Spanish Class

I like eating at those little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants, but a lot of the time they get my orders wrong. Yes, it’s a language problem. The thing is, I even have trouble going to the corner McDonald's, Jack in the Box, or Taco Bell.


I want to learn Spanish. I believe that I need to speak and understand Spanish. Circumstances dictate it. I have tried to learn Spanish on more than one occasion. I’ve tried to learn Spanish in High School, College, and on the Internet. I even tried to learn Spanish in Mexico; I lived in Oaxaca, Mexico for nine months. I still know less then a hundred phrases.


How did Spanish get so popular in the U.S. in the first place? It is not the native tongue. I did a little research on the subject. I read newspapers, and looked online, a place where my English is still king.


According to Sharon McNary and Steve Fetbrandt of the Press-Enterprise a recent study showed that 61 percent of Inland Empire residents speak only English, that’s about 2.27 million people. I fit into that group, despite my efforts to learn another language. I can’t seem to even learn Pig Latin.


According to the Press Enterprise, “The children of Mexican and other Latin American immigrants represent one of the fastest-growing components of California's population. So while immigration influences the language situation, it does not tell the entire story, because many U.S.-born Latinos speak Spanish at home.”


Over 1.57 million people in the Inland Empire communicate at home in a language other then English. About 121,000 Inland residents live in a household where no member speaks English; about 85 percent of those are Spanish speakers.


I have lots of friends that speak Spanish. I believe that to live in California without the ability to speak the Spanish language can be a detriment to self-progress, job performance, and societal integration. Note the same can be said for not speaking English.


Some believe that Spanish was the first language of our country. They would be wrong. Mainly separatist and racist stick to that view. Spanish originated as a dialect of Latin. It was later taken to the Americas and other parts of the world in the last five centuries by Spanish explorers and colonists. At the same time the English language was being spread by other European explorers and colonists.


Although the language is spoken most extensively in the Americas, Spain and to a lessor extent in Africa and the Asian Pacific, it is not the most widely spoken language in the world, but it is by far the most popular studied foreign language in U.S. schools. We teach it almost as much as we teach English.


How did it get so popular here in the first place? Immigration, commerce with our southern neighbors, and our school system. What keeps me from absorbing it into my skill set? I think I may know the answer. Spite.


I hate the fact that I “have to” learn a new language just to order a taco or hamburger prepared the way I like. I don’t hate the people speaking the language, just the fact that we can’t communicate at a level where I can let them know to leave off the onions, and light on the ice in my soda. Oh well, back to Spanish class.


As always please post your comments and opinions in the comment section at the bottom of each article on the blog page, http://www.aricisom.com/. You can also post to past articles in there proper location at the bottom of each. I look forwards to your feedback

Not My Baby!

A group of community members questioned Police Chief Russ Leach about an injunction against a Riverside street gang this week at the Cesar Chavez Community Center on University. They want to know how Riverside District Attorney Rod Pacheco selected the names for his injunction list, how names can be removed from the list and why neighborhood leaders were not more involved in the creation of the injunction.

The Press Enterprise states that, “Pacheco is seeking an injunction against the East Riverside gang, which his office described as a criminal enterprise that sells drugs and threatens neighbors. The injunction would make it a crime for gang members to associate with each other in public, stay out past 10 p.m. and wear gang apparel.“

I agree that Pacheco needs to understand what the concerns are in the community, but we also need to find ways of supporting any effort that stops gang violence.

I conducted a search of the Press Enterprise’s online news site. I looked up the terms “Riverside, Gang, and 2007”. I received over 6000 hits. WOW!!! That’s over 6000 within nine months. What’s happening here? Better yet, whom are they writing about? Not me, not my kids, not my family. Isn’t that what we all say?

Now in the spirit of total disclosure there is a P.E. writer by the name of Duane W. Gang. When I did a search of his name I got 638 hits. That’s not removing a lot from the stack.

Who are joining these gangs? Not my babies! No one out there is doing those drive-by shootings that we read about. In a recent article I read the most outrageous statement by a mother of a gang member. Part of what she said was “…he is out of prison, living in a halfway house, and plans to stay away from gangs when he is free again.” Well, I guess everything is O.K. now! For Pete’s sake he needs time to change his life around, and a short time in a halfway house won’t do it.

You can see that complete article at:
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_D_gangs01.38b501b.html

In the above-mentioned article we have well-meaning citizens complaining about a law enforcement process that started over a year ago. Solving these problems takes time and not only can’t be stopped on a dime, but should not be stopped until the problem is solved. I remember going to local meetings where the community pleaded for official help in stopping gangs.

Closing our eyes to such a large problem by denying that our loved ones are involved only exasperates the problems that we face. In my younger days I had gang contacts, as well as others in my family. I had friends die due to gang violence. I got away with a lot because no one believed that I could possibly do such things. I know people that are in jail for crimes that they freely admit committing. They get monthly visits from their mothers who come home praising how “good their babies are doing.” Answer me this, how can you do “good” in jail? That is one way of thinking that I can’t wrap my mind around.

We have alternatives to gangs. We have ways of preventing our loved ones from joining gangs. Former Secretary of Education, Drug Czar, and radio talk show host, William “Bill” Bennett believes that all boys join gangs, we must make sure that they join the right gangs. They must join football teams, labor unions, or car clubs.

It is our responsibility, the parents, the mothers, fathers, and friends to show character and “Tough Love.” We must let the government do their jobs, but also do our part. Bennett says, “It is our character that supports the promise of our future - far more than particular government programs or policies.” In the end we can’t always rely on the government alone. Bennett also says, “Government, obviously, cannot fill a child's emotional needs. Nor can it fill his spiritual and moral needs. Government is not a father or mother. Government has never raised a child, and it never will.”

We must not think small. We must use the tools that are available to us in order to solve our communities’ problems. I like using the analogy of going to the doctor’s office to get a shot, it hurts, but we know that it is for our own good.

In one of my favorite quotes Marianne Williamson says, “… It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world…”

Gang members not only think small, they are small, and we should not encourage, enable, or condone their actions. We need to bring out the light, and quash the darkness. We need to teach our children to get along, and that if they don’t consequences will follow. We can’t get in the way of those trying to do the right thing. If I am dying of thirst I don’t care where the water comes from.

As always please post your comments and opinions in the comment section at the bottom of each article on the blog page, http://www.aricisom.com/. You can also post to past articles in there proper location at the bottom of each. I look forwards to your feedback.