghetto” reference. I personally think it’s blindingly obvious that he’s trying to equate knowledge of English with success in the US, and likewise lack of knowledge of English with failure. If you think that insinuating that ending up in the ghetto is failing is racist or evil, well I have nothing to say, as I really don’t know how to deal with certain levels of PC. The fact is that learning proper English is essential to success in America. That counts for native born Americans as well. Does speaking an English that isn’t standard make you stupid or dishonest? No, of course not, but your level of education will be questioned, and your life will be harder. When I was in school most Asian families understood this, going as far sometimes as to prohibit their kids from speaking Chinese in the home, in order for them to adapt faster. The result was a much faster assimilation of Chinese immigrants than other immigrants, despite the vastly greater difference in culture and language.
I cannot believe that Gingrich suggested that learning other languages should be abolished. If he did then what can I say? He would then be an absolute idiot.
There is a larger question here though, and, I would say that question is immigration and the effect that massive illegal immigration has on the our national culture, politics, and, prosperity. In my opinion we are trying to absorb far too many illegal aliens and it is having a very negative affect on our country. This is an invasion from our neighbors to the south and it must be stopped. The numbers are growing so large that Hispanics are becoming embolden. They even publicly threaten us in an attempt to bully us into acceptance by intimidation. This must stop. I see this as a greater threat than the middle east.
It might be useful to recall the whole “ebonics” debate from a few years back here.
It was pumped up by academics in the Bay area back in the 1990s as an alternate English for African American youth.
However, Black leaders savaged the idea, and it remains largely an academic fantasy to this day. After all, look at the remarkable rhetorical skills of numerous Black leaders — Martin Luther King being a striking example, Jesse Jackson (folks might not like him, but the man can definitely speak well) — in standard English.
I remember Bill Cosby in particular, being brutal in beating down ebonics. As he noted, realistically African American kids would graduate with a degree in ebonics…and despite the law or the rulings of schoolboards…everyone would know it meant they couldn’t read and write English. No one would hire a Black kid with ebonics on his transcript.
I don’t think America wants to replicate the ghettoes of multicultural Europe…with every ethnic group largely confined in their own swathes of cities…and little common ground.
Immigrants should, in my humble opinion, be forced to learn English. At the end of the course, they have to take a test, they won’t get a permanent licence to say, as long as they don’t pass this basic knowledge test.
That’s how it is done in the Netherlands, and that’s how it should be done imo: when you move to a country, you should learn the language of the majority. If you don’t want to, you should not come. It is that simple.
Marlowecan I lived in San Francisco when ebonics rose to stardom and even my uber-liberal teachers mostly thought it was BS (of course they didn’t say it much, since common sense was mostly prohibited within school property). That said I never saw ebonics more savaged than it was by black comedians. I think it must have been the idea of one guy or a few people and became infamous because of it’s level of stupidity. I highly doubt that virtually anyone ever took it seriously.
As for not imitating the multi-cultural Europe, as a CURRENT resident of one of the favorite destinations, Spain, I must energetically AGREE. Please DON’T make our mistake. One of the good things about how harsh America is, is the fact that if forces you to adapt, to rise to the challenge. Our social services are so strong that it encourages the lazy and non-integration. It wasn’t a problem before, since people had a work-ethic and a higher standard than bare minimum, but with the avalanche of illegals, it’s becoming a serious issue.
I was just thinking…
Okay, lousy joke.
Newt is right about what he said. Of course we shouldn’t coddle immigrants into never having to learn english. But he is also a flaming bigot, we all know this, and it comes out often in his speeches. Just little touches like this, and the politcal right is rife with guys like him. Not hood wearing Klan members or anything, but definitely the kind of guy who drops the N-bomb after looking over both shoulders and probably smiled once or twice about Katrina.
Any evidence to support this speculation?
newtie knows how to play to the base…he throws in this crap to show the ones he is courting that he too is a racist good ole boy, even if in reality, he is not.
i have no prob with english immersion….i do have a prob with newtie
saying that, i hope he wins the repug nomination….cuz he can always be counted on to stick his big foot into his even bigger mouth
Umm, we can continue to harp on the evils of bilingual education, multiculturalism, etc., or we can actually stop to look at the data.
Population Reference Bureau:
Adult immigrants themselves are not learning English. They almost never have, throughout our history. But the children of immigrants, the ones who we actually educate, are, so fears of an entrenched Spanish-only community are unfounded, despite all mongering to the contrary.
There is also a connection with the Ghetto reference that most don’t get or aren’t aware of that Newt as a history prof would know. Many Jewish people would live for generations in a Ghetto and they would never learn the native language, like polish. This is not to say that the Jewish people, who were fully 10% of the pre-war Polish population, didn’t generally speak Polish. Rather that it was not uncommon to have someone who didn’t and the general population of Poland and many Jews considered themselves not as Polish, but rather just “living” in Poland. Viewed under that light I think his statements make sense.