Cheesesteak Controversy

There's been a recent media storm surrounding Geno's Steaks, a small family-owned business in South Philly. The owner of the restaurant demands customers order in English & employees patiently help non-English speaking patrons through the process.

They don’t refuse to serve people, nor do they turn anyone away. What they're actually doing is performing a public service. If all businesses followed Geno's lead, immigrants would have ample opportunity to learn by doing, at no cost & in practical situations. What a great way to learn. It’s accessible to everyone, the lessons are useful, it’s free, easy & everyone can do it. It's a fantastic idea.

But the politically-correct bastion of American media is crucifying this place & can’t criticize the owner enough. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first ran a story about Geno’s on 6/9/06. Hispanic organizations & the Philly tourist bureau are up in arms over the policy, calling it racist & xenophobic & bemoaning that the nation will think it’s indicative of all cheesesteak makers in Philly. (That’s a particularly strange concern, but this whole thing has me shaking my head.)

This traditionally Italian neighborhood is now seeing an influx of Hispanic & Asian immigrants but only the Hispanic organizations are playing the race card. So either Asian immigrants speak English, don’t like cheesesteaks or appreciate the free lessons from their neighbors.

On 6/13, the PG ran a follow-up article because the Philly Commission on Human Relations plans to file complaints against Geno’s for “discouraging patronage by non-English speaking customers because of their national origin or ancestry”. I am not making this up. The same day, PG columnist Tony Norman spoke out about the issue in an extremely short-sided, unenlightened column entitled “Cheesesteaks with a side of bigotry”. Give me a break here.

A 6/22 PG editorial quotes the chairman of the PA Human Relations Commission as saying, "Even though this may not have been the intent of Geno's, the presence of the sign harkens back to a time when signs stating, 'no colored allowed,' 'Whites only,' 'no Jews,' or 'no Italians or Irish need apply,' often greeted patrons of public places."

Come on, people! It’s not the same thing at all. It’s not even in the same ballpark. Hell, it’s not even the same game! How can people be so completely clueless as to say this is wrong or bad or racist?

Fact: Many new immigrants don’t speak English.

Fact: It’s not easy for adults to learn a foreign language & it can be difficult to find the resources to do so. It’s a truly overwhelming undertaking.

Fact: Here we have a situation where the community is trying to help them in a simple, effective manner. How could that possibly be a problem?

This is only a “bad” thing if you don’t want immigrants to learn English. Learning the language of their new home is in their best interests in every possible way. Society can assist them & make this process easier. But by accommodating them in foreign tongues, you’re effectively keeping them in a subculture, out of the mainstream. You’re preventing their assimilation & creating a handicap.

The potential quality of life that could be achieved is severely limited if they refuse to learn English. If Americans were trying to prevent immigrants from learning English, we would be racists. But we’re trying to help them to do so & we’re still racists? I don’t think so.

This business owner should be commended for trying to help in the only way he is able. Instead, he’s being attacked. His critics are promoting separatism & special treatment of minorities. Such an agenda is divisive & isn’t in anyone’s best interests.

And how about a little consideration for the millions of non-Hispanic immigrants in America? Plastering our nation with Spanish subtitles isn’t doing Hispanics any good plus it has the added drawback of making everyone else feel that they are not the “preferred” immigrant.

Let's face it: If you want to move to a foreign country, learning to speak the language should be your primary concern & immediate goal. It's impractical, costly & ridiculous to expect an entire foreign nation to learn to speak your language. You should learn to speak theirs. Refusing to do so is an insult to the entire culture & if you have no respect for that culture, why would you want to live in that country?

People come to America from all over the world so it would be impossible for American businesses to accommodate everyone non-English speaker, there are just too many languages in the world. It’s certainly wouldn’t be right to accommodate one foreign language & ignore all others. That will make America a less attractive place to potential immigrants from non-Spanish speaking cultures.

Our forefathers learned English without welfare or social programs or anyone taking them by the hand & coddling them. They faced real discrimination, such as being refused service if they were Italian or Irish or Polish or whatever someone else didn’t like even though they spoke perfect English. Many of them were poor & lived in deplorable conditions that are now unknown in America. They struggled to feed their families, pay the rent, learn a new language & make a life for themselves against all odds in a country that didn't welcome them in the least.

So if it was good enough for millions of our ancestors, why is it suddenly too much to ask of new immigrants? More to the point, why is it too much to ask of Spanish-speaking immigrants but still expected of everyone else?

Tax dollars should not be spent making all levels of our government accessible to those who refuse to learn the English. Strapped funding for public safety, education & healthcare should not be further stretched for the benefit of those who refuse to help themselves. An old adage comes to mind, "Give a man a fish, feed him for one day. Teach a man to fish & feed him forever."

So stop handing out fish with that “press 2 for Spanish” prompt. Instead, follow Geno’s lead & teach these people to fish for themselves. It’s free, easy & a way every American can help to improve the quality of life for our newest citizens.