Can you get by in San Antonio not speaking Spanish?

[Dopo]

Maybe you have good reasons to think what you think (I’m not in your shoes)
But I find it funny when some people move to 1 of the 10 cities in the US and they start complaining about discrimination, when that’s what we have to put up with in 99% of cities and towns in the US and we are told to get over it.

I’ll tell you what I was told a million times: “If you don’t like it … “
And that’s why I live in San Antonio now.

Originally Posted by Spock's Beard

Is Mexico economically important to San Antonio and the US? Yep. More important than China? Not by a long shot. If people were interested in what's best for the future, they'd be learning mandarin instead of Spanish.

1.- You can’t drive from San Antonio to China
2.- I haven’t seen 1 car in San Antonio with Chinese license plates, I see one from Mexico almost every day.
3.- San Antonio makes 1000 times more money from Mexican tourists than Chinese tourists.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by HisLilSecret

Where are you coming from? You seem to believe that there are no whites or blacks coming from places whose first language is Spanish. You cannot say that employers are discriminating against national origin simply because someone is black or white. There are also plenty of "brown" folks who don't speak a lick of Spanish.



Name some. You are determining "Mexican" solely on the color of skin. Even then, you would be assuming and you know what is said about "assume," don't you?

No, I determine "Mexican" from nation of birth, allegience, language, citizenship, culture.

The reason they won't learn English is they have no intention of learning it.

And no, I was not referring to Americans of hispanic ancestry who speak English because they also face discrimination in hiring -- I said they are discriminating on the basis of national origin which is exactly the case when they require native fluency in some foreign language.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Amongst my staff of about 50, I only have one foreign national (or rather, former foreign national, as this individual is now an American citizen and has been for some time). However I have many fluent Spanish speakers, some "native" Tex-mex, a few white as white can be who learned it as a second language and spent time in a Spanish speaking country.

It's not illegal to require a particular skill set for a job. Ability to speak another language with some fluency is a skill.

It is out and out anti-American discrimination to require foreign language fluency in jobs like construction, mechanics, restaurants, stores, hospitals and so on. An auto mechanic for example can read the manuals in English and it does not require Spanish fluency to speak to a car, yet in many of these shops, 100% are Mexican national origin, and are required to speak Spanish but not English. Don't tell me an American black, white or other has an equal chance.

Other than jobs like language instructor, and translator, there should be no discrimination against Americans of non-Mexican background but there is.

In many of these border towns, San Antonio and many other cities, the discrimination against those from non-hispanic countries, and the USA is very blatant. Jobs that don't involve a need to have foreign language fluency.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by malamute

It is out and out anti-American discrimination to require foreign language fluency in jobs like construction, mechanics, restaurants, stores, hospitals and so on. An auto mechanic for example can read the manuals in English and it does not require Spanish fluency to speak to a car, yet in many of these shops, 100% are Mexican national origin, and are required to speak Spanish but not English. Don't tell me an American black, white or other has an equal chance.

Other than jobs like language instructor, and translator, there should be no discrimination against Americans of non-Mexican background but there is.

In many of these border towns, San Antonio and many other cities, the discrimination against those from non-hispanic countries, and the USA is very blatant. Jobs that don't involve a need to have foreign language fluency.

Again, fluency in a language is not the same as being a foreign national.

I really don't understand the American bias against other languages. In many other countries, English is required for a job, and very few complain about that. The reality is the business interacts with English speakers who don't know another language, so the business, being smart, hires English speakers in those positions.

As I stated in the post you quoted, I have fluent Spanish speakers amongst my staff who are anglo, no hispanic heritage whatsoever.

[HisLilSecret]

Originally Posted by malamute

No, I determine "Mexican" from nation of birth, allegience, language, citizenship, culture.

The reason they won't learn English is they have no intention of learning it.

And no, I was not referring to Americans of hispanic ancestry who speak English because they also face discrimination in hiring -- I said they are discriminating on the basis of national origin which is exactly the case when they require native fluency in some foreign language.

I see. So you have polled most of the construction companies in order to determine nationality of all the employees. You also have determined that whites and black americans are incapable of being fluent in a second language, therefore, not being offered positions requiring said language. In your world, there should be no need to know a second language, unless that person is teaching (of course, why would anyone teach a foreign language, if there's no need to know it) or translating (again, translate for who, if no one speaks anything but English).

I don't get why you can't seem to understand that knowing a second language makes good business sense, if your customers/clients speak that language. What exactly is so wrong with being required to know a second language for a position? Is it your lack of a second language and feeling left out somehow?

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by malamute

An auto mechanic for example can read the manuals in English and it does not required Spanish fluency to speak to a car, yet in many of these shops, 100% are Mexican national origin, and are required to speak Spanish but not English. Don't tell me an American black, white or other has an equal chance.

You are complaining about racism just because you see too many people that are not like you in some business.

Do you know how many businesses I've seen where every single person was white? Thousands of them.
Are they racist and discriminating against people that are not white?
Do they require people to be white to be hired?

[Bo]

Some off-topic posts in this thread were deleted. The OP got his/her answer back in 2007 and the thread appears to have run its course, so it is now closed.

We won't be debating topics in this forum that are more appropriate for City-Data's Immigration forum