2) Joe Vento, the owner of Geno's Steaks, was in court the past week defending his “English Only” ordering policy in his Philadelphia restaurant. A small sign that asked customers to order in English has sparked a huge controversy with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, which filed the discrimination complaint against Joe.
Some people are calling Vento’s actions racist, but Joe himself said the signs were posted because of concerns over the debate on immigration reform, and the increasing number of people from the area who could not order in English.
"This country is a melting pot, but what makes it work is the En
glish language," Vento told the commission. "I'm not stupid. I would never put a sign out to hurt my business."The thing I find most interesting about this case is that first of all, Joe is not being sued by an offended customer, but rather by the “Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations”. However, Paul M. Hummer, an attorney for the commission, testified that the sign is not about political speech, but about "intimidation," and that it suggested business from certain individuals was not wanted.
Now I know a lot of business owners, and even the most racist among them – of which I do not consider Mr. Vento to be – are really only interested in one color: Green. To suggest that Mr. Vento would prefer to lose money is outrageous, especially since no one could come up with any supporting evidence that these were Mr. Vento’s motives.
In typical over-reaction from the left, Camille Charles, a sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, testified that Vento's signs harkens back to the "Whites only" postings of the Jim Crow era. "The signs give a feeling of being unwelcome and being excluded," Charles said
Let me ask you this Ms. Charles: Suppose that Joe served what he THOUGHT a customer was asking for, but instead served them something different, and because of a rare peanut or shellfish or whatever allergy, that person died. Would you be rushing to Joe’s defense then.
I think Joe’s words: "This country is a melting pot, but what makes it work is the English language", are brilliant. Sure I think it’s annoying as a merchant myself trying to figure out what a non-English speaking patron is looking for, but imagine if you are that person who can’t speak the language. How many employment and just normal day-to-day transactions are closed to you because of the language barrier.
Sure, dealing with people who don’t speak English is a minor annoyance to some, but it is a huge barrier to these peoples advancement. By continuing to deny the fact that immigrants to ANY country need to learn the language to prosper in that country, makes those on the “pro-immigrant” side responsible for these immigrants slower assimilation into society.
2 comments:
Hopefully the case will be found without merit before the guy has to spend a lot of money defending himnself. If it does go to trial hopefully the judge or jury will find it frivelous and side for the horses behind of a cheesteak owner that put the sign up. It's his business and he can run it how he wants to but I think if I went into any business and saw that sign I would walk out the door. And the only lanuguage I speak is English. It just smacks of bigotry and I would refuse to reward this dunderhead with any of my dollars. There are a million other ways he could solve this problem. Posting a sign was rude. I heard about this before and if I recall correctly he himself was an immigrant or maybe he is first generation. Too bad he has assmiliated so rapidly to myopic xenophobic Americana...
That being said, the only court I think he should be subject to is the court of public opinion as measured at the cash register.
I forgot to add that the newsite I found this on had one of those opinion polls attached to the story, and 93% of the people who voted sided with the owner.
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