Soaps.com - MESSAGE BOARDS

WOW--this j@ck@ss has a severe slaveowner plantation complex!

Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.

The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33479833/ns/us_news-race_and_ethnicity/

yup, people in our country are not racist at all, won't marry a mixed couple, now change your name, what next????

The nerve of the guy, right? In forder for him to get his new venture off and running, he thinks that white washing his staff is the answer? WOW! Let's think about this--if you are in a majority Latino populated town, wouldn't it be smart business to want to treat the citizens (namely employees) with respect in hopes they would spread the word that the hotel is open for business?

Someone should force him to change his name from Larry to Lauretta and drop him off in San Franciso to work as a landlord for transexual post-ops! What a jerk!

While I agree trying to make them change their names is a bit much(even though if you look back in America's history this isn't a new thing. My family and my hubby's families all have names that aren't the original. This country was founded on the melting pot theory!!
Now for the langauge thing ,sorry but I can totally see where he is coming from!!!! Have you never been somewhere and people are talking another language and make fun of you thinking you don't know. When I moved here(RI) when I was 10, I was the only kid who wasn't portuguese and they made my life hell!! Constantly laughing and saying mean things about me(I was 10) I found out what they were saying by a cousin who's 1/2 portuguese, when she threatened to tell their parents!Not that their parents cared cause I wasn't one of them! I remeber being called a greenhorn and was blown away because (my family has Native American roots as well English Irish and scotish, and actually some of my ancestors were on the mayflower), I actually didn't know that until I moved here. My family had raised me up to that point that my nationality is American! So to be called a word like a green horn was insuting! I have never called people names like that nor did I see it until coming here. When I was older and started dating I made sure to look for the portuguese guys so that when I had children, they wouldn't have deal with the cruelty that I did!! Bigotry comes in all shapes and sizes!! Thats why I think the one language thing is a good idea! I know at least where I live, the teachers have to waste alot of time teaching kids english because their parents won't learn it, so they come to school speaking no english! Our budget is small enough with out having to add special classes to it!! imo

This former employee said it best--

Martin Gutierrez, another fired employee, says he felt disrespected when he was told to use the unaccented Martin as his name. He says he told Whitten that Spanish was spoken in New Mexico before English. "He told me he didn't care what I thought because this was his business," Gutierrez says.

"I don't have to change my name and language or heritage," he says. "I'm professional the way I am."



Everyone in this country who thinks English should be the only language we know and speak needs to get a wake up call--by 2050, Latinos will probably 29% of this country's population. It is racist and disrespectful to assume that they have to deny speaking Spanish to assimilate into American culture, when it's quite obvious by the numbers, that it is WE who need to be more tolerant of cultural differences and learn to speak another language other than 'get er done!'

OspreyG: appreciate your post! Folks really need to-get-it-together if they believe English should be the only language spoken, as we live in a very diverse culture. I for one believe: one should be able to speak their native tongue; it speaks to their heritage, and culture of which I am sure they’re proud. I agree it is racist, and disrespect to the highest order asking anyone of any culture to deny who they are, and assimilate to North American culture. And why in the he$$ would one want to change their name just for the convenience of some racist idiot? As for “Teachers having to waste their time teaching kids English…” that’s the reason they’re called Teachers – they’re there to teach!!! Whether it’s English, Math, Spanish, Swahili, or Gibberish, that’s their chosen profession – TEACHING, so I don’t see how that’s a waste of their time. Re “parents won’t learn it,” don’t make assumptions, as I am sure you don’t know what the parents of other children would and would not do! This is where tolerance, and non-judgment of other cultures come into play and yes, it would behoove us to learn another language. Maybe if folks try learning a language other than English, they might understand the challenges in learning another language, and not be so quick to pass judgment on others.

I think the hotel owner should have studied his history. New Mexico was part of the very big Spanish territory for three-plus centuries. I have spent time there, and a large number of the Hispanic people are descendants of the original Spanish land grant families. It shouldn't matter how long you or your ancestors have been in this country, it's a matter of respect. Speaking more than one language is an advantage, too.
After all, I was a minority employee when I worked for one of the Indian Nations, and they teased me constantly about the Mayflower passengers being "Boat People", but I got to keep my own name.

Thanks for the comment, Oreo 123. It gets better. When tribe members filled out applications for employment, they indicated "English" under the foreign language portion. A lot of the younger people raised by grandparents learned to speak their native language first. I would love to hear their comments if some business person told them they had to speak only English. One of the tribal council members told me that the Indian nations did not enter this country across the land bridge. Instead, they went forth from the land bridge and populated the rest of the world. To this day, I don't know if he was serious; they have a very dry sense of humor. That's why Coyote, the Trickster, is one of their favorite characters in tribal folklore. It might be surprising to hear that I received better treatment as one of their minority employees than I did from some of my Caucasian employers.