I have to respond to the obviously racist editorial you printed
in your newspaper June 17th entitled: Key Factor in bridging the
digital divide: English.
Dear Editor:
I have to respond to the obviously racist editorial you printed in