Oh say can you see -- a la luz de la aurora?
Nuestro Himno -- "our anthem" the Spanish new version of the national anthem is scheduled to hit the airwaves today.
""Nuestro Himno" is intended to be an anthem of solidarity for the movement that has drawn hundreds of thousands of people to march peacefully for immigrant rights in Washington and cities across the country, says Adam Kidron, president of Urban Box Office, the New York-based entertainment company that launched the project.
"It's the one thing everybody has in common, the aspiration to have a relationship with the United States . . . and also to express gratitude and patriotism to the United States for providing the opportunity," says Kidron. "
Some say that the song in Spanish is a rejection of assimilation into the United States.
""Even our Spanish media are saying, 'Why are we doing this, what are you trying to do?' " said Pedro Biaggi, the morning host with El Zol (99.1 FM), the most popular Hispanic radio station in the Washington area. "It's not for us to be going around singing the national anthem in Spanish. . . . We don't want to impose, we don't own the place. . . . We want to be accepted." "
The song was being prepared for e-mailing as MP3 packages to scores of Latino radio stations and other media last night, and Kidron was calling for stations to play the song simultaneously at 7 Eastern Time this evening.
Assimilation --
I guess the question is, who is trying to assimulate who?
4 comments:
I probably sound like a broken record here, but I'll write it again: The day is coming when MexSpanish will be a required subject in the schools, while English will be reduced to being an elective subject. This bastardization of the National Anthem is just about the final straw.
You're scottish, huh? Well, I guess you're pretty lucky that most of the scottish immigrants who came to America didn't have to learn a new language. Regardless, THIS IS A COUNTRY OF IMMIGRANTS. There is no such thing as an American "race". America is too young for that. English is just the language we use here to communicate to one another. Our evolution as a people is going to take thousands of years to complete(just like any other nation), and it's going to integrate all of the races that emigrated to this country. To say that this song is offensive is to reduce our national identity to a language. Our national identity is that we are a country of immigrants. How does calling this song offensive make sense? It is a representation of the values everyone in this country is supposed to hold dear.
You're scottish, huh? Well, I guess you're pretty lucky that most of the scottish immigrants who came to America didn't have to learn a new language. Regardless, THIS IS A COUNTRY OF IMMIGRANTS. There is no such thing as an American "race". America is too young for that. English is just the language we use here to communicate to one another. Our evolution as a people is going to take thousands of years to complete(just like any other nation), and it's going to integrate all of the races that emigrated to this country. To say that this song is offensive is to reduce our national identity to a language. Our national identity is that we are a country of immigrants. How does calling this song offensive make sense? It is a representation of the values everyone in this country is supposed to hold dear.
Michelle, First of all, I have a bit of Scotch-Irish in my background, but that is not where my blogger name is representing. My wife and I are owned by three Scottish Terriers.
Second: I see nothing in my previous blog that said that being American is a Race. By accusing me of that your are showing yourself to be a true liberal, injecting things that are completely false in order to make some sort of leftist point (pun intended).
Third: The National Anthem was written in English by Francis Scott Key during the British siege of Ft. McHenry in 1814. It was later made into the National Anthem by Congress, all of whom spoke English. The music came from an old English drinking song. The drinking song was most likely sung in English by the British.
Fourth: You are correct in saying that ours is a country of immigrants. Our founding fathers all spoke English, with few exceptions, namely the Dutch who settled primarily in the Manhattan Island area. But, eventually they were also speaking English. You said that English is merely the language we use to communicate with each other. Do not lose sight of the fact that 99.99% of all Americans are speaking English. This bastardized version of our National Anthem should not be sung in any language but English, just as "La Marseille", the French National Anthem, should not be sung in any language but French.
Until MexSpanish is mandated by Congress to be the second language of the U.S., as French was mandated by the Canadian parliament to be their second language, then "The Star Spangled Banner" must be sung in English.
Lastly: You said that the singing of our Nationa Anthem represents the values everyone holds dear. I don't think that very many people will support your thinking that the illegal invasion of criminal illegal aliens, and then having them convert our Anthem into something the vast majority of the citizens of the U.S. do not even recognize, is anything we can "hold dear".
One other thing: I agree that our country will integrate all the various races that emigrate here. But, unless you are advocating that our country become like China, with it's hundreds of various dialects that no one who lives there can possibly understand, the language of our country should remain English, just as the prevailing dialect of China is Mandarin.
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