Mayor decries Spanish billboard (in NJ)

[brooklynite]

A Spanish-language billboard promoting iced coffee is getting a chilly reception from some Bogota officials.

Mayor Steve Lonegan said the McDonald's billboard on River Road near Elm Avenue and the railroad overpass is offensive because it sends the message that Spanish speakers and immigrants do not need to learn how to speak English.

"English is the language that binds us as a community and as a country," Lonegan said Thursday. "This billboard says, 'You Hispanics can't learn English, so we're going to put up this sign.' It's really sending the wrong message."

Lonegan said he spoke Thursday with a representative from the Fairfield office of billboard company CBS Outdoor and was told that it would be taken down. But an executive at its New York offices said the company will do no such thing.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MDcmZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY5NTc5NzcmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkz

[Reverend_Smitty]

1. This tool ran for governor last year

When I watched him in the Republican debates, I got the feeling that he wasn't too swift...now I know for sure

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. Lonegan is a guy...

Who tries to run to the right of Ernie Da' Wrench Garrett and Brett Schundler. You can see that this tactic pays off for him. ;-)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Fucking god damn English speaking pricks.

If they don't want to live in a country where all languages are fine they can get the hell out.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Nicely put

:applause:

[TheMirrorMan]

22. Jawohl, Mensch

:bounce:

[democracyindanger]

3. He's the mayor of BOGOTA

and he's complaining about Spanish?

What a maroon.

[Tesha]

8. Now, now, they say it...

> He's the mayor of BOGOTA
> and he's complaining about Spanish?

Now, now, they say it "Ba-GOAT-uhh", not like the place in Columbia.

Tesha

[mcscajun]

9. I agree he's a Maroon...even an ULTRA-Maroon

but the town of Bogota in NJ isn't a Spanish or even an Native American word (as many of the NJ towns are: Mahwah, Hohokus, Hackensack, Moonachie, to mention just a few).

Bogota is named after the Bogert family who settled there way way back when.

[democracyindanger]

10. But it LOOKS Spanish!

Evil! Evil brown hordes serving iced coffee!

;)

[mcscajun]

11. Yeah. How DARE they!

He really IS an ultra-maroon, and an opportunist and a liar.

Anyway, aside from Him...

There have been Spanish billboards hawking every conceivable product in the neighborhoods of NYC since the first Puerto Rican influx in the late 1950s-early 60s. I've never given them half a thought except to reflect that Marketing Knows No Language Barriers. :shrug:

Of course, there WAS that infamous Chevy Nova debacle... :evilgrin:

[Lost-in-FL]

6. First was cheese steaks and now iced coffee??

:wtf: This world certainly is full of pendejos. :eyes:

[corbett]

32. ¡Ay Qué Sí!

¡Qué carajo!

http://www.democrats.org/democracybonds.html

[kskiska]

7. It would make more sense to change the name of his town…

then get busy changing the names of cities, towns, and streets nationwide.

[omenapoint]

12. If you want to be here, speak English.

Seriously, language is one of the things that binds us together as a nation. Without a common language, we'll become "Balkanized". My grandmother immigrated to New Jersey from what is now the Czech Republic. She tells me that we cannot be a country without a common language.

[brook]

13. Seriously.

I grew up in North Jersey. Many of the kids I played with came from Italian families. Their grandparents rarely spoke English. Big deal. My kids think it's funny that I like the Sopranos because it reminds me of growing up in Bergen County.

Waiting in line today, I started speaking my rusty Spanish to an obviously Hispanic baby. Her mother smiled broadly and told me I was a 'beautiful' abuela. It made me feel terrific. That's the world I'd rather live in.

FWIW, Every country I've ever lived in has had its share of Americans who can't be bothered to learn the local language -and boast about it.

edited for typos.

[Doctor Venmkan]

36. Those Americans that immigrate to other countries and refuse to assimilate

( "FWIW, Every country I've ever lived in has had its share of Americans who can't be bothered to learn the local language -and boast about it." )

What would you call them? "Jerks," comes to mind for me...

