The other day I received and email from a friend that contained a video of a story that Fox News broadcast a couple of years ago. The tag line said that I needed to watch it to understand a terrible injustice brought about by liberals, illegal immigration, and political correctness — not necessarily in that order. It was one of those emails that I receive once or twice per week. Take a look at the video for yourself (it’s only a 36 second clip):
If your first response is to tilt your head to the side and scratch the back of your skull while having a dazed and confused look on your face, then you know exactly how it affected me. The thought that went along with said reaction, however, was the same one that I had when I was a kid and someone offered me the opportunity to see a “bearded lady” at the local carnival that passed through my home town each summer — “this simply sounds too crazy to be true.”
Being the skeptic that I am, I decided to conduct an investigation to see if I could get to the bottom of it and find out what really happened. I started by reading some of the comments that were being made on YouTube. They were pretty scathing: “Round ‘em up and send ‘em home,” said one patriot. Another brain surgeon in the making chimed in, “This is what happens when we elect a black man as president.” (The politically correct violation that is referenced in the video occurred a couple of years ago, by the way, long before Obama entered our national spotlight.) Clearly, these blockheads were not searching for the real story and so I would not find it there.
So I plugged some combination of words such as “Oregon Mexican firefighter fired” and quickly found what I wanted: a statement from the State of Oregon’s Department of Forestry that explained the matter in considerable detail. It took me all of about 45 seconds to read, but what it revealed was very depressing (given the number of people who watched and believed the original story).
It makes sense that so many people hate liberals and Mexicans and political correctness. With stories like this floating around on the WWW, who wouldn’t be clamoring for the microphone to add to the shouting chorus of red-blooded Americans who want to preserve the United States for the “real Americans” (not to be confused with Native Americans, of course).
So how many times have you been duped by such an email or a rumor? How often do you find yourself saying, “No way. Can’t possibly be true. I’ve got to look that up before I let it lodge into my RAM?” As opposed to, let’s imagine, “This sounds fishy and so I’d better explore it before I pass it on.”
This stuff cuts both ways, mind you, because misinformation enters the public discourse from both the right and the left wings of the political spectrum. (This story originally aired on Fox News, but left-wing blogs and web sites picked it up and carried it as though it was true, by the way.) My gut inclination tells me that the right is slightly better at putting out misinformation than the left, and that the right has less scruples about lying–but only by about a 51/49 margin. Perhaps that’s just because more of their political operatives have written tell all books about their strategies and misdeeds. (If you haven’t read any of these and you fancy yourself a conservative, then perhaps you ought to take a look.)
An addendum: One respondent who is a firefighter noted the utmost importance of communication while fighting fires and pointed out that non English speaking firefighters would be problematic on English speaking crews. I absolutely agree and would maintain that Mexicans who do not speak English should NOT be on crews with U.S. firefighters who only speak English. The point of this blog entry is to highlight anti-Mexican hysteria.
Chain mails are dumbing down America. People will believe anything they hear – or…read – especially if it comes from a “reliable” source. A reliable source in this instance could be anything: a family member, an old teacher, or really any message that says “THIS IS REAL. DO NOT IGNORE.” You know the ones. There’s this apparently great site called Snopes.com that my mother and grandmother both swear by. My grandma is not one to just blindly believe everything that’s thrown at her, so she found this site online that apparently legitimizes any rumor that floats around the web and analyzes it. Is it true? False? Undetermined as yet? Snopes tells all. But how reliable is Snopes? It’s like Wikipedia in the sense that it has a ton of what sounds like reliable information, gives notice when that information might not be so reliable, and references other places that have more information. Sounds pretty good to me. Perhaps more people should think about going there before they believe rumors like the one on this week’s blog?
I think that every time something new comes along people make a bigger and bigger deal about it. This is far from the first instance of racism in this country. People have been being discriminated against for hundreds of years. I talked about this last week, so I won’t go over it again. And it’s not like I’m saying it’s not bad or that it’s ok that this is happening. I just think that with the technology these days, the shrinking world, and the mass communication, everyone knows everything and has something to say about it.
What can we do about this “anti-Mexican hysteria”? Not a thing, I don’t think. There will always be people set in their ways enough to be unwelcoming to those different than them. Additionally, the media loves drama; I’m pretty sure that’s how it came about. Put those two together and you have media highlighting racial hysteria and blowing it hugely out of proportion. People eat that stuff up. I’m of the opinion that the media rarely tells the truth, or at least not the whole truth. There are too many things that we have to be ashamed of for the press to tell the straight facts about our country and the people living in it.
As for the anti-Mexican nonsense, I don’t actually have a lot to say about it. I’ve come to find that I don’t really have a lot to say about these weekly topics directly, but am quite opinionated when it comes to the issues surrounding them. My opinion being, of course, that all this happens all the time, always has, and I don’t think there’s much that can be done about it. Not to say that I think it’s ok, it’s just that it kind of happens. What should we do about it? What can we do?
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When I read this article it reminded me a lot of the picture of the Mexicans hanging the flag upside down. As Americans we immediately jump up and get upset over things that may affect our jobs and our lives as Americans. Sometimes I think rightfully so, our ancestors who immigrated from all over the world came to this country and adapted to its culture and ideals. My grandmother came over on a boat in the 1930s and learned how to speak English so she could get a job and be able to be educated in school. We are in a period of increased immigration but a period no different than the ones our ancestors experienced. Obviously, I don’t agree with the unnecessary uproar that is created when rumors such as this get started and as a public relations major and a conservative I am slightly appalled.
Just to touch on the comment Sam made about conservative media and liberal media. People typically talk about the media and how Fox News is so conservative and lies. Well yes they are a little over the edge at times and are pretty far right but that is because the rest of the national media is so incredibly liberal. People, especially college students, fail to understand how bias the CNNs and MSNBCs are. Just look at the incident of President Obama saying he should be in the “special olympics for bowling.” The media would be screaming and yelling if Bush would have made a comment like that. They would call him stupid and say how ridiculous it is that he is our President. So Thank you Sam for noting that this article is not about bashing the only right wing media source its about discussing the need of the American people to always get into a tizzy based on a rumor that threatens who we are as Americans.
After reading over the Oregon Department of Forestry’s website you can clearly see what Fox News did, they assumed that since the rule was that you must speak the same language of the person who was leading you that, it would mean that with the influx of firefighters of Mexican descent that everyone would have to learn how to speak Spanish. Does this make it ok or justifiable? Of course not. I’m sure that this would fit into one of our stages as white people, that when we feel threatened we immediately express and transcend our anger and disapproval.
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The purpose of a news network should be to present an unbiased presentation of the facts to provide information to a population so that they can make intelligent and informed decisions. It is bad enough that listeners already possess their own particular bias and therefore strive to interpret the facts of every situation to support their predetermined prejudices. Combine this with the fact that many people are so naïve that they believe that what they hear is the undisputable truth, especially if it has been broadcast on the national news. Quick to applaud the affirmation of what they already believe, these listeners perpetuate their close-minded and ignorant perspective.
The news networks have a responsibility to the population they serve because the influence they have over society is overwhelming. A slanted view can promote prejudice rather than provide truthful accounts. FOX news is despicable because of its blatant and irresponsible and what appears intentional misrepresentation of the facts. If it was so easy to dispute their story about the firefighters in Oregon, obviously the FOX news story was not researched well or information was intentionally presented incorrectly. FOX news is evil in the greatest possible sense because they prey on people’s paranoia and ignorance to spread fear, hatred, and negativity. Unfortunately, people are always looking for a scapegoat to blame for their own misfortune and the Mexicans have been unjustly targeted over and over again. “Send the Mexicans home” is the war cry, and all of the social and economic problems in our country will be resolved is the assumption. Find out what happens to the service industry and agriculture if that wish comes to fruition. We should be grateful to the Mexican immigrants who are willing to perform jobs that many American people are too lazy, spoiled, or proud to even consider.
The language issue raised in this story is also infuriating to me. It is absolutely necessary for firefighters to be able to communicate and they have resolved that issue simply by requiring that supervisors of teams with non-English speaking members be bilingual. The fact that people get so pompous about the fact that some immigrants have not mastered the English language only points out the fact that many Americans are resistant and incapable of learning another language themselves. What are we afraid of in this country really? Is it that we may be enriched by another culture and its language?
I guess the lesson to learn from this is not to jump to conclusions. Consider the source of your information (especially if it is FOX NEWS) and investigate a story or both sides of a conflict before forming an opinion and spreading information. Be a firefighter yourself: stop forwarding inaccuracies and propaganda through e-mails where misinformation spreads like wildfires!!!
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I do not wish to directly attack anyone, but as I was reading through some of the comment one in particular really bothered me. Although I will not throw you under the spotlight I would like to comment on what someone wrote, “The Mexicans are in our country, and should learn to speak our language”. Honestly, if you would have said this to my face I would have called you ignorant and completely dismissed you as just another close minded idiot. Honestly, who says that? Ok, I can understand that it if these Mexicans get these jobs as firefighters it is a safety hazard. This does not mean that people should go yapping away about how they need to learn the language and that non-citizens should not get jobs. Lots of non-citizens do the jobs that others do not want to do. If it was not for them then America would not be where it is now. Everyone has ancestors, other than the Native Americans, that were once immigrants. Are you trying to say that these people are just supposed to sit around and starve to death other than get jobs while they wait for their citizenship to go through? At least they are doing something beneficial for their community. It’s a shame people still think the world needs to revolve around America and that everyone should learn English. If it was so easy to learn another language so quickly, wouldn’t everyone do it?
Anywho, now that I got that off my chest I can comment on this blog appropriately. After I saw the short clip I started laughing because Sam’s explanation of his reaction looked just like mine. He was right; it was too ridiculous to even take seriously. I am not upset that people are mad that these people were wrongly demoted for not knowing Spanish. I am upset because the media has a predictable way of twisting the truth to make their headlines more interesting. It does not occur to the media that things such as this can bring unwanted negativity towards innocent Mexican-Americans. It does not seem fair that one isolated incident must cause so much anger and hostility. The guidelines for hiring firefighters are clearly given; there should be no problem. If these people in higher positions want to hear these non-English speaking people than they need to deal with the consequences. It almost seems like they are trying to place all the blame on the Latinos just because they do not speak English. If they had such a problem with it then why would you hire them in the first place? In the end, I feel that people need to stop relying solely on what the media says because people need to learn to come to their own conclusions. Sam said so himself, it was sad to see how so many people believed the lies the media spun before even doing their own investigation. Apparently, people are guilty before proven innocent in the eyes of the media.
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My first reaction to the video clip about the Mexican firefighters who didn’t speak English was, like Sam’s, confusion that supervisors would actually be demoted for not speaking Spanish. Then, I remembered that the clip showed a news report from Fox News and I realized that the report was probably sensationalized crap meant to stir up the conservative base. If this report was seen by people in my hometown area (the Wyoming Valley), I can imagine the reaction: “See?! Those damned Mexicans are causing trouble for all of us “real” Americans who speak English!” It’s incredible to me that Sam (a single individual) did more research on the issue than Fox News (“Fair and Balanced” with massive resources that could be used to get information) did.
First of all, without even mentioning that the story isn’t as black and white as the video clip made it out to be, I’d like to take on the issue of the “Welcome to American, now speak English” culture. I really can’t stand this kind of thing. The vast majority of our European ancestors, especially those who came to American in the early 1900s, did not speak English. This is why neighborhoods of people with the same ethnicities formed. Many of the neighborhoods within New York City’s boroughs were originally inhabited by people who were ethnically alike. In my area, I live in a predominately Polish town. The city where I went to school was predominately Italian. The town where I used to attend church was mostly Irish (the church was St. Mary’s, a popular name for Irish churches). When many European immigrants came to this country and settled alongside others of like ethic backgrounds, they were able to get by speaking in only their native tongue since most of the people in the stores and churches spoke their language. However, many people today who are descendants of these same European immigrants seem to have much less tolerance for the Mexican immigrants today than the citizens of the United States in the early 1900s had for their ancestors.
