On January 3, 1919, just three days before his death, Theodore Roosevelt wrote in a letter to the American Defense Society:
"We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here does in good faith become an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with every one else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed or birthplace or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American and nothing but an American.
If he tries to keep segregated with men of his own origin and separated from the rest of America, then he isn't doing his part as an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all.
We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, and American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house; and we have room for but one sole loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people."
"Americanization" was a favorite theme of Roosevelt's during his later years, when he railed repeatedly against "hyphenated Americans" and the prospect of a nation "brought to ruins" by a "tangle of squabbling nationalities."
He advocated the compulsory learning of English by every naturalized citizen. "Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or to leave the country," he said in a statement to the Kansas City Star in 1918. "English should be the only language taught or used in the public schools."
He also insisted, on more than one occasion, that America has no room for what he called "fifty-fifty allegiance." In a speech made in 1917 he said, "It is our boast that we admit the immigrant to full fellowship and equality with the native-born. In return we demand that he shall share our undivided allegiance to the one flag which floats over all of us."
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Today I picked up the phone and there was that silence...you know, when it is a telemarketer or a recorded call...and you do that "hello, hello, and you know what's coming next...so that's when I normally just hang up.
Something told me to stay on the line this time.
It was a recorded message from my mail-in prescription company.
But I did not find that out right away.
You see, FIRST I was informed that ....
IF YOU WANT THIS MESSAGE IN ENGLISH, PRESS ONE....
Alright......
Very, very, very UNGLUED here.....
I know I have said it in the past.
I do not want to press one for English.
Why should I have to press one for English?
This is my country.
This is America.
I am an American.
If this wasn't my RX company....
and this company was selling me a product....
I would not be purchasing that product right now.
I would not have pressed one.
I refuse to PRESS ONE unless I am forced.
By that I mean, if it is something for my health, or something the government is forcing me to do...let's say regarding taxes, etc. These are things I feel I don't have much choice in, but let me say, after I "press one," someone on the other end, up in management, gets an earful from me. And believe me, I do not like being forced to press one about as much as I like getting the runaround on the phone for ten minutes to try to talk to an actual human being.
Our businesses and our government need to stop catering to the indolence of our immigrants just so they can make another buck.
The non-English speaking parents of children who are learning English in school need to be responsible and get off their asses and learn English too. They need to stop speaking their native language at home with their children until everyone in the family is proficient in English. They are hurting their children's progress at school.
To quote Teddy Roosevelt….
“The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants.”
LEARN ENGLISH!
