If you accept the logic of capitalism, there is no denying that able-bodied immigrant workers are more attractive to employers than disabled American-born workers, even if immigrant workers didn't speak English at all and employers had to pay all the costs of translation. But if you didn't accept the logic of capitalism, what's the reason for prioritizing American-born workers over immigrant workers?
> As for my use of the phrase "non English speaking" that is perhaps my
> personal reaction to the fact that I have watched my neighborhood
> become dominated by Persians speaking Farsi and perhaps other
> dialects in preference to English and by Russians who also speak
> Russian rather than integrate themselves into the English language.
> My neighbor who speaks some English is raising her son in a Russian
> nursery school where no English is spoken. She works in a doctor's
> office where there is a Russian clientele and they do not use
> English. While many of you may disagree with my discomfort at this
> change, I have watched my neighborhood become absorbed by a different
> culture which I find uninviting and alienating. I simply cannot
> communicate with people who only speak Farsi or Russian. It has
> totally changed the character of things here. I don't like it. That
> is my personal feeling and I am entitled to it. I like the feeling
> of being in a neighborhood where people can know each other because
> they share a means of communication. It is not xenophobia it is my
> preference that people who come here learn to speak the English
> language.
I'm sure many hearing people have the same discomfort at being surrounded by people who use a sign language. They can't communicate with them because they haven't learned it, just as you can't communicate with Farsi and Russian speakers because you haven't learned either.
-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>