Weblog

I hate bigotry. Hearing about it is one way to get me excited enough to… well… complain loudly.

Welcome to America. Yes, I bash the nation for the being… well… you see, America is silly. However, there is one thing that I love about America, and it's something that sets it apart from most other nations:¹ America doesn't belong to any group of people except for one: the people who live in America. There's no race that you need to be, no religion to follow and no language to speak to classify one as an American.

It absolutely irritates the crap out of me to hear people go off saying things contrary to that. When Keith Ellison was sworn into Congress, he caused a controversy because he chose to swear himself in on a copy of the Qur'an.² The controversy manifested itself even though there is some sort of clause in the constitution prohibiting any religious test for public officials.³ Then, in the recent election, there were multiple rumors flying around that Barak Obama is a closet Muslim. Even though the majority of the people were rightly informed and no matter how loudly certain people said such to the contrary,⁴ there were still some people unconvinced. During all of this, I'm here saying why: what difference would it make if Obama were a Muslim or not? Earlier, during the Republican primaries, some people were concerned about Mitt Romney being a Mormon and refusing to support him based on that. Here I was saying “I'd vote for a Muslim if he were solid on the issues.”⁵

I can remember a story that my sister once told me. She was at her workplace⁶ talking to her husband on the telephone in Spanish. Then, a coworker told her that she needed to speak English. I absolutely went ballistic after hearing that. I wanted to go down there and speak French to her… pardonable French, that is.⁷ It's probably a good thing that my sister never gave me a name because I do know how to speak pardonable French. Never mind the fact that it's rude to even listen in to a conversation on the phone between two other people, in this country, there is this thing that's guaranteed to all people called freedom of speech.³ America belongs to Spanish speakers too, and, if they want to be catered in their own language, they have that right to demand to be catered in their own language and the restaurants, banks and bookstores have that option to cater to them. Indeed, if it proves useful, it's not a bad idea.

I could go on: I haven't even touched on national origin and gender. I think that I've said enough though. The point is this: America doesn't belong to any group. America belongs to those who live in America. America isn't a Christian nation no matter how much we want it to be. English speakers do not own America. We've made progress on not associating America with any particular race, but we still have… well… idiots chanting and shouting as part of KKK or neo-Nazi groups and being… well… idiots. For the most part, most people in this country don't share those feelings: they're more progressive in their attitudes.⁸ The problem is that those who aren't are loud…

…but I'm loud too.

1. Well, many nations are headed down this road as well. I'd say that it's a good thing.
2. In reality, he was sworn in en masse in the chamber with the rest of the congressmen. The use of Bibles and other sacred texts usually occurs during an unofficial photo-op later.
3. I believe that I read that somewhere once.
4. They even had McCain saying it!
5. Obama isn't a Muslim, and he wasn't solid on the issues.
6. Which doubles as my high-school alma mater.
7. That is, the type of French that you say “Pardon my French” before speaking.
8. And I do not apologise for using that word.