Despite everything I just said, I understand that it is extremely important to have communication between firefighters. If the fire departments in Oregon need to hire Mexican-Americans to be firefighters, than they should attempt to hire English-speakers. If they can’t get enough English-speakers, than they should make sure (like they do, according to their website) that the supervisor of the crew can speak both Spanish and English.
As far as how many times I have been duped by a rumor or e-mail, I can honestly say I can’t remember it happening much. If I get some type of chain e-mail that offers facts that I am not sure are true, I research them. My girlfriend just forwarded me an e-mail last week that said that Mr. Rogers (the guy who used to be on TV with the sweaters on singing about beautiful days in his neighborhood) had been a Navy SEAL who had like 20 confirmed kills, and that he wore the sweaters to cover up his tattoos. After reading the e-mail, my “bullshit alarm” immediately went off so I decided to do some research. After searching for “Mr. Rogers navy seal”, I found an Urban Legends web page from about.com that confirmed that the story was indeed a fabrication.
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I think that when people first see the clip about the firefighter they just jump straight to conclusions and assume that it is the head firefighters fault for not being able to speak Spanish and English, if some one grows up in the United States and has only lived here and lived a sheltered life it is not really their fault that they can only speak English. I showed the video to my friend Jackie who comes from a Hispanic background and she thought it was ridiculous that people can not take the time to learn the language another country speaks, she feels the same way I do that if you are going to come into another and live and work here they should be able to speak the language of the country they are living in. My friend Jackie told me about how her mother who is also Hispanic has to deal with some people she works with who speak Spanish and she tells them all the time that she is not always going to be around to translate for them to other people who do not speak Spanish, Her mom tells them that they should learn English just to be able to help themselves in a country where the majority of people only speak English. I understand that if there is a group of firefighters that only speak Spanish they should still learn English because they are living in the United States where the language most spoken is English. I do not just expect that of people who come to the United States I also expect that of any American who goes to another country to at least know a little of their language so they can communicate with the other people around them. Communication is not just important for firefighters working together to put out a fire, it is important for everything we do every single day. You cannot get food or buy a house or find somewhere to live or get directions or anything with out communicating with some one. Communication is the basis or our every day life. I understand that there are groups of people who work together and all speak the same language which may not necessarily be the main language spoken in the country they are in but they should still learn at least a little bit of that language. It would make everything a lot easier because they would be able to communicate with so many more people than they would if they only spoke the language from their native country. Part of being in a different country is experiencing new things and learning about new cultures and it all starts with a common language
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I had to read the blog and watch the clip about the Oregon firefighters twice before I fully understood what they were all about. How awful that this news station would use this story as a chance to generate more bad feelings about Mexicans in this country. My first reaction after hearing the clip was to respond to his final comment: “So why not require the workers to speak English? The state has no clear answer on that.” I thought to myself, why don’t they require the Spanish-speaking firefighters to learn English, rather than firing the squad leaders who do not speak Spanish? Or provide Spanish lessons for them… it doesn’t seem fair for them to be laid off for such a reason. Of course, when I read the statement from Oregon’s Department of Forestry, it all made sense. Obviously, the news coverage was inaccurate. This is when I watched the clip for the second time. I couldn’t believe the way they made the story so much more dramatic and shock-inducing than what was actually going on. Of course firefighters need to communicate when they are battling fires. And if a squad captain decides to hire a Mexican firefighter who speaks only Spanish, it is only reasonable to require that he speak Spanish as well.
It is sad that news stations are using situations like these to perpetuate anti-Mexican hysteria. I’m sad to say, but if I watched this story on the news a few years ago, I would probably not have taken the time to research what is really going on. I’ve always taken the news to be 100% accurate and objective. Pushing stories that are untrue just to cause an audience reaction is what the tabloids are for. Telling me a made-up story to try and get me to turn on someone is something that happened frequently in high school, but not while watching the news. Unfortunately, since I came to college and began studying sociology and race relations, it is glaringly obvious that this is not the case. Now I understand that sometimes even the most seemingly trustworthy sources can have hidden agendas. One of the things that makes me so sad about this situation is how eagerly people seemed to believe it. They see an opportunity to once again get themselves worked up about immigration and Mexicans, and they completely take advantage of it. What a shame. Talk about a lesson in taking what you hear with a grain of salt. I would have never guessed that Americans would need to do this so frequently. I am sad for the people who commented on the video without the slightest idea of what was really going on. I wonder how they would react to the truth, whether they would feel stupid for believing a lie and getting upset over it, or indifferent, since the news was simply playing right into their views. I hope that Americans will learn to be more skeptical regarding the flow of information. Also, I hope that news stations will keep their integrity intact and provide viewers with accurate and unbiased stories.
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It seems to me that this video about Mexican fire fighters joining English speaking crews and the chiefs of these crews being fired for not speaking Spanish is absolutely ridiculous. I cannot even begin to ponder how it can be legal for any type of journalist or news station to report this type of false story. As much as I love the United States, and the fact that it is the “most free country in the world”, it almost makes me sick that these types of stories can air because of freedom of speech, to make some groups of people sound bad for something that they have not even done. This video for example, makes it seem that the Mexican fire fighters are doing something wrong. Clearly, they were just trying to help the fire fighters already working on the fires since they seemed to be in dire need of any help that they could get, but instead it is reported that their help is hurting the American chiefs who don’t speak Spanish, and getting them demoted or even fired.
The only thing that I can think of after hearing this story is racism. It seems evident to me that they heard that American chiefs were being fired for not being able to speak Spanish to maybe one or two men out of twenty, and automatically had to make it a breaking story. Everyone wants constant updates, whether it is breaking news that interrupts a TV show, or they are simply just looking on a search engine such as Yahoo or Google for an interesting article to read. Because of this constant need for news updates, journalism and reporting quality are significantly increasing. Reporters no longer have as much care for the truth behind the story, rather they will take the more interesting story, or the story that will bring about more controversy, simply to help their ratings.
I have no problem understanding why all firefighters on the same crew must be able to communicate. It is quite obvious that it is for their own safety. That is not my concern. Even though I know this story probably has a good deal of bias to it, some parts of it still annoy me. I don’t see why only the captains would have to speak Spanish. Not that I know much about firefighting, but it would seem to me that all members of the crew should be able to communicate, not just the captain. Also, I don’t understand why they would have to speak Spanish. I am not trying to come off as racist, and even though I know we have no national language, but I still believe that anyone that lives in the US should be able to speak English, not only for the sake of people who do speak English, but for these people themselves. I know that if I were to move to a different country, I would want to know the language, so I simply can’t understand why they wouldn’t want to speak English.
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When I read this article I was really shock at what I was reading and listening to. I think its funny how fox news took the story and lied about it when the truth is on the internet. Does the news station think the viewers are stupid? They took this story and lied about it just so they can make their ratings higher. It’s a shame the news stations takes stories and change them around to benefit themselves not their viewers. We the viewers have right to know the truth about stories that happen in our country. This article goes back when Dr. Richard was talking about how the news only shows the negative side of the stories and not the truth about them. He showed us the many video clips of what the American people do to the people in Iraq. He also told us stories about how friendly the people were and how they sent their greeting back to the American people. The news stations flip the script and make us think they are the evil people.
I think all employers need to be able to communicate with their employees; however I do think that if you are an American citizen you should be able to speak the English language. A majority of Americans only speak English. How are Spanish only speaking Americans going to communicate with English only speaking Americans if they don’t know the language? I’m not saying that they should leave their native language in the country they are from but I do think they need to learn language that is spoken in America so they will be able to communicate with other Americans. Communication is very important part for any job not just for firefighters. It is important for employers to be able to communicate with their employees so they will be able to get the job done right. I don’t think the employers should’ve been fired or demoted especially when it is not required to speak the same language as their employees. I do think that the company should have provided a Spanish speaking course for the employers and an English speaking course for their employees so they will be able to communicate. I know what it feels like to not be able to communicate with someone. Working in retail, there are some customers that come in and they don’t know how to speak English. It’s frustrating because you can’t explain to them when something is wrong with one of the items they are about to purchase. You don’t want the customers thinking they got cheated out of a deal. A few years ago there was an incident in Philadelphia where a local restaurant put up a sign that said “Speak English When you are ordering.” This caused some controversy in the city of Philadelphia and a lot of people saw this comment as racist. If the customer can not speak English how will the waiter know what they want? We need to be able to communicate if not how will know what is important or what we need to do.
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This video clip just proves how the media twists information around just to make it more interesting. Sometimes stories are “slightly” changed in order to turn a small issue into a big one. Why is that they feel the need to use propaganda and exaggeration to make something entertaining? Most people watch the news in order to find out the truth around the world and in their home towns, not to see how creative the stories can get or how the anchors can make them laugh. There are plenty of other channels on the television that can entertain us; the news should not be one of them.
A few weeks ago, it was brought to my attention in our discussion groups that Fox News is known to reword stories to make them either more interesting or in favor of whites. I honestly had no idea that that was even an issue that had been brought up. When I heard of this I was honestly stunned. I couldn’t believe that such a famous and popular news channel would suddenly have such bad reviews. And what do you know, this exact clip originated from Fox News. When I listened to the clip, the first thing that popped in my head was “is this one of those fake things from comedy central?” Then I looked in the bottom left corner and noticed that no, it was not from comedy central, it was from Fox News; the exact channel everyone was talking about. After I realized that it wasn’t a joke, I had to listen to it again. And then I became really confused.
Why was the focus on how the Hispanics are taking over the white firefighter’s jobs? Is Spanish the dominant language in Oregon? I think not. So why is it that the firefighters are recruiting so many Hispanics that only speak Spanish, and are letting go of multiple non-Spanish speaking whites? Well, Fox News is trying to get people to feel exactly this, and to feel some hatred towards the Spanish, even if they have no real reason to do so in the first place.
Well did anyone ever consider the fact that maybe it just happened to be that some Hispanics were being recruited and that the fire department just happened to let go of some White firefighters? There could be no direct correlation between the two, and the White firefighters are just angry that they lost their job, and are taking it out on the ones who are replacing them.
I understand why some Whites are taking this situation as if the Spanish are taking over, and why is it that the Whites should be fired for not knowing their language. I agree with the fact that communication is key, but why is it that the Hispanics don’t have to know the dominant language, and we have to know theirs?
But on the other hand, why is it that Fox news, and the white firefighters are making this seem as if it is a race issue? This could well be just a coincidence and not even a problem in the first place. Now honestly, I don’t know how I feel about this whole situation, but what I do know is that it is necessary to get all the facts first before making a conclusion.
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This article is very interesting. Personally, I do not like reading articles about Americans complaining about how immigrants are taking their jobs. People do not realize the notion of human beings and how cruel it is to turn your back on people who need to work the most. Think about this. Who wants to work in the farms under the hot, hot sun? Who wants to mow the lawn under such hot circumstances? I am assuming that Americans do not want to do those kinds of jobs and when people are willing to take those jobs to support their family, where they have absolutly nothing, Americans then complain that the immigrants are taking their jobs. That being said, one of the commenters said that if you are a firefighter, communication is very important. If you have one person who does not speak English, he should not be working. The title is also also horrible: “Those damn Mexican Americans are at it again”. How ignorant can people be? That being said, Whoever come into this country should at least make an effort to speak English. Just as so if Americans were to go to Mexico, they should learn Spanish, even so if they want to get by. “Round ‘em up” is such a terrible statement to make towards the Mexicans! How dare they say that to them? People need to start looking at immigrants as hunam beings and not as an object. You can not just say things like that and expect to get away with it. I also agree with one of the commenters in which he/she said that sometimes the news reporters do not have tradional proof and can not back their fiesty statements. They state these such appauling lines and yet they have no proof that it is actully true. It is more about the merit than it is about the job because people work harder than Americans. There are certain companies that do nto hire international workers and in that case they are compaters. Again, who wants to do labor work? The same issue also applies to when Americans say that all job should stop going oversees. Why don’t you guys gain some more knowledge and learn more so that way you can level up to those foreigners who are a lot more smarter than you! Companies want and hire the best so they go to people who have brains. I hate it when people say “every time I call Dell (or HP etc) and Indian answers the phone”. Of course! And that should tell you that we are a little smarter at computers than you guys. However, I think that they should learn to diffuse their heavy, thick Indian accent. I actually find it annoying that when I call HP, I could hardly understand the person I am talking to and I always have to ask them to repeat it several times.
