POLITICALLY INCORRECT TEXAS SCHOOL PRINCIPAL FIRED FOR TELLING STUDENTS NOT TO SPEAK SPANISH

School board sides with those who advocate allowing students to keep Spanish as their first language

When in 1936 I arrived in this country from Germany, I could not speak a single word of English. In school, I was put in the first grade instead of the fourth. I felt out of place and the first-graders poked fun at my attempts to communicate in some way. There was no bilingual education and I did not learn to speak English in school. I learned English from other kids on the streets of Brooklyn. Once I learned some English, I spoke it around my parents every chance I could because I wanted to break them of the habit of speaking only in German at home. My father, who had held executive positions in Germany, took a job running an elevator until he learned to speak English. I believe I helped him by insisting that my parents speak English at home. In retrospect, I am thankful that I did not have the ‘benefit’ of a bilingual education because it helped me to learn English faster, and collaterally, my parents too.

Hempstead is a small Texas town located about 50 miles west of Huston. It has a large Hispanic population. The majority of students in its school district are Mexican-Americans. Many of those students speak Spanish as their first language. Last December the principal of of Hempstead Middle School announced over the school’s public address system that students will no longer be allowed to speak Spanish in school and on the school grounds. Amy Lacey, the principal, was quickly placed on paid administrative leave by the school board following an uproar by the Hispanic community. And on Monday the board decided not to renew her contract, in effect firing the former principal.

I do not know the motive behind Lacey’s announcement banning the speaking of Spanish. But I do know that a good command of the English language is essential in obtaining a good and well-paying job. Many of the students speaking Spanish as their first language will become school dropouts. Students, who do graduate from high school while still speaking Spanish as their first language, will be relegated to working at menial jobs. The lucky ones will find jobs as skilled construction workers who will earn good wages despite the handicap of speaking poor English.

I am beginning to wonder if the defenders of the Alamo died in vain. And I also wonder who really won the 1846-1848 Mexican-American War. It seems as though Mexico is retaking California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas without firing a shot.

When students in a California school district are not allowed to wear American flag T-shirts for fear of offending Mexican-American students on Cinco de Mayo, when a California high school flies the Mexican flag above the American flag on Cinco de Mayo, and when a Texas school principal is fired for banning the speaking of Spanish in an American public school, then we are well on the way down the road to the states of Mexifornia and Texmexias.