I've often wondered how, exactly, bigotry continues in this world. You would think we were more enlightened by now, as a civilization, and yet it goes on.
Yesterday I figured out why: because people don't pay attention.
Direct quote from a phone conversation:
"So what do you think about those Hispanics who are trying to change the National Anthem?"
"I don't think they're trying to change it...I think they're just making a version in Spanish..."
"Well, whatever," said the other party. And off she went into the usual anti-immigrant objections, some of which I even share (well, ONE of them: like her, I have a problem with people who accept service jobs dealing with a largely English-speaking public, yet don't learn enough English to communicate effectively with the people they're supposed to be serving. And I mainly share that objection because I'm tired of getting my food orders screwed up.)
While I listened to her my-grandparents-came-to-this-country speech, and her litany of reasons why she objects to the same opportunities being given to a new generation of immigrants, I had to ask myself: How do you take an argument seriously when the person has already demonstrated a glib dismissal of a fairly-major fact? "Well, whatever..." There's a big difference between re-recording the National Anthem in a different language, and changing the anthem entirely. That's a pretty big leap--how do I know the rest of the argument isn't similarly shoddy?
And then I thought about it; a whole lifetime of half-truths and sorta-facts and not-quite-exactly-how-it-happeneds, coupled with the usual misunderstandings and fear of the unfamiliar, and throw in a handful of media manipulation while you're at it...yeah, I could see how someone might manage to stay a bigot, if that's how they were raised. It's hard work to change one's assumptions, and not everyone knows how. I'm as much an example of this as anyone else--just not on this issue, I guess. We all have our blind spots.
Still, it's disheartening to hear it.
Old saying "You can't reason someone out of a position that they have not been reasoned into in the first place". I don't know who said it, but it really applies here. Good luck
ReplyDeleteIt is incredibly frustrating...
ReplyDeleteIf not knowing the truth about, and therefore, dismissing "El Himno," disqualifies one from further consideration, you're "punk'd." In fact, your friend was right, and you were wrong to describe it as a re-recording of the national anthem. In fact, "El Himno" uses a new tune, vaguely similar to what we're used to, and a wholly new lyric (in Spanish, of course)!
ReplyDeleteSo, umm... how do I know the rest of YOUR argument isn't similarly shoddy?
It's hard work to change one's assumptions, isn't it? And on THIS issue. Amazing!
Your snark to the contrary, I don't believe I'm "punk'd" at all. The person to whom I was speaking made the claim that the people advocating "Nuestro Himno" wanted the Spanish-language version to replace the current national anthem. Which no one has suggested, even hypothetically, in any arena I've heard.
ReplyDelete