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When I read this story, I was not surprised to see that Fox News reported this story first. I interned there last summer and that is one bias station. But then again many of the news stations are very bias in one way or the other. It doesn’t surprise me that the cable network is broadcasting information to the public that is not true or misinform them. I am a journalism major and one thing that they teach us is to be unbiased and ethical, however, you see it everyday in the news, where reporters and news stations are doing something unethical and biased. It is obviously done to gain attention and attract viewers because anything that is either sad, awful, or just a lie people seem to like.
When it comes to this article about the firefighters, I have mixed feelings about it. I do feel that people in the United States need to know English. In this case, these firefighters should know some English. They make not be fluent but they should know it because it this case where they are saving people’s lives, how would they know what the victim’s are saying if they can’t understand them. People who work in law enforcement or jobs that require saving peoples lives should be required to know English. I know I wouldn’t want to get into an ambulance with paramedics that don’t speak English because how would they know what I am telling them is wrong with me?
I think the fire department is also to blame for hiring these men who did not speak English so I do believe it is just as much their fault. The main reason why I think this made the news is not so much about the issue but because it involves a different race. I know we talk about this in class and how whites just have it so easily and I’m white and I agree with this. Any story on the news that contains someone of a different race seems to draw more attention. A majority of the crimes they show on television are committed by black males, or are they? Maybe they just make it seem like it is mostly black males. By showing this kind of story on the news, I think it make Americans dislike Mexican Americans more. For some reason, we already tend to discriminate against them because we think they are “taking over” our country and people always assume they don’t speak English so I think this broadcast could increase the hatred towards Mexicans.
Whatever race it may be or whatever language, Americans will always discriminate to some extent. Whatever the situation, language barriers should not be that big of a problem. We should all try to communicate with each other.
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For some innate reason, I’ve always felt that individuals educated in a particular field have the duty of not just conversing in the small circles of their field of intellect, but also to inform others not involved in their field about what is going on, what breakthroughs are happening. Basically, I’ve always valued all of the subfields within the profession of journalism. This is not easy task by any means, dumbing down technical jargon for the general public is tricky. Also, it’s never easy to determine what to include and what isn’t necessary to include. Subfields within journalism, such as medical journalism, can do the general public a lot of good, or do just the opposite and cause a lot of harm. It’s a delicate balance between informing the public and causing mass hysteria for no reason. All of a sudden you have all of these people rushing to their doctor because they think they have many of the symptoms of a certain disease or condition they heard about on the news. Then, you have people thinking they know enough form one story or one article on PubMed to diagnose themselves. Journalists certainly have their work cut out for them.
The Fox news story is similar in the fact that it causes mass hysteria, causing anti-Mexican attitudes. Not all mistakes have such consequences but in this case, prejudice was an effect. In this case, information wasn’t left out; the information was just completely incorrect, masquerading as fact instead of fiction. Even if Fox had followed up with the truth, that there was no such case of an English-speaking firefighter being fired due to Mexican-speaking workers, much damage would probably have already occurred. Who’s to say the same audience who heard the originally story would also hear the apology? Fox has to get it right the first time at least for its own credibility if for nothing else. What’s the point of watching the “news” if we can’t believe anything that is said?
My first thought after watching the video was these reporters are educated people. Parts of the story made sense like saying communication is a vital part of the firefighting profession, but didn’t they notice that it sounded a bit off that a firefighter leading a crew would be fired if just one of the workers under him/her spoke Spanish? Not one of the reporters working on the story took a step back and thought English-speaking firefighters looked like victims and Mexican-speaking firefighters sounded like the perpetrators and might cause an outcry? Even just a little background check on firefighting in general in Oregon would have revealed the truth behind their policies. It’s scary to think there are journalists out there making information up entirely or failing to check their sources. Deadlines are important, but so is avoiding misinformation. After so many mistakes, viewers are going to look elsewhere for their information where reporters report real news instead of trying to make good television.
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I agree with Sam’s last words in the blog- I think that if firefighters are going to be speaking a different language, the other members of the company and their chiefs should be able to communicate with them. In firefighting, communication is a very important part of helping to put out fires. So obviously, I think that if the people volunteering their lives to put out fires should learn English to be able to communicate with the others. I also think that it should work both ways and the chiefs should need to be able to learn some of the firefighter’s language to be able to communicate.
I do not think it is fair that the people volunteering to and putting their lives in the face of danger should be punished/fired/not allowed to do what they want. Besides, who else are we going to get to do the jobs that nobody else wants to? After all, the needs for firefighters (and other jobs of this nature) are extremely hard to fill. As soon as men or women start families they are concerned about the possibility of not only losing their life, but not being there for their families lives. If people are willing, I think that the others around them should be accommodating to that even though “we are in America.” I feel that the need for people to adjust must be on both sides.
To the bigger topic- I find it very nerving that information like this gets so misconstrued. It saddens me that the news people need to find news stories so much that they resort to airing information that is not even accurate. It would really be in their best interest to make sure that the information they are airing is in fact true. I know that that may be a hard task to accomplish, but why not give the people whose stories you are airing some dignity. I know that it is important to air the bad things and events occurring around the world but why not showcase a good story. Perhaps, they could even air a story about the positive aspects of those who volunteer their time, safety, etc. for others.
Furthermore, the fact that other people took this information from the news and used it and further exploited the false information makes me even more upset. This is one of the many reasons as to why the internet is not always such a good thing. So many stories get misconstrued through the internet and through stories written or told by people who are not fully and properly backing up their information with accurate evidence. I have to admit, I have found information on the internet and not thought twice about it being true and have shared the information with others around me. I am guilty of having done the same thing but this article has showed me how important it is to really know and find truth in something you hear.
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Seeing that video of the news cast was so strange. When I first watched it I could not believe that a company could even find it remotely plausible to fire someone over something like that. And then to read that other article from the State of Oregon’s Department of Forestry and find out that was all made up was ridiculous. Who thinks that it is ok to even start a rumor like that which is completely unfounded is beyond me. Then the fact that Fox News aired a story on it is so disappointing. They did not even bother to check facts to make sure they are reporting on an actual story. It is not like there are not enough people in the company to type it into the internet and find that it is totally false, just like Sam so easily did. People these days depend so heavily on the news programs in the media that they do not bother to make sure it is not completely made up to create a great story. And even if there is a slightly true story, whichever news station it is, they spin the story to fit what they want to hear. And to hear that people flipped out and wrote some very offensive material when watching the clip on YouTube is even more disheartening. I totally understand that watching something that crazy can be easily misinterpreted, but at the same time, why comment on something you are not sure is even real.
People in this country jump to conclusions so quickly especially when it includes a group of people they are not fond of. To hear someone say such horrible things about a group of people is always hard to hear. I agree that some people do take advantage of our country and the government. Then there are the hardworking Mexican people who live in our country legally and just like the rest of us. It is unfair to group all of these people together and say that they all need to be kicked out of the country. They are just a part of this country as anyone else and it cannot be generalized to such a large group of people.
And when people are so ignorant as to say “this is what happens when we elect a black person as a president” it is even more ridiculous. They did not even bother to see when this news broke and that is what not even close to when Obama was elected. People need to start taking the time to check what stories are true and those that are complete fabrications, and then maybe some problems can be avoided in the future.
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After seeing the video about the supposed firing of firefighter crew leaders because they did not speak Spanish I was surprised. But then I remembered that this was a Fox news broadcast, and suddenly I was slightly more skeptical. To anyone it should sound ridiculous that someone is being fired because they are not bilingual, and I was happy to find out that the information presented by Fox was completely false.
I do recognize, however that there are many people who think that Spanish-speaking people do not belong in America, because English is our “official language”. I’ve seen people get outraged when grocery stores began presenting their aisle signs in Spanish in addition to English. I have always thought that this was ridiculous, but the truth remains that there are people who hold a very strong prejudice against Mexican Americans and other Spanish-speaking citizens.
I think that part of the reason there is such an anti-Mexican feeling among some people is because the assumption is made that if someone speaks Spanish, then they MUST be an illegal immigrant. There is a pretty large disapproval of illegal immigrants because they are cheating the system and getting into the country very easily. Meanwhile there are other people who are not from central or South America who wish to immigrate but must wait their turn because they cannot swim over or run across the border. I, personally, do not think that illegal immigration should be tolerated as much as it is, but for a different reason. People immigrate to the United States because they want a better life and want to live the American dream. These people, however, are being paid under minimum wage, and living with over twenty people in a 3 bedroom house. In short, they are being taken advantage of, and yet no one is outraged for this reason.
It is ironic that people are so easily fooled by misinformation, and yet most of them have such strong opinions about what should and should not be done. It is outrageous claims like the ones made in this clip that cause people to have such negative feelings about Mexican Americans. People believe the news way to easily, and do not recognize that the stations, and reporters, all have their own agendas. The media is a very powerful entity that stops many people from thinking for themselves, or seeking out the truth, because after all, the news is always the truth…right?
There is a certain responsibility on each of us to seek out the truth for ourselves and not listen to everything we hear or read. Misinformation is one of the main things that causes prejudice to exist, because some intolerant and ignorant people are in a position to broadcast false things.
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When I first watched the clip I said, “what?” That was my response mainly because I was not paying attention. When I watched it again, I thought it was ridiculous. Well I feel anything Fox News reports is ridiculous, but that’s beside the point. But then I thought, it kind of makes sense if it is true. If there are people that speak different languages on a crew, there should be a leader that speaks all the languages. But of course I also thought about why the crewmen don’t have to speak English. Then I thought, maybe they needed all the help they could get. Maybe they really needed the manpower to fight a raging forest fire so they had to make exceptions and having a boss that spoke all the languages would be easier to get than having to find thirty English speaking guys to replace the thirty Mexican firemen that were just fired. I was thinking more towards a practical application than racism or anything of the sort. It is just a dangerous situation for everyone involved if firefighters cannot communicate well in a situation. People will die if the firefighters are not communicating with each other and communicating well.
I definitely did not stop to think if it’s true or not. I thought, “I guess it probably is true. Oregon could be full of crazies, I do not know.” I have been duped by weird stories in the past. But on the flip side I have spotted completely fraudulent stories at a glance. Sometimes though, it is hard to differentiate between the two because this world has some pretty stupid people. So sometimes when you think that there is just no way that a twelve-year-old impregnated a fifteen-year-old, it is actually true, but not as true as you think. Because it was not that specific twelve-year-old, it was a different twelve-year-old, but they just are not sure which one yet. They are not sure because apparently the fifteen-year-old girl had a lot of fun at a Pokèmon convention. Just so you know that really did happen, look it up, it is quite fascinating. Well, the story minus the Pokèmon thing is true.
Now, back to the firefighters and their issue discussed in the video. After I thought about how the story could have just been a rational decision for a specific situation, I thought about it some more. I didn’t read on in the blog entry because I wanted to formulate my own thoughts before reading Sam’s. After reading the rest of Sam’s entry I realized how I was easily duped by the story. It seemed legitimate, even coming from Fox News. I did not read the comments to the video, mainly because I did not care all that much too. But it made me think about how lazy we are and how a lot of Americans just take whatever crap is put in front of them as gospel. I guess that is what this country is all about, allowing people to have their own opinions, no matter how retarded and ludicrous they might be. Reading is not this country’s strongest asset.
Marlon Chopra
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Those Damn Mexicans Are At It Again- Just the title of this article tends to make me cringe “those damn Mexicans are at it again”- well yes, “those” Mexicans are “at it” again, trying to get a job. I mean, what are they thinking? How selfish and rude of them trying to get a job to live and survive off of, to maintain their homes and families, and to provide the necessities of life. But what about everyone else in America, aren’t we all trying to get jobs and provide for our families/lives? What makes this situation any different-because they are Mexican? I just find it funny that their nationality and heritage are brought up continuously–“THOSE” Mexicans because it seems to me, or at least I was under the impression that America is, or was, the land of the free, the land of opportunities, the Melting Pot of the world and that our diversity was just as big a part of this country as is our freedom, our consumerism, and our greed (except the last two are usually not mentioned).