I don't think anybody's SAYING that "if you move to America you must learn English, but if an American moves somewhere else, they don't HAVE to learn the language!" If I were to move to a country with another language, I would not be so arrogant to expect them to cater to me with English "everything" for the rest of my life!

[yankeedem]

15. I'm sure she stepped off the boat

Speaking English perfectly without an accent, right?:eyes:

[omenapoint]

18. Nope, but she started learning immediately.

That is my point. Immigration is great, as long as the (legal) immigrants join our society fully. To do that, they need to join the language. I believe in the "melting pot" idea.

[yankeedem]

19. Just like Spanish-speaking immigrants do

every day. By the 3rd generation, 100% of Spanish immigrant families speak English as their primary language. Just like every other ethnic group .

[omenapoint]

20. Then we wouldn't need spanish signs.

Thank you.

[yankeedem]

21. Sadly, no

What about the 1st and 2nd generations? Put away your xenophobia and realize that Spanish immigrants are no different than any other group.

[ugarte]

25. If Spanish is offensive to you, cover your eyes

God forbid little children should see it.

[Ms. Clio]

27. oh, look another one

have fun while it lasts.

[LostinVA]

39. Of course we do

Like the other poster said, it usually takes to the second or third generation before the "immigrants" speak and write English well. Whether they are Italian, Hispanic, German, etc. In areas with a large immigrant population, signage in that language appear (Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Greek, etc.). It's ALWAYS been like that. No biggie... except for when neo-Birchers want to be jerks and start raving about "learn the language or leave." Sickening. How much Lakota do they know? Navajo? etc.

English is an exceedingly hard language to learn... and, adults find learning any new language difficult... that's why it often takes the second or third generation to learn the local lingo perfectly.

Nice openmindness... nice memes, too, by the way.

Good thing your granny is white, too. Took the pressure off her.

Thank YOU.

[LostinVA]

38. Bingo n/t

[Lost-in-FL]

35. Wrong!

*putting on flame retardant clothing*


The melting pot idea is only good for white Europeans since they were easily able to "join society fully" because of their color. Look at African Americans, how many years would it take to be accepted fully as AMERICANS? fully. Most are not even born in Africa and are still called AA. Why is that? Because they are not allowed to fully join society.

Hispanics, even if they speak the language, they still look different or "sound funny". And because they "sound funny" they are dimmed as dumb or stupid. So ask why is that some hispanics or other brown people are not able to join society fully and create their own communities where they are accepted unconditionally? Because they are indeed rejected by your society . Even when they talk about "hispanics" or "immigration" all that comes to some peoples mind are "illegals" or "mexicans". Unless of course they are Cubans and they are not immigrants but "exiles".

[LostinVA]

40. No flaming from me -- you're right

Hispanics and Southern Italians and Greeks looked different... brown....

And... WORD about the semantics: Cubans are ALWAYS "exiles," never "immigrants" or "illegals."

[Ms. Clio]

28. My goodness, however does Canada manage to function with 2 languages???

My god, why isn't Switzerland splitting apart with FOUR?!?

[daleo]

33. Actually, an all Spanish billboard would probably be illegal in Quebec

Official bilingualism can get pretty complicated, even if it is a good solution for some areas.

[Ms. Clio]

41. Yes, but if 12% of Quebec's population spoke Spanish

I'm sure their policies would change.

[HEyHEY]

44. Hard to say - the laws are complicated

I don't know if there is some kind of exemption if you're planning a third language billboard for advertising purposes or something. You know, like a marka bavaria ad all in portaguese or something for effect.

[Lost-in-FL]

34. There's one more thing that bind Americans together

MONEY. Ask a republican. That spanish advertisement was probably in a billboard property of VIACOM or on of their sister companies. Obviously, they don't have a problem with foreign languages as you do. Republicans only speak the language of money. They don't hold any loyalty to anyone but money. So while some complaint that speaking another language is UNAMERICAN, some freeper is getting their pockets full of money thanks to the brown people.

