PERSPECTIVE: Gingrich's comments lack 'human touch'

Having grown up listening to Spanish, English and German, I have always taken my bilingualism for granted (quasi-French made the German kind of wear off). "By taking it for granted," I mean being accustomed to the fact that I am equally fluent in two idiomas. However, I have always been aware of the opportunity and ease this provides me in countless scenarios. I thank my parents and the circumstances in which I grew for this advantage.

Which is why, as a Hispanic and person of general tolerance and humility, I am deeply offended and very enraged by Newt Gingrich's recent statements equating languages other than English to languages of "living in a ghetto." Apparently, Gingrich has long defended teaching only English in American schools, which means he has undermined other cultures and demeaned other ethnicities for a long time. Gingrich's comments on Sunday to the National Federation of Republican Women, who happily cheered him on, lacked human touch and intellect in various ways.

Mainly, he is again contributing to the stereotypical American arrogance and sense of superiority that make so many other countries and cultures reject the United States. I am by no means saying this is the real nature of all people in this country, but when a public figure and possible presidential candidate expresses such discriminative comments, it speaks for the country, or at least for his party. And his party, let's face it, could spare the bad publicity.

Secondly, it disregards thousands of years of history of peoples of other cultures. It places the Anglo-Saxon civilization, and more particularly, the American breed, as the superior culture and way of thought. He is making the grave mistake of equating economic and military superpower to cultural superiority. Perhaps he is one of the many who calls his country America, forgetting that America, in fact, is the appropriate name for the whole Western hemisphere -- not just the United States. There are a couple of other countries on this side of the world, including a big chunk of Spanish-speaking ones.

Thirdly, Gingrich is snubbing the accomplishments and the plights of millions of Hispanics in the United States by placing all 40 million of them in the "ghetto." The use of this term implies all non-English speakers live in slums. Well, for a variety of reasons, many minorities in the United States do live in poverty. But Newt, instead of embracing and appreciating the fruits of their labor (like when he's drinking Sonoma Valley wine or watching a Major League Baseball game), opts to look down on them and completely negate the cultural impact of their presence. He wants a land of opportunity for all, where men and women from the entire world look for democracy, freedom, the pursuit of happiness and also perform most of the manual labor of the country, right? Well, Newt, there is a flipside -- they come with their own culture and language, too.

Wanting American children to learn only English, or only one language, when there is the opportunity to learn more is possibly one of the most ignorant and arrogant requests one can make. In a globalized world, many children will be left behind if they only know one language. Maybe Gingrich has heard of Shakespeare or F. Scott Fitzgerald, who both certainly deserve praise. But has Gingrich read Cervantes, Dostoevsky, Goethe or Rousseau? Maybe he has just read One Hundred Years of Solitude without realizing Cien Años de Soledad, a novel written in Spanish, which has made Colombian Gabriel García Márquez one of the most celebrated and renowned contemporary writers. And, Newt in Colombia, most people will be able to say both "your comments are racist" and "sus comentarios son racistas."

Gingrich calls his English "the language of prosperity." I don't know how this could be more ironic. If prosperity means accepting the dominance of one culture and language above all others, then the English-speaking Gingrich is the most prosperous man there is.

This is a man considering a run at the Republican presidential candidacy. Por el amor de Dios, let's have a president who embraces diversity and accepts himself as a citizen of the world first, and as a whichever-language-speaking person second.

Christina Cromeyer-Dieke, a sophomore in the College of Communication is also a staff writer for The Daily Free Press.