It’s said that history has a tendency to repeat itself, and we should study our history in order to help prevent situations from happening again—but that clearly isn’t the case here. When the first real big wave of immigration was happening in America, weren’t those immigrants being looked down upon and being harassed, stores being vandalized because the “American’s” at that time felt that the immigrants (the Irish. Italians, etc.) were taking their jobs? And while these Mexicans may not necessarily be harassed, they are being looked down on and having racist ignorant comments made to them/about them which is just as bad. Racism, ignorance, unaccepting comments and thoughts are intolerable in this world today and especially in a country that is the prides itself on diversity.
Lately, everyone/everything seems to be so hypocritical and no one is calling it out on anyone else-oh no that would be to inappropriate and unheard of, better to just keep our voices to ourselves instead of calling people out on their-excuse the language- bullshit. For instance, we’re a country that finally elected a black president, but at the same time in California took away gay people’s right to get married…so much for progression. What happens to the marriages that already took place? Are they now invalid and if they aren’t then why could they marry and it be seen as a valid legal contract but now it isn’t? What exactly is the basis for not allowing gay people to get married-because if you mention religion, not everyone is Christian/catholic, jewish, etc. That is what WAS the beauty of this country-freedom of whatever we want to believe or not believe like agnostics and atheists. Going with that, religion seems to be the only reason, that I personally see, as to being the reason gay people can’t marry.
It’s all just a bunch of bullshit.
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I decided to respond to this blog because both my uncle and sister are volunteer firefighters and I hear stories from the both of them almost on a daily basis. A lot of times when they tell me about the fires they are fighting, they talking about how intense it is to actually be in a fire and how every second they are in the building is a second closer to the building falling apart altogether. One of the most important things when they are in the fires it is the need to be able to communicate because of the dangerous situations they are in.
After reading this blog, watching the video, and reading article I feel that not only the chiefs should have to be able to speak English, but anyone who will be taking part in putting out a fire. I believe in equal opportunity for everyone, but in this case, I feel that EVERY person has to speak English because how serious the situations can be. I feel that the only way Hispanics should be allowed to become a firefighter is if they learn how to fluently speak English. What would happen if they were in a fire and another firefighter told them not to go into a room and they did not understand them because they did not understand English and they end up going into the room and getting seriously injured or killed? It would be a lost life all because two firefighters were not speaking the same language.
Like I said earlier, every second matters and if firefighters have to stop and repeat themselves so that a non-English speaking firefighter could try to understand what they were saying, someone may get hurt or even killed.
I am not against people not speaking English in other aspects of life, but when it comes to safety hazards I think that you must be able to speak English in these cases. I work at a grocery store in my hometown in the summer and a lot of time Hispanic people come into my store and are unable to understand what I am saying. Sometimes I get aggravated because sometimes it is nearly impossible to talk to them. In this case, since there is no risk of life or injury, I have nothing against people speaking Hispanic. If I talk to them slow or try to find a way to communicate to them, I am usually able to successfully help them out with whatever they need. I just think being a firefighter is not a good job for someone who does not speak English.
I do not think this is an issue of racism, but rather an issue of safety. Being a firefighter is just one job in the U.S. and I feel that non-English speaking people should just look for a different job unless they learn English.
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When it comes to hearing information and forming my own opinions on the subject that I just heard I find myself always recalling the words of my 8th grade Geometry teacher Mrs. Huffins, “Believe nothing of what you hear and half of what you see.” The woman obviously didn’t intend for me to follow her exact words and never believe a word that is spoken to me for the rest of my life. Her intentions were to get us as 8th grades to not always take things at face value to really look into things before forming opinions or jumping on bandwagons. So when I look at the clip of that article I do question the authenticity of the story. Whenever I watch the news or read the paper I am always skeptical because I know that the things they tell us on the news and in the papers are at times very subjective on the basis of the author’s opinion. Certain news stations report news for the left wing crowd and other news stations typically offer news for the right wing cloud. This particular news station, Fox News, seems to always report the stories of the news in this fashion. As for the story itself I find it very hard to believe that a person in any firehouse would hire someone who didn’t speak the language of the majority. I also agree that it would be extremely detrimental to the people in the crews of the Mexicans because firefighting involves a lot of communication. I find it hard to believe that people would knowingly hire someone who could cause such a massive barrier in the crew’s communication. I also feel that this shows support for the anti-Mexican hysteria that we have here in the United States. The story made it seem that a mass influx of the population is now Mexicans who were “probably” here illegally or came over illegally or whatever; you know what I’m saying. So all these Mexicans are taking the jobs of the white people who worked there way up to the top and had been around for a long time, but now everything is going to shambles and it’s because of the Mexicans. This is a bit off topic but I just wanted to comment on the knuckle heads that same pointed out, you know the guys on blogs and who post comments on videos that you can tell lack complete aptitude and post the most ridiculous comments. I really can’t stand those people. Sorry to go off on a tangent but it’s just how I feel. But the news stations should be held responsible in my opinion. They shouldn’t be allowed to shape their reports to left and right wing audiences. As a reporter and a journalist you should be obligated to report the story as is, without bias and many news stations don’t do that.
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I almost forgot to write this journal again. Luckily I wrote myself a reminder so that I can get all two of these points. Also, I’m doing pretty bad in my other classes and I need an A in Soc 119 to help my GPA. This brings me to the topic on grade-deflation, what a crazy idea. What happens if have the exact grade as someone else and you’re both on the fence, how does the University decide? Well it beats me and that’s enough to make me hate the idea. Hopefully this never happens to PSU because I’d have to drop out of college. Anyway its Friday night and I’m ready to party. Both these topics are pretty lame and I cant really find myself getting too animated about either. So with that said, maybe I’ll switch to the blog on Mexican firefighters. I hope this is allowed. Anyway, I think its bull crap that the crew bosses are getting laid off. One solution I think could be a common list of signals that all firefighters have in common. Like “stop” with a closed fist, or “go” with a wave of the hand and pointing the direction that you want them to go. However I’m not certain that this is the topic at hand. It is really easy to believe stories like these that you see on the news because although they report most of the information they leave some out such as when the anchor man says in response to why the firefighters don’t have to speak English, “the state has no clear answer on that.” That’s leaving a load out of the story. I completely agree that communication is key while firefighting and that everyone needs to be on the same page. It is a safety issue while battling crazy fires, for instance, what if while fighting a forest fire a tree is about to fall on a fellow crew member. “Watch out, a tree!” But unfortunately the fellow man is a Spanish speaker and has no idea what you just said, consequently gets injured from the falling tree he didn’t see. Now if that same man who saw the tree falling said, “Cuidado, un arbol!” then the Hispanic man would know that he was about to be pan caked by a tree. I think that maybe if the Mexicans don’t know how to speak English (which I think they should learn) than they should be put into an all Mexican firefighting squad, similar to how they had all women’s or all black divisions in the military. Granted this is kind of hard-core segregation, but it is more of a safety issue. This is at least until they learn how to speak English, or a little at that. El final!
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First of all i question anything that fox news reports. Fox news(to me) is not a reputable source because of there biased attitudes in the past.All this article does is reassures the American peoples “naiveness” and ignorance to truth. Most Americans believe whatever they are told and dont take it upon themselves to research anything that sounds fishy. The assume everything the American media reports is true and takes that for what is is. They say if you wanna know whats going on in this country, to watch news reports from another country. i do nt disagree that all firefighters should share a common language and be able to speak it fluently. This is obviously for safety reasons. But as soon as i read this article i could help but not believe it and say how can that be. in our system, in this society they would never fire two american men over two mexican immigrants. Seriously did anybody believe this at first? with all the controversy in this matter and all the people against immigration or illegal immigration .Did we really believe that this could happen in this country come on? I would really like someone to report the truth. And seeing as how Fox news failed to report the truth and obviously slanted the story, This just goes to show the attitudes people at fox news, and many other American citzens, want the American people to have towards immigrants. Fox news has had clearly biased reports and reporters on there channel. As far as iam concerned nothing the report is reputable. As far as immigrants learning to speak english, I think that is very important for there social development in America. I think all immigrants should learn english. All aspects of life revolve around communication and without it our society would only suffer.However i dont feel that people should losse there heritage and in trying to assimilate into American culture. I also belive that Americans need to be more understanding of people who’s first language is not english. Instead of assuming the are less intelligent and that they dont know what they are talking about we need to try to be better listeners and stop thinking we are superior to eveyone else. My father was not born of this counrty,however he does and has always spoken english. Yes he has an accent because he was not born of this country. But no matter how well he speakes english people always assume he dosnt know what he is talking about they hear is accent and then completely shut him out as if they cant understand him . When really they arent trying to understand. i think all of our social problems in america can be fixed with a littlecommunication. While being openminded and understanding we can figure out many of our faults and learn how to work better togethe. However I know this is easier said than done.
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I feel as though there is probably more stories, articles, pictures, etc. on the internet that have little or no truth to them at all. It does not surprise me at all that it seems to be Fox news putting their own little spin on an otherwise uneventful story. In a sense they simply added racial controversy to a story that is solely about firefighters and the communication problems that may arise due to language barriers. I feel that the guy that said to “round ‘em up and send ‘em back,” formed this opinion just because of how Fox news decided to spin the story and attempted to make it focus more on racial differences and immigration rather than the actual problem at hand; wild fires. The documentary Outfoxed is probably the best piece of evidence and is the basis for why I feel the way I do about Fox news. In my opinion it is a joke, just as much of all media seems to be these days. Fox news has set views and obvious ideals that do not correspond with a news station that simply wants to put out facts and let viewers form their own opinions. They press their own views and try to convince their viewers into thinking, acting, and believing what they want them to. And it is due to this fact that this story does not surprise me in the least. But when I say I wasn’t surprised, I’m speaking about the fact that Fox news got the story completely wrong and their story is exactly that, THEIR story. What did surprise me was how Sam explained the feeling or thought of “there is no way this can be true.” I definitely felt the same as he did and in most cases would have done the exact same thing after seeing the Fox news story as Sam did; research to prove my gut feeling, that there is no way this could be true. Despite the dishonesty and blatant disregard for the actual story or truth, I can understand how certain facts may be interpreted differently from one person to the next and can understand how such a story could actually be shown on national television without any concern of the 100% truth. In most cases, especially on Fox news and the internet even more so, I’d feel safe in assuming this happens more often than not. I just find it sad that the ones suffering are the viewers and I am sure that most have no idea or would not consider the fact that this, or any other story, may be completely false. I can just imagine how people may view it; “its on TV, fox news, it must be true. How else could it be on the TV?” And in my opinion this is the underlying problem behind this entire ordeal.
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After reading the Oregon Department of Forestry site and watching the video, I think that the lesson to be learned in this instance is not to believe everything you hear. Once again, the media makes something sound worse than it actually is by stretching the truth. In the video, the news anchor talks about how many of the workers being hired or volunteering to be firefighters are Hispanic, predominantly Mexican. This very well may be the truth. He also says that it is a law that the crew bosses or supervisors speak the language of their crews in order to effectively communicate with them and for other safety reasons. According to the Oregon Department of Forestry site, this is also truth. However, the difference we see by close observation is that the crew chiefs or supervisors choose their own crews, and if they pick people who do not speak English, than they must be able to speak that language as well. The news story, however, states that crew chiefs are being demoted or even laid off because they cannot speak Spanish, and yet being able to speak Spanish is not a requirement for crew chiefs according to the Oregon Department of Forestry.
This story is just another reason why the media can make things worse or blow things out of proportion. We see it today when there is news coverage about the Iraq war or other hostile countries. All we see in these videos are people and children holding weapons, destroying buildings, performing acts that make us think of them as terrorists or an entirely different group of people. I feel that the media paints a picture for us, and that’s what we see, and also what we think of those people. Just as Sam had said in class about how people over there see us as “Christian Killers,” we see them as terrorists. But it all comes down to the media. If we aren’t over there, or don’t understand the culture, what else are we to think? It is simply all that we know of them, because that is what society shows us. They don’t necessarily explain to us that they aren’t much different from us, that they have families, children, and a life.