[LostinVA]

37. *yawn*

I'm a grandchild of Italian immigrants who couldn't speak a word of English when they came here. I find your post offensive and xenophobic.

I grew up in NJ and left there in 1982. There was a very large Hispanic community there then (although it's bigger now). This so nothing new. He's just wanted to jump on the "Hispanics suck" bandwagon.

"If you want to be here, speak English."

Forsooth.

[KingFlorez]

42. Yeah, yeah, yeah

People should speak English, but it's a choice, it shouldn't be a requirement.

[HEyHEY]

43. Odd, Canada has two official languages and works fine.

[Freddie Stubbs]

47. Except in Quebec, where signs in English only are illegal

[HEyHEY]

48. That's been done away with

Funnily enough, I hear DUers knock that all the time... often it's the same ones that want similiar laws for english in the USA.

[Sapere aude]

52. We aren't bound together at all. Never were and never will be.

Who gives a rats ass if we are bound together. We all hate someone or some class of people here.

Get over it! This is a diverse bilingual country and is getting more so by the day. You will never stop that progress so get used to it or be pissed off all the time. It's your choice.

[yellowcanine]

14. Ask the asswipe what part of "freedom of speech" does he not understand?

[yankeedem]

16. This guy ran for Governor

in 05 and spent the Republican primary period calling his Republican opponents "socialists". He's a little unhinged, but good entertainment if you like freak shows.

[yankeedem]

17. Thank you Captain Obvious

"This doesn't help people," Shalhoub said. "It helps McDonald's sell more coffee, ...."

No kidding? McDonald's puts up billboards to sell more? Wow. Next thing he's going to tell me that water is wet.

[expatriot]

23. A good half of the billboards in my area are in Spanish (Yuma, AZ)

I work at a bilingual callcenter where over half of the calls going out are in Spanish. I am monolingual english and am not the least-bit disturbed.

[struggle4progress]

24. If Lonegan don't like the US, why don't he move somewhere else?

[rocktivity]

26. I saw a shot of the billboard on the news

I thought there was something offensive about the headline itself--something that got "lost in the translation" like the Frito Bandito. He's pissed off JUST because the headline is in Spanish? Lonegan has JUST noticed that some advertising isn't in English?



:shrug:
rocknation

[rayofreason]

29. What a Bozo...

...but wait - is BOZO an english word?

I think that clown immigrants need to take American clown names, like Red Skelton. Allowing them to keep furrin sounding names like "BOZO" sends the wrong message.

[oasis]

30. Change the name of the town as well. "Bogota" has a latin ring to it.

:eyes:

[Voltaire99]

31. In fairness to the idiot, every McDonald's billboard is offensive.

But having said that, here's hoping he's soon surrounded by Spanish language messages. Anything that sends the right wing into fits can't be all bad. ;-)

[pokercat999]

45. What a smuch, we have a auto repair business

(national franchise so I can't name them) in the heart of the Latino "section" of Charlotte. We recently hired a well qualified manager who's first language is Spanish and put all our advertising messages on the building in Spanish. Business is up 60%. Our customers appreciate the fact that we are trying to serve them to the best of our ability. This includes conversing in a language they are most comfortable with. Unfortunately I am total dunce when it comes to any language other than English and I'm not too good with that. I would love to speak more than one language but just can't seem to grasp even the most basic stuff. :dunce:

[xxqqqzme]

46. he would stroke out here in Orange County

Not only in Spanish but Vietnamese & Chinese as well.

The shreiking & whining just get worse and worse.

[shanti]

51. thank you!

i grew up in santa ana. let's just say, it's not the same as it used to be in the 60/70's.

[Sapere aude]

49. No, the sign says you xenophobes can go fuck yourselves, freedom of speech

is freedom of speech in any language.

[shanti]

50. hah!

get used to it i say - we have here in cali! ;)