Should candidates have debated in Spanish?
I watched most of the Spanish-language debate of Democratic presidential candidates yesterday on Channel 23. Hosts Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas were stupendous. To me the more interesting stuff was off stage -- Republicans who didn't want their own debate in a foreign language.
Most bilingual people I know were in a heated argument about whether the debate should have been held in Spanish to begin with. Here was the big question: If you're a voter, shouldn't you be able to speak English proficiently enough to understand candidates' stances on different subjects?
Most bilingual people I know were in a heated argument about whether the debate should have been held in Spanish to begin with. Here was the big question: If you're a voter, shouldn't you be able to speak English proficiently enough to understand candidates' stances on different subjects?
posted by Ana Veciana-Suarez at 8:57 AM
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3 Comments:
TO answer your headline question...ABSOLUTELY NOT.
The fact that a debate was hosted in a language other than English was the worst kind of ethnic pandering I've ever seen. The fact that citizens (who are the only ones eligible to vote) are supposed to pass an English proficiency should have killed the insane idea for this debate from the start.
As advantageous as this might be for the portion of the hispanic community that simply - does not want to learn english, there are other members of society who struggle with English...yet we understandably do not 'cater' to them. Why should we single and cater constantly to the Hispanic community??
I'm from Germany; I don't see the German debates conducted in turkish, french, or other..
Any assistance that the candidates can provide to get their message across should be applauded. They can hold debates in English, French, Spanish and Creole. If we want to make the English only argument then lets go a step further. Only educated voters that can annunciate in the English language should be allowed to vote.
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