Clearly, as Sam had pointed out at the end of the blog, the movie clip shown is to highlight anti-Mexican hysteria. I must admit, I watched the video first without reading the Oregon Department of Forestry site, and I had a feeling of “You know, it’s true, it isn’t fair that they are firing these firefighters for not knowing Spanish, it’s not their fault that they are not familiar with the language.” I did not agree with the idea that all firefighters should speak English, because that would not be fair either. Then I read the notes on the site about the Oregon Department of Forestry and their requirements. After realizing the true standards, then I watched the video again and saw exactly what Sam was talking about. It is obvious to see that the coverage was making an issue with the Mexican firefighters coming to work and taking over the jobs of people in Oregon who speak English, and who were born in the United States. After realizing this, then it just struck me as appalling how a well know news source such as Fox News would put forth this issue in a racial way, and it made me think about other news stories that may be twisting the truth to call attention to those who are against any other races or religions in the United States. What else is there that we don’t know?
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When I first watched this clip, I had a very different reaction than I am sure most people had–I laughed. This is just a case of gold ole’ Fox News filtering another bullshit story. To be honest, the only reason that they are the most watched news television station is because they are amusing. Everything that comes out of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity’s mouth could be featured on Comedy Central. Fox news is not a real news station, in my opinion. When people complain about the American media fabricating its stories, they are alluding to Fox News; however, this journal is not supposed to be consist of me bashing Fox News, so I’ll shift to the topic at hand: Anti-Mexicans.
Now, nothing about this story is funny. The fact that this country is still so full of hate for other races such as Mexican Americans is pretty shocking. While I agree that anyone who plans on working in an only English speaking workplace must speak English fluently, this does not render as an excuse to hate. Especially in the case of firefighting where it is a matter of life and death. Nevertheless, you cannot blame someone who does not speak English. When we go to other country’s we do not expect ourselves to speak their native language fluently and neither do they. This whole thing relates back to ethnocentrism, thinking that English is the best and most important language. Maybe if everyone in the United States could speak at least three languages fluently we could have a reason to complain, but we obviously do not. So we need to relax on the issue.
Today, illegal immigration is an extremely relevant issue. Everyday you hear about the Mexican border and illegal alien control. It is an important indicator for those running for office. With our failing economy, it is bigger than ever. People living in the United States who pay taxes and are unemployed are pointing their fingers at Mexican Americans, who are generally harder working and willing accept less pay than white people thus “taking” their jobs. Nevertheless, the only ones whom to blame is ourselves. Those running businesses are not going to hire someone who is lazier, less efficient and expects to be paid a heftier amount. The fact of the matter is that we have become way to reliant on illegal immigrants. In fact, we can’t function with out them. If we were to eradicate every single illegal immigrant today, we would dip into a depression. Prices of everything from apples and oranges to fitted caps would sky rocket. So before we start placing unwarranted blame on Mexican Americans, we need to look at the cold hard facts.
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So thinking about Sam’s mentality on life in general and as a professor I can see how this trend would piss him off. However, he is in the minority of people who I feel can argue against kids feeling like they should get A’s, and sweating over the importance of them. The problem with today’s societies is that increasing competition in graduate schools and the job market has led to employers and admissions officers separating people by such fine lines. Not only are the lines thinning, but the criterion is increasing vastly. For example, the LSAT has added a new writing section in it that is not graded, but used for judgment when applicants are on the edge. What I am getting at is that all these professors want to say that my generation is lazy and doesn’t care about college, but I think that is the fault of “the man.” The thing is we are so pressured into getting A’s that we freak out and do anything humanly possible to get them. I personally want to go to law school and I have been told that the better law schools simply look at GPA first and if you are under a 3.5 they throw out your application. What kind of bullshit is this? I currently have a 3.46 and I am so beyond stressed this semester working to get it to a 3.51 just for that reason. That pisses me off beyond belief. I might be much more qualified to be a lawyer and succeed in law school than someone with a GPA .4 higher than mine but that is not the way this bullshit world works right now. So before I am accused of taking an easier class to get an A or buy nittany notes to get extra studying or even regurgitating information that I will never remember to get a better grade on a test I want these professors to realize it’s not my fault. I don’t have connections to get me into law school all I have is my GPA and my LSAT’s; those are literally 85% of my application. Sure, I may have interview to prove what kind of person I really am, but they won’t give me one without great LSAT’s and a GPA over 3.5. So while most teachers have no right to be mad about this because they use powerpoint slides and just read what is on them which they got from a measly textbook, I do feel like Sam has a right. Soc 119 is one of the only classes at our school where I have learned how to get in A simply by being in class, listening, and then reading the books. There isn’t much studying involved, because Sam makes lecture interesting and makes sure we comprehend the information in class.
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The video saying that fire crew supervisors were being fired because they did not speak Spanish surprised the heck out of me. Therefore, I was not surprised to find out that the video is actually false. Immigrants and Spanish only speaking workers is a very sensitive subject. It is clear that many workers were needed to help fight the fires, so it is good that we have the availability of these Mexicans. However, it bugs me that these Mexicans who come across the border do not always attempt to learn English. If they are coming over and being accepted into our country, they should learn English. Especially when it comes to fire fighting. It is a high risk job, and all the fire fighters need to be able to communicate with each other, or things get dangerous. If something were to go wrong, and safety was compromised, how could a Spanish only speaking Mexican warn and an English only American of the danger? It seems very problematic. At the same time though, Mexicans are filling up jobs that would be otherwise unfilled. So if it was not for these Mexicans, their might not be enough manpower to fight these wildfires. But even with the Mexicans, there are communication problems that could make things very dangerous. It all comes down to language. If these Mexicans feel that they are being discriminated against or not being considered real Americans, they should at least do their best to learn the language of America. If we are being kind enough to welcome these Mexicans into our country, then they can learn our language. It reminds me of that situation a little while back where the cheese steak shop in Philadelphia got in trouble for putting up a sign that said order in English. It is ridiculous that they would get in trouble for that. It should be assumed that everyone would order their cheese steak meals in English; after all, English is our country’s language. It is not always that the Mexicans are unwanted, but it is that it is annoyance when communication becomes an issue. It is also an annoyance when Americans lose there jobs to illegal immigrants who can’t speak English. It is a hard topic to take a position on because some Mexicans who work for cheap are taking jobs that Americans used to fill. At the same time though, Mexicans also fill up jobs that many Americans do not want. So it is labor that this country needs. As for the video that was simply made up, it gets me thinking. What majority of the stuff I see on the news or on the internet is simply made up? I’ve never been a naïve guy, but I like to believe that at least most of the stuff I see on the news is true, but maybe not.
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Well, I have noticed that for the past couple of years there has been a trend to broadcast news material that has a strictly anti-immigrant and especially an anti- Hispanic, anti-Mexican slant. This is definitely true with Fox News (Faux News, False News) but also with other media personalities especially Lou Dobbs. Now don’t get me wrong I agree that people who work in emergency positions such as the Fire Department, Police, etc. should at least be able to communicate in English as the medium of instruction. If somebody cannot communicate in English, then they should not take a position of such importance and necessity to people’s lives. Anyway, given that, I believe the story from Fox and the statement from the Oregon Department of Forestry were so divergent that they could have been two different stories altogether. Given that a shocking amount of people get their daily news source ONLY from Fox News, that is worrying because they absorb the misinformation and tend to react by expelling that information in public in whatever manner possible including in outrageous ways.
A lot of stuff is often based on rumor and by the time it reaches the public domain the story is often very different from the original. It is similar to the class exercise we did with Terrell Jones when several people were supposed to retell an incident that happened to the next person after hearing it from another person. Well what happened is that the story told in the beginning ended up being something else by the time the last person was finished. In essence a lot of stuff that appears on the evening news or on the morning paper may have travelled such a journey and if the content was controversial, it ends up sparking a fire that would not have been ignited in the first place.
If the issue is controversial, it is important to examine the story via many angles. Many people make the false assumption that left wing media is more objective then right wing media. That is not true of course. As much as I am dismayed by what comes out of Fox News, a lot of the info I see on left wing channels such as MSNBC and to a lesser extent CNN can be equally shocking. The problem is that many people are devoted fans to a certain media channel or whatever and will plainly believe what is dished out to them, the truth behind the story notwithstanding. The only advice I can give to people is to stop being so gullible.
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Within the past century alone, huge advances in technology and communication have propelled the public news media into a position of considerable power. Television and the internet allow news companies to reach millions of people instantly, almost anywhere in the world. Unfortunately, like many other great inventions and ideas before it, human nature has once again managed to corrupt it to all shit. People have used the gift of instant worldwide telecommunication to manufacture and spread lies; by keeping the people living in fear, they are free to exploit their trust for political and financial gain. In short, this news report from FOX serves as a great example of why We, The Sheeple, are f*cked.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not singling FOX out. Bias in news reporting is not a new concept, and everyone is guilty of it in one way or another. They just happen to take it to a new level, and have a history of: takings things entirely out of context; omitting important details to spin the story; blatantly falsifying information; fear-mongering and being overly liberal (pun intended) in reporting accurate statistics and data. For example, the recent conflicts between Israel and Palestine and the resulting attacks on Gaza received a great deal of media attention. In the early days of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, it was becoming clear worldwide that this was a very serious matter and that hundreds of Palestinian civilians were being killed. Out of curiosity, I browsed the updates on the major news networks and compared the reports. For the most part, the statistics and stories were similar. However, FOX’s statistics on civilian death tolls were significant underestimates. The overall report was vague, claiming that the majority of the bombing victims were Hamas police while several other news agencies confirmed this clearly wasn’t true.
As for this story, it’s just absurd. It defies common sense, and I’m struggling to understand how that news anchor got through that report with a straight face. It makes no sense legally, socially, politically or financially. In fact, I’m not sure which makes me sadder – the fact that news corporations like FOX expect people to believe this, or that some people just submit and swallow the crap that’s force-fed to them. In the end, it’s a pretty solid example of how things get done in most of the world: through fear. It’s pretty ingenious, actually. Fear is an incredibly powerful motivator, and the media has been taking advantage of this for quite some time. By spreading misinformation and lies, they can get the public to fear what they can’t understand or control. After being tricked into assuming this is something beyond their comprehension or control, the people all-too-willingly submit to any solution or protection the government will offer up. I get the feeling this is how stupidity manages to reign in government.
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I think it is quite obvious that Fox News would present a story like this, a story with such conservative ideas. Fox News did not do a thorough job investigating their story, because it was found to be untrue. I have no doubt that viewers of Fox News would agree with this story, as most of us would, because what reporters present to the public should be backed up with support from a reliable source. The claims presented from Oregon Department of Forestry are much more logical and reasonable. These are not wild accusations; this is merely a statement presenting the facts. Fox News should be held responsible for presenting erroneous information, and they should have had some kind of broadcasted apology to the Oregon workers. They shouldn’t have taken some rumor that was flying around on the internet and presented it as news. If other people want to pass their “findings” along, that is absolutely what the internet can support. I think it is good that we do have so many options to publicize our personal opinions and beliefs. The Internet is fair game and easily accessible, not to mention that we have the right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. People can and should post anything they want for other people to read. It is the responsibility of the news organization if they decide to take the rumor as a legitimate, verifiable source. I know I have gotten emails, most of the chain emails, asking me to help an organization. I remember one of them very distinctly; it said something about Walt Disney’s son giving out his fortune. Walt Disney never had a son. Everyone who had read that email and forwarded it on completely missed the bigger picture and did not see something as obvious as that sentence read in the very first line.
Hiring officials in a human resources department are responsible for selecting their workers. They should be able to assess whether or not the crew can act as a cohesive unit. Firefighters who save lives must have some sort of communication with each other, and I would think that most companies need to talk to everyone. As the Oregon State Web site says: “Because English is the language of firefighting in the United States, we must have the ability to communicate with all crews. Accordingly, the contract requires that the leaders of contract crews speak English. This requirement covers the crew boss and the three squad bosses on a typical 20-person crew. If a company elects to hire employees who do not speak English, then the supervisors of that crew must speak English as well as the language of any crew members who don’t speak English. This is a matter of good communication, safety, and effectiveness for the agencies that hire crews under the contract. Over the years, this system has established a record of solid firefighting performance and safety.” This, to me, is a perfectly logical statement that I would imagine most companies would agree to. This also completely disputes the sentiments expressed by Fox News.
