FIGHTING WORDS

Although it is true that Massachusetts and Virginia were settled by English speakers, it is also true that from Florida to California, the only European language was Spanish, even before the Mayflower. The arguments the Proposition 63 people raise have nothing to do with unity but rather with supremacy. The first thing the English-speaking slave owners did after bringing the Africans to the United States was to separate them so they would forget their language. Forget your language, and you forget your culture. Forget the culture, and you forget the history. Forget the history--and Anglos have always been here, because it was their destiny.

Forget your native language, and be fed exclusively by ethnocentric schoolteachers and by Madison Avenue. Forget Spanish, and it’s OK to invade Central America. After all, those are not our people; they don’t speak English!

FORREST HOPPING

SPANISH TEACHER, GARFIELD HIGH SCHOOL

Los Angeles