This is the latest in a series on the use of the race card for political gain:
Tonight’s issue came to my attention due to the controversy stirred up in Australia over these two t-shirts:
The t-shirts, particularly the one that says “we eat meat, we drink beer and we speak f**kin English,” have been branded as “racist,” as reported by the Herald Sun:
RACIST T-shirts on sale at the Queen Victoria Market are telling people from international backgrounds to “speak f—–‘ English”.The shirts, which are on a stall close to shops selling stuffed koalas and boomerangs, have been branded ignorant by a multicultural group….
The discovery of the provocative shirts comes after the Federation of the Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia met sporting, religious and ethnic groups around the country last month to tackle racism nationwide.Queen Victoria Market spokeswoman Misti Dullard said the market was “investigating the appropriateness” of the T-shirts and other items sold by stall operators.”We have noticed that recently there has been an increase in (those) types of T-shirts,” Ms Dullard said.
We frequently hear people refer to English-only policies as “racist,” but I think that is a misnomer.
The desire to maintain a nation’s predominant language is not a racial classification. The French are not racist for wanting to maintain French as the nation’s language, and that goes for just about any other country.
An English-only policy here would apply as equally to immigrant Swedes as it would to Argentinians. A black person from Britain would have no trouble complying while a Caucasian who grew up in Spain might have trouble. The American child of a Chinese immigrant would not have a problem, while the parent may — yet they are of the same race.
Requiring English-only, or English as the core language of Australia, or Britain, or the U.S., simply does not reflect racial classifications. Criticize it if you want, but not on racial lines.
Applying the term “racist” is simply a means of preventing a rational conversation on whether an English-speaking nation has the same rights as other nations to maintain the predominant, and in many cases unifying, language. I say Oui!
Indeed, I’m wondering why the t-shirt is not under attack for being anti-vegetarian, since it also demands that people eat meat.
As we know, hatred of vegetarians is a growing problem (even the vegans hate them). Godwin must be turning over in his cabbage patch, because they’re already comparing vegetarians to Hitler.
And while it is not acceptable to make fun of racial minorities, anti-vegetarian humor is out in the open:
First they came for the vegetarians ….
I demand that the Southern Poverty Law Center add the Anti-Vegetarian Society of Meat Eaters to its list of hate groups. Think how many donations it will bring in for SPLC from the vegetarians, and those who love them.
Now repeat after me, in English only:
We are all vegetarians now.
Update: Thanks to reader Helen for this photo taken last August in Sheridan, Wyoming:
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