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I don’t think it is only an anti-Mexican hysteria; it’s an anti-Hispanic, an anti-anything but American hysteria. And I am in agreement with Dr. Richards, English is vital in a lot of situations. English is what unites us. But so many people are against the idea of cultural diversity. Each culture has so much to offer. It’s just that the media portrays the worst sides of things, and fear comes to those in areas where another culture is proving to be more successful. I will say again, but only once this time because I am pretty sure I say it in each blog on race and background, where does it get lost that we are all human beings, with hopes, dreams, emotions, and to be real, even flaws? But I guess this article starts to answer that, and part of it is due to the media.
This article reminded me of an argument I was in with the husband of my cousin on immigration. My argument was “they are here just like the first Americans because of opportunity and support for their families.” His argument had three points: 1. His parents spoke another language, but they spoke it at home, 2. It pisses him off that he works his ass off just to see some guy in the aisle over at the grocery store using food stamps, and 3. The most dangerous gang in the world is a Hispanic gang in Hazelton (about an hour from where he lives), a gang that would throw a grenade into a crowd of people that included women and children in order to kill only one person.
But I learned quickly that he did not care what my rebuttal was after his points were presented, because hell his points sound valid. And they are valid if validity is assumed when facts are presented, if the person doesn’t stop to check the facts. But like the article says, even the news is not always the best source. Which means to argue his points is pretty simple. First off his parents may have spoken their native language at home, but Hispanics and Latin Americans do not have to. In all the uproar over immigration and assimilation Americans still show their greedy side, because when it comes to making profit bilingualism is all of a sudden okay. Claiming they need to know English while making everything with Spanish labels is sending mixed messages. Second he has no idea whether or not the person in the aisle next to him is an immigrant and on top of that there are plenty of Americans who take an unfair advantage of food stamps. And for the last point, did he see the grenade? And if not how is it that the most dangerous gang in the world is only a few hours away from State College and yet I had never heard of it before. Now he could be right, I am sure there is a gang and I didn’t check the facts, but I am almost betting that he didn’t check the facts either.
My point isn’t that he doesn’t have a right to argue his side, we all do. But when making an argument the points need to have some validity. But not many people search for validity, especially when it comes to immigrants and even people of other cultures all over the world. And so in the end when all the media shows is the negative half-truth we have to rely on ourselves to seek the truth, because without it we only create more obstacles to overcome in the search for equality and respect.
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Those damn Mexicans. They’ve then done did it again; went and took another man’s job and it’s a job that e just oh so care so much about; firefighters. We as people love our heroes. We love our police officers. We love our firefighters. We love our army men and this and that. But as real Americans we’re supposed to be upset with Mexicans. Now, I whole-heartedly believe that in times of trouble we need to communicate with each other properly and on a simple and modified level. The fires in Oregon were sick and they (the local departments) needed all the help they could get and who came knocking on the door, Mexicans. They came running. They came lending a helping hand, ready and willing to do the job that needs to get done. Time and time again we hear Americans complaining about Mexicans coming over and taking our jobs. Back home in Philly, there’s this Cheesesteak place called Geno’s and they have a sign where you have to order in English and this cause a big stir. Some were outraged and some and understood perfectly. There is a language barrier that still divides us. Now there is a big difference between ordering a cheesesteak and giving someone orders in trying to put out a fire. Our spoken language is also the line that connects us as a people together. It has to be hard when a fire is raging on and you have to scream out in some other language when you can just speak in the universal language that the world knows. English is spoken primarily around the world. It’s the common bond that a lot of us share. That’s why we have it be we also have to be wary of the fact that we’re not the only people on Earth and that everyone has to succumb to us. The first thing that crossed my mind when I saw this story was that I wasn’t shocked. I’m not shocked anymore by a lot of things that we as people do. I understand what the locals are feeling at that present. They want to get these fires out as quickly as possible and save lives. But coming from the other side you have to understand our language. The line needs to be crossed by both sides. I should have a need to understand you. I should want to understand where you’re coming from. But you should understand that it will get hard for us to understand you. It will get hard for us to look towards you for help. We as a people overall have to get better. We have to be better. You know what I mean. Que pasa?
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Lies have their way around the world. Hitler once said that if you tell a lie big enough, for long enough people will eventually believe it. This is exactly what happened here. When the public doesn’t research their news misconceptions take place. People need to compare their news with other news sources. Very few people practice this and I fortunately am one of them. Over the years I have learned that people will do and say anything to get what they want and it is up to us to spot the culprit. Misleading the public as been in practice ever since the world came into being. Lets take George W. Bush as an example. Everyone has their own opinion about why his administration invaded Iraq. Was it to get rid of the WMD’s or was it to get access to the oil reserves? These are questions that will get answered but through research and looking back into history some assumptions can be made.
Spreading rumors is a coward’s game. Trashing another person’s reputation on false accusations is a weasel’s way out. When a major news corporation air’s a news that has no base what so ever, tells us to think before we speak. These are supposed to be legitimate non-biased sources of information for the nation. Though I laugh at this statement myself, as we all know the truth about fox news. Though we should still give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Some deserve it and some don’t. In my opinion the authenticity of news sources need to be checked a bit more. Because if the world keeps on working this way then we might as well make Wikipedia our primary source of information. But keep in mind Wikipedia at least has people in the background trying to check every new entry whether it is correct or not.
One should read different articles on a topic from different sources and come to his or her own conclusion as that way at least you are a step closer to the real truth rather then just staying in the bushes. If a lay man was told that people are being fired because they can’t speak Spanish from the fire department they would laugh at the person. I actually laughed in disbelief when I saw the fox news video on you tube. The nation needs to be educated on how to take news and when to believe it and when not to. There are always exaggerations in every news and that’s the only way the news agencies will keep their ratings high enough i.e. to add some spice to the news even if its at the cost of misleading millions of people.
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Mexican Firefighters
This is just the same old thing for me. I’m used to FOX News churning out false information which is detrimental to ethics and society. However, it does not lessen the uneasiness in the pit of my stomach, nor does it answer the questions of how people can actually watch and believe this crap. I mean, come on, what type of fool listens to this stuff and really, truly understands the full story. The type of nonsense that FOX spews out is racist, evil, and degenerative. I pity us Americans who have to deal with such an overly biased news network. Why in the world must we be subject to this cruel and unusual punishment that is done to our ears.
Misinformation has been a bane to my existence since I was born. Since I am Muslim, it has cursed me with ignorant fools who believe everything they see on TV. It causes inconvience and it creates a paradoxal hatred. Stupidity breeds strife I guess. Anyway, about the Mexican firefighters, I understand if he cannot speak English, but why don’t they just put him on an all-Spanish speaking firefighter team. This could quench the demand for more firefighters, with a steady supply of cheap labor. Sure, you may think that’s cold, but think of the Spanish speaking people who could benefit. They would be granted amnesty for service, and they would be able to support their families with labor that would help to ensure a safer America. Plus, these are courageous men if anything, so why should we discriminate against people who have strong moral fiber. They have a stronger moral fiber than those that complain about these Spanish-speaking people taking fireman’s jobs, yet they themselves do not apply themselves to such a dangerous job. They should not speak ill of those that protect them. This in turn creates a mutual relationship between us and Spanish speaking people which is prevalent in many facets of American life.
Also, English is not our primary language. By law we have no primary language. It would be hypocritical of us to ask others to only speak English, when there are so many immigrants that came from the original colonizers. They came here and spoke their own language, but they forgot their language and then they assimilated and lost their heritage. They lost a part of themselves, and became conformists. These people should not be listened to, since they are not unique, and they are far from important. These hypocritical white supremacists are dumb fools stuck in a tradition of ignorance. The problem is that these people are not open-minded and will be stuck in their mindsets which have been taught to them by their parents and their community. If only some people would get brains.
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I’m not sure what to make of this entry and of the story. I agree with Sam that most of what we hear on the news is just factoids and that both the left wing and right wing say many things on their talk shows, tv shows, etc. that are not entirely true. I also agree that there was something fishy about that news story that just didn’t seem right. I don’t feel that they would just lay of firefighters who didn’t speak Spanish because they have many people on their crews who only speak Spanish. There wasn’t enough said about it and it just left you wondering what the hell was actually going on. I left it thinking that not everyone is speaking Spanish in that fire department, it just can’t be. If communication is such a major requirement while combating with a fire, which I’m sure it is, then shouldn’t they just have all Spanish speaking teams and all English speaking teams? The way fox news put it was that all the Mexicans were just taking the jobs of true blooded Americans and that they were to blame for everything. Without telling the whole story, the reporters left you thinking in the back of your head if you didn’t think about it too much was that these illegal immigrants were just taking jobs and that they need to be dealt with. This is the problem with major news right now. Stories like this just go to show you that most of them have their own agenda. They are trying to get you to believe a certain way, and think a certain way. In most cases, they are successful in doing so, because most people trust the news and take it for what it is. Im not saying that all news is like this, there are many stories and journalists who do report very fair and very honestly, but not most of them. Many reporters see a story, make their own opinion on it and try to convince the rest of the public to think that way by twisting the words or not telling all the facts. I think this is the reason we even have the words conservative and liberal out there. I think generally most people think and want just about the same thing and fall somewhere very close to the middle. Yet, we live in a society where everyone must be on teams, and you must pick a side, so we read and watch the news and are basically forced to do so based on half truths. It’s really a shame that we live in such a world like that, and most people don’t take the time, or don’t have the time to reconsider their views or to think of what they are actually reading or hearing.
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When I first watched the clip from the Fox News, like most things I see on the news I took it to be true at face value, no questions asked. So the fact that the argument is over false truths that the media portrays concerning “anti-Mexican hysteria” is completely valid when you actually look into the facts of the story like Sam did. The problem here seems an easy one to fix. Wanting to be informed Americans, we cannot just take what we see, hear, or read in the news at face value; and this is something that I definitely didn’t even realize was an issue until now. I always think that if informed professionals are reporting a story on the news, than it must be true. However, this is obviously very naïve and wrong to believe. News stations have a job to report current events while also maintaining viewers, which gives them incentive to air the most recent and juicy sounded news even if they have not done a lot of research to verify that their facts are true. We also must remember that the people who write up the stories are grown adults who have their own opinions and bias, and even though it is wrong, it may cross over and translate that way in their stories that they write.
So the real issue here, is why do we as Americans have such bad feelings towards Mexicans? Obviously this is an issue of discrimination that comes from various things such as immigration, ethnocentrism, arrogance, and misperceptions. While I do not agree that workers in the United States should have to worry about their jobs because of immigration, I do feel that it is totally unfair to categorize a certain group of people and assume that all Mexican Americans are ignorant, poor, non-English speakers. Mexicans have gotten a bad reputation in our country because of the problems that illegal immigration has caused, and this is a valid concern for Americans. However, if the majority of Americans were not so “on their high horse” and quick o judge or jump to conclusions, this story may have looked completely different.
Still, the door swings both ways. We do have a problem with illegal immigration that needs to be solved for the sake of all citizens in our country. I believe that in this case, because communication is key to the success of a crew of firefighters, English speaking fire fighters should not be in fear for their jobs if new workers cannot speak English. Even though Oregan state officials denied the claim that anyone is getting fired, they did admit that the language barrier poses serious problems and that they cannot turn down non-English speakers because they cannot limit their hiring pool. I do believe that this is a problem that needs to be changed. In general, Americans need to stop being so judgmental and stop stereotyping, but the government needs to work to solve problems associated with immigration.
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I am not sure whether or not I should feel as if I were lied to. Did Fox News basically just misinterpret this story or is it just me? Honestly, they need to get the facts right. How is something like this even allowed or legal for that matter? Is it possible to get a news station in trouble for doing something such as this and providing inaccurate information? Although the point of the blog as Dr. Richards explained is to highlight anti-Mexican hysteria, what I see more than anything is how this story portrays another prime example of the influence the media has. Although it may be weird, this story actually made me think back to the movie Mr. Deeds. In it, Adam Sandler is led to believe that his current “girlfriend” is in the relationship for him, when in reality she is working for a news station and trying to get a story on him. At one point, she gets footage of Sandler rescuing a woman along with her cats from a burning building, and when the story is aired in the morning it is portrayed as something entirely different. The network producer changes the story and rather than making Sandler a hero, he makes him look as though he is a rapist. The producer provides the viewers with a 5 second clip of Sandler on top of the woman he saved, after having jumped from the burning building together. Although it may seem like nothing, this scene actually seems as though it teaches a lesson about the media. It portrays how much power the media holds, and how easily they can warp a story. It is scary to think that if something untrue were portrayed about someone on the news that made them seem like a terribly bad person, there is nothing they can do about it. Whether they like it or not, whoever watched it is most likely going to believe it. This is why I am not usually one to believe everything I see on the news. I’ll actually sometimes look up the story if I’m really interested, really bored, or if it seems totally absurd. As I explained in my last journal, news stations such as the one portrayed in the blog are extremely focused on having as many viewers as possible because it increases their revenue. Whether true or not, by having more interesting and appealing stories than other news stations their number of viewers will increase. Therefore, I feel that the truth may sometimes be twisted on the news solely for this reason. I have heard a certain saying multiple times throughout my life, and it should almost be common sense at this point: do not believe everything you see on TV.
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This goes back to what I said about the most wildly available source. Mass Media I believe is the word their usually bullshit. Just like Pop Music is usually the worst crap out the perfect example Solja Boy. LOL. Most widely available crap Fox News, CNN, and CNBC. which was recently trashed by John Stewart. to the dismay of Jim cramer and his crocodile tears. As a young listener to talk radio (from the age of 10) I learned the importance of animate political groups which are in control to use misinformation to veer attention to a problem their leadership has caused or failed to address. I fact people’s ignorance is feed back to them in an endless loop. My of you believe that who you elected should spend their time mulling abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, ect.. When the real issues should be fiscal policy, military spending, the crime and the privatization of the detention facilities, helthcare. Furthermore, this nations beliefs are so backward when it comes to the belife of the ideological path of this nation into socialism and that socialism equating communism. LOL close minded ignorance. The wealthiest people of the country were once taxed over 90% on their income. Its okay to question youre goverment we all learned our lessons from the 9/11 are u a patriot inquisions and you are either with us or against us ordeals. It prefectly fine to do this we are a “democratic” nation. More so be more willing to question if ure gov is killing innocent people. Dont just came your open minded or attempt to make an opinion when you dont have all the facts. It okay to be ignorant out of lack of knowledge its another to ignorant from the defiance of truth. MaSalema
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I truly am offended when I read this article this is a bunch of shit. This honest man, and and other men like him are being fired because an illegal immigrant is not speaking the language. What the fuck is going on in this world. I have lost all faith in mankind and I don’t know what to do with myself. The key word hear is Illegal and that should be the end of the fucking story. Don’t get me wrong everyone that wants to join this country and be a part of this lifestyle and improve the quality of life for themselves and others is wonderful. But it has gotten to the point that we are so knee deep in bullshit that we can’t see straight. Jesus Christ why should this guy who has be a loyal hard working American have to bend over backwards for these illegal immigrants. Part of being an American is assimulating and becoming apart of the culture, I would expect the same thing if I wanted to move to another country. I would have to learn the fucking language, end of discussion. I understand that he is in charge and responsible for these men and therefore has to take responsibility. But he didn’t have to give them a job, he knew that they couldn’t speak English and still hired them, giving them a better job and able to support their families better. This poor bastard is getting screwed. But in retro spect I don’t even think it is eve that big a deal as long as the fires were getting put out who gives a shit what language they were talking in? A life or a language, it is not a very hard decision is it? Everything in life is falling apart and we need to wake up and really get a good idea and vision of what really matters and what does not. I honestly think that this race relations class is getting a little out of control. I mean all we seem to do is talk about ways in which white people are evil and need to be blamed for everything. I honestly want to throw up, but I can’t because I don’t have enough words to fit the requirement yet. Why don’t we take a little more responsibility for our own actions and stop blaming people. If we would all just shut the fuck up and stop letting other people run are lives. If you are white stand tall and be proud of how you are it isn’t are fault that idiots fucked it up for all of us. Just sit back and listen to what mr morgan freeman had to say and everything will be alright.
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After I read this article, it seemed that the government of Oregon should be blamed for this. I understand that illegal immigrants want more opportunities in the United States, but that doesn’t give employers the right to fire current workers. Firefighters are sworn to protect us just as police officers are, and they need to communicate with one another in order to get the job done. If they cannot speak English, than the job would be difficult. It might not be a good judgment to make but in the long run it wouldn’t be fair to other people. I feel that the Oregon government is only concern for saving money and hoping that the satisfaction for the community will be the same. The Mexican immigrants are not to be blamed in this situation because they want to help their families by earning money. However, if they are able to earn this job than the current American workers should not be fired at all. I feel that Oregon should run an education program that teaches Mexicans how to speak English. On the other hand, they should be thought how to use the equipment necessary to do their current jobs. I remember a similar incident in which one of my good friends was laid off because the worker that was hired would be willing to work at a smaller wage. He was a German worker but both had the desire of helping out their families. I don’t understand what an employer cares more about: saving more revenue for themselves or wanting the best from each worker. It seems that most people are stupid enough to blame President Obama for this even though our stock market is rising. I feel that this is more of a common thread to immigrants who want to work today but to their perspective, they must understand to speak the main language like most Americans do. When people are in interviews, most managers would look at their previous history and criminal background to see if that applicant is worthy. However, in these situations managers already know the background of that individual and feel there is no problem of teaching him to communicate with others. Would people consider this a form of slavery? Most immigrant workers are willing to work at any wages because they do not understand how the American system works. I feel that the Oregon system in this situation has not told us anything in terms of the financial debt they face. Instead, people who have served our communities for good amount of time are suddenly jobless. This recession continues to force people to live difficult lives. If we are to depend on immigrants who cannot speak English, than what happens if customer satisfaction won’t be the same? I hope Oregon will realize the decision they have made and quickly change it.
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What left me floored about this story was the fact that it was a legitimate news brand making these empty allegations. It was reported to the nation as if it were true and legitimate. Usually when you here things from reliable news sources you most likely tend to believe what they are saying the legitimate truth. I believed that we have come way past the days of stories that lacked credible sources. It is definitely a shame, because if I had seen this story on television I would have believed it without a second thought. I would not have hesitated or even questions the legitimacy of the story.
So how are we supposed to decipher through what is deemed credible and what is not credible. The amount of news that is produced on a daily basis is incredible and to sit there and investigate each and every story for validity would be ludicrous. So I guess what I am saying is that we must listen to stories and if we find ourselves questioning its validity then investigate. I also am suggesting that we leave left wing and right wing news sources alone and start watch more bipartisan news shows without a spin. Politics are involved with everything and it can even affect the quality of news we are receiving.
By reading this article I have come to the conclusion that people are so quick to point the finger and blame someone else. It a shame that the Mexicans who are doing a job that most of us could not even imagine doing, are now the scapegoats for a series of firings. I don’t know if the source of the rumor was ever addressed, but I’m pretty sure English only speaking people were fired for other reasons and decided to blame the fact that they didn’t speak Spanish. This got out to Fox News outlet and they decided to blindly report it without looking behind the story or even interviewing anyone from Oregon. This in fact raises the anti-Mexican sentiment that many right wing people feel. It fuels the fire that Mexicans should not be in this country especially illegally. These individuals are taking jobs from right underneath American’s feet. It is hard enough to sustain work, but now the regular Joe has to compete against non-English speaking Mexicans for work. This story only creates more unwarranted division between Americans and Mexicans.
Like Dr. Richards, I also agree that Mexicans who do not speak English should not be on English only speaking crews. To think otherwise is just plain stupid and dangerous. In firefighting, lives are at stake and non communication cannot occur in these instances. For safety reasons, this should never be allowed.
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When I was deciding which articles to read and respond to, the title “those damn Mexicans are at it again” snagged my attention right away. I am tired of reading and writing about the black and white struggle. Time to talk about the brown. When I watched the video, I too was scratching my head thinking why is this able to happen?! When we are dealing with emergencies and issues that must be dealt with in a fast and orderly manor, speaking the same language should not even be an issue. If the whole team does not speak the same language, that will lead so some ridiculous issues! I want to know what the crew boss was thinking when he hired a non English speaker. Maybe he did deserve to get fired because of that. However the Mexican fire fighter realistically should learn to speak English before he is hired. The comments on you tube like “Round ‘em up and send ‘em home” is just ignorant. Even though they should speak the language of the country they are living in, it is not 100% necessary. The other comment, “this is what happens when we elect a black man as president” is also stupid. Obama is not included in this issue at all. Why would he be brought up? After reading some more, and feeling that firefighters MUST speak the same language, I thought, maybe whoever fired the crew boss was trying to avoid being called racist if he fired the Mexican instead. Maybe that person was the idiot who just didn’t know how to handle the issue. After I made all my conclusions (half way thru the read) a part where a respondent who is a firefighter pointed out the utmost importance of communication while fighting fires and also said that non English speaking firefighters would be problematic on English speaking crews came up. I was happy to hear this part. I think that the crew boss is going to get support from his team and maybe some other fire fighting teams and be rehired. Or at least I hope so. I think it was a bad move on whoever fired him. The point of this blog is to highlight anti-Mexican hysteria- I don’t understand how that can be done with this blog. Yes it does bring up the issue of the language barrier, but I must have missed the racial part. The Mexican stayed and the crew boss was screwed. This is racism against white people (I assume the crew boss was white because it was not stated otherwise) in my eyes because if language is a must, there is no reason for the boss to be fired as opposed to the employee.
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That news story actually was a tad disturbing to me at first. I want to know where the news station got their facts from. The facts were obviously false, so why advertise them? That does not make sense to me. Why didn’t the news station do some more research before airing that story? Now that story is being passed around in chain emails about kicking all the illegal immigrants and how the United States needs to stay “pure” and “natural”. It’s the kind of chain letter I would receive from my aunt.
I clicked on the link that sent me to the Oregon Department of Forestry (or something like that), and after reading that, it made sense. It makes sense that everyone should speak the same language when in a dangerous job like firefighting. Good communication is the key when fighting fires. I personally think that the boss should not get fired, but rather the employees. If a person wants to work in an environment where a certain language skill is needed, then damn it, learn the language. It will create a safer work environment, especially for that line of work. Also, it should be the boss’s responsibility to learn the employees’ language, if he/she chooses to work with non-English speakers. The way the news report went, it sounded like the boss was “stuck” with the immigrants and got fired for lack on communication. That was not the case at all.
Another thing I did not really appreciate about the blog directions was the title. Why did Sam automatically assume that the people who were taking the firemen’s jobs were Mexico? The video clip stated that the men were Hispanic. I was under the impression that Hispanics covered more than just the region of Mexico. Maybe I’m wrong.
This news clip also makes me wonder how regulated the media actually is. Does the government tell the news stations what to say, and if so, is it always positive? Or if it is a business running the news station, maybe the business has a personal vendetta against Mexicans and the Spanish speaking population. Either way, it does not make sense that that news station would run a story like that. It makes the station look bad and the Oregon Firefighters. What I do not understand is the fact that the story is far from the truth. I know that this argument does not deal much about the topic of race, but how on Earth could a television station air that? They did not even have all the facts straight. It is because of that that this “anti-immigrant” and “keep the United States nature” bull shit is appearing everywhere. Wow. I hate being told lies.
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I’m not surprised by the news station’s lack of research on this topic before running it on air. It all goes back to what we have been told since we have been very young…”Don’t believe everything you read.” Everything we read in the news paper or on television is skewed in some way. I use the Daily Collegian as an example, I have heard at least five separate occasions from professors, lawyers, and coaches about how the writers who do interviews and write the articles will twist and change the actual story to make them more interesting. I have heard that many professionals here at Penn State refuse to speak to them for this reason alone. The same thing happens on the national level too, people will get a hold of a story and try to make a mountain out of an ant hill.
When I first watched this video, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. People getting fired or demoted from their job because of the hire of someone who doesn’t speak English. As a fire fighter myself, I could not understand why they would hire anyone who was the only Spanish speaking person on the crew. Not only would the person in power need to speak their language, everyone would need to as well. The goal for fire fighters is to work as a team, to communicate, and to act on instinct. It’s like an engine; everything has to work and work smoothly for it to run correctly. To have one person who cannot communicate clearly with anyone on the crew, they would shut everything down and put everyone at risk. But once I read the article that was released by the Oregon Department of Forestry, it made sense, they have the option to hire fire fighters who speak different languages as long as they meet the requirements that have been put in place.
I never really thought about the anti Mexican ‘hysteria’ when I read this blog. I personally know many fire fighters who are racist, and fill the stereo typical ‘hick fire fighter’ and can see them having the same narrow minded reactions as some of the people commenting on YouTube. I feel that people will jump on anything that paints the picture of a citizen of the United States getting screwed out something by someone from a foreign country, let alone ones that are here illegally. For myself, it just proves how naïve people can be out in the ‘real world’, arguing about things like a video that is first of all, is false, and second, is something most of them probably have no idea what they are talking about. A person must learn not to take in all the bull shit that is spoon feed to us though the media, and go blindly arguing with others until your blue in the face. Our country as a whole will never progress like that.
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I highly agree with Sam that a lot of anti-Mexican videos and sentiments are hurled throughout the worldwide web and public circles nationwide. I also agree that a vast majority of these are unfounded and based on lies. A good point is made that many people see these “viral” videos and immediately accept them as truth. I will admit that even I have fallen for such misinformation before. However, I have learned from my mistakes and now research this information before passing it on to others.
I do not have a problem with Mexicans or other people from foreign countries immigrating into the United States in search of better lives for their families. I do not have a problem with them not knowing the language when they get here as long as they make an effort to learn the language in the first few years they are here. I also understand that certain jobs these people are qualified to do also require effective communication between co-workers. I do not believe that this should keep them from doing these jobs, especially when the job in question is short on employees. I feel sure that a bilingual crew boss can train and oversee these workers effectively. If there are problems with co-workers not being able to communicate, teams could be divided into groups that speak the same language. By doing this, the work force would not be affected and the overall cohesion and production of the workers would be stabilized.
I understand that this could only be utilized in certain situations. There will be many instances where a language barrier will exist between a boss and his employee. Hopefully, they can work together to improve and resolve this issue as quickly as possible. We are in an ever-changing society where foreign-born people are joining the American workforce almost daily. I do understand that most immigrants to this country have knowledge of the English language; it is the ones that refuse to learn that I have a problem with. If we would all work together instead of sticking to our nationalistic pride, this nation could grow on multiple levels. As I said before, I have no problem with people from other countries immigrating here. I also do not have a problem with them keeping their culture while living here. The problem lies when they do not accept parts of the American culture; mainly knowledge of the English language. If foreign-born people make an effort to learn the language upon arrival in the U. S., as most do, then there will be no problems. Americans can also help out by reaching out and learning about other cultures as well. If both sides would come together on this issue, we could better educate ourselves and greatly improve ethnic relations.
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I also completely agree with the idea that if there is non English speaking firefighter, than they should not be on an entirely English speaking crew. To be honest, I think that should be pretty clear. While, I do believe that Americans need to become more attentive of the influence of Latino culture on American society, and become aware of how important it is to learn Spanish – in this situation, I think if it’s all English speaking, you must speak English. It’s just ridiculous how the media is able to take a story, twist it all around and promote these negative ideas about groups. These ideas that come from the media really play a significant role in shaping the opinions of Americans throughout the country. For the naive American, they would have watched that video and immediately have some type of negative comment to say about Mexicans and how they are taking American’s jobs. I find it so interesting how so many Americans are always so quick to jump on an idea without an extra research when it comes to going against people other than their own. Now, let’s bring up the history of the white American settlers taking everything away from Native Americans, and then I am sure many Americans wouldn’t be so quick to promote or jump on those ideas. I find it extremely unfortunate how influential the media has become in making people think a certain way. I once watched a film about fox news and it pretty much went undercover on fox news and revealed a lot about how they twist stories and promote some stories over others, and it really opened my eyes to the governments role in the media and again how effective the media is in making people believe what they put out there. The media puts what they want in the spotlight, and if they decide to put information that may make a non-American group look positive or an American idea negative, it will be a the shortest clip of information. So for this situation, so many people, such as those individuals that commented on the youtube, jump on this anti- Mexican hysteria, because for some they don’t see any other way of going about it. When someone constantly has messages being thrown at them that say nothing but negative things about something, its no wonder they begin to jump on the bandwagon of believing and promoting these messages as well. When it comes to this anti-Mexican and really anti-Latino hysteria, I become so frustrated because people are able to highlight the negative things that they are doing and even promote ideas that aren’t even true, but then neglect the fact that these immigrants play a huge part in supporting the money and economic situation of this country. And the ironic part about the whole thing is that those benefiting from the Latinos in this country are often the first ones to be anti-Mexican and promote these false and negative messages about them.
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I think it’s so appalling how much false information the internet has on it. Aside from this article I have mistake much information for the truth and it is far from it. I have even put some of the information in my papers to later find out I was deeply misled. This is definitely someone who clearly has no idea what they are talking about. I can’t believe how madly their information was twisted. It said crew leaders were being demoted because Spanish speaking people were taking over the crews, but the truth was that no one was being demoted. The only truth in the story was that everyone had to be able to communicate on the squad for safety. This makes perfect sense to me.
I couldn’t believe the terrible things people commented under this YouTube video. It does humor me that one man wrote that it was all because we had a black president when this video was posted before any of that happened. Shows how uneducated people are. They don’t think before they speak. If they were just to reverse the process they would look way more educated and sophisticated to people. Another said, “round ‘em up and send ‘em home.” If you are going to insult people I think it might even be more effective if you sounded intelligent doing so. It is ridiculous the way people talk about minority groups. I want to ask them why they feel so superior. What makes them feel like people have nothing bad to say about them? If I were to ask or try to talk to people with such a narrow mind it would not be worthwhile. They would keep a closed mind and label me something negative because that seems to be what they are good at.
This article shows how quickly people are to think the bad about a situation. It reminds me about a vacation I took with my family not too long ago. I overheard a conversation with a man and woman talking about Jena 6. The man said, “Every black boy has a temper, and those boys are getting exactly what they deserve.” This man was so quick to judge the whole black community because of something that is controversial occurrence between a couple of people that may have had nothing to do with race. This happens so much in our society that we just assume the worse about people.
Our society is so quick to judge. Even within our own race. If someone isn’t wearing the right clothes or shoes, they are put into a category. This is the reason for all the bullying that goes on in school. People set standards so high that other people will never reach or don’t care to reach.
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When I first watched that clip, the fact that English-speaking crew leaders were being fired because their crew was made up of Spanish speaking only fire fighters, it did not make any sense to me. Why would the people who have been committed to a job, probably one of the hardest and important jobs to some, the people who risk their lives, why would they be fired at the expense of a dozen people or so? I understand that safety is the number one priority when it comes to fire fighting and fire safety, but maybe having a crew speaking the language of the qualified and skilled supervisors would be more beneficial to the crew all together.
Too many times I hear stories like this, and believe what I hear. I mean, why should I have to question the new channels that people hold trust in every morning with the weather report, and every night with stories like this. Maybe I am just being naive to think that left or right wing opinions and views can sway a story and only highlight certain facts. Or even in this case, relay completely false information. This makes me sick to my stomach. I HATE liars and I hate that politics can bring out so much hate in people.
I know that jobs need to be filled, and the Mexican people who choose to come here for work, if they are able to work, then why not get the job done? But at the same time, these companies that the ODF or, Oregon Department of Forestry, have contracts with to supply fire fighters, they need to comprise some sort of system to teach these Spanish speaking workers at least the terms and phrases used out fighting fires. This seems much more productive to me than laying off those who cant speak the language, or not hiring workers cause they only speak Spanish.
I need to keep in the back of my mind that these ridiculous stories I may hear on the radio, watch on FOX or read in the paper, may be false. Who knew we would have to question everything we hear? It is exhausting.
Pointing the finger at our president is not going to change these broadcasts, so get over it, there is nothing you can do about who is in the oval office. Conservatives and liberals alike, or people who even consider themselves one or the other, it seems we all need to be in check and possibly grow up? But that is just what I think.
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After watching the video clip, I was left in complete shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I can’t even put my thoughts into words because I think the government regulations in the video were completely out of line. It’s funny because this video takes places in the United States, however the firefighter chiefs must speak Spanish? I must say that the video seems out of place.
I then moved on to the next paragraph to read that we should “round them up and send them home”. At first I truly did agree. I don’t think people should move to the United States if they are not able to speak the language here. Now, it would be the same as if you moved to Spain, or another country where they have their own language. If everyone could just move here and speak their own languages, then we wouldn’t really get anywhere. Yes, we would have a lot of diversity; however no one would be able to do anything with one another. However, I don’t think it’s the president’s fault. Obviously he has something to do with the rules, but they are not the main reason. Also, just because our president is black, what does that have to do with it? Absolutely nothing.
When I read articles, a majority of the time I am left in confusion, or wondering how that was possible. However, I never do anything about it. Until I read this article, I never realized how much I just “brush off” articles that I don’t understand. When I first read this article, I was in such disgust that I didn’t think it was even true. I thought that there has to be more to this story. Reading this article allowed me to realize that I can’t keep doing that. If I really want to let myself be informed on certain issues, then I have to take the initiative. My problem isn’t with Mexicans coming to our country. I think many people are out of line when they say they shouldn’t be allowed in country, because after all I thought we were the “free country”. The country that lived the “American Dream”. If we want our government to work we have to make fair rules. Especially with the tough economy today, finding a job is extremely difficult. I think Americans should have first priority to jobs since they have lived here first. I was really shocked this article especially, because we were firing Americans who wanted to protect their country and people from fires. Something seems wrong here. Just because it’s not completely the President’s fault, that doesn’t mean we don’t need to change anything.
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With the rise of Mexican immigrants into the United States it is completely understandable for them to begin to take up jobs above that of labor and enter the world of public service. I personally find a trend like this to a positive one. Through public service such as fire fighting and perhaps more and more legal Mexican law enforcement officers our two cultures will be able to begin to merge. This merger would lessen the cultural tension between “Real Americans” and Mexican immigrants. As for this story it without a doubt comes across as a bit shocking at first but once you read the actual facts makes perfect sense. The manager’s ability to communicate with his crew, especially in the case of fighting fires, is essential for the safety of the crew and to ensure that fires are extinguished efficiently. The political right does find ways of stretching the truth to their own will at times and thus making stories to fuel their own cause. But on the other hand the people who decide to watch Fox News and other politically sided news programs, almost always know that the things they are going to hear will reflect their own views and not challenge them. I definitely feel that few peoples view points are being swayed by stories like these. Many people complain about the increase in Mexican and the new increasing Hispanic population of United States and how it is affecting our job market while “true Americans” are unemployed and “intruding on the English language “. Both these statements speak poorly about the American culture. Many Hispanics are taking up the labor jobs which this country was built upon. It shows that a large about of Americans who would rather not work than to work hard jobs requiring physical labor for a small pay. This projects a negative image of the American work ethic and proves that many Americans wish for easy well paid work to be handed to them, but for some reason get made when our neighbors to the south decide that they wish to better themselves and their families by taking these jobs. The other statement concerning language is almost absurd. The United States of America is one of the few countries in the world where a majority of its citizens know absolutely no language other than their national one. This again speaks to the laziness and unwillingness to learn something new. It would not require much effort for English speaking Americans to spend a few weeks to learn some basic Spanish and be able to begin a strong communication process between the two cultures. Our country as built on immigrants and the process of immigration will never stop and actually speaks highly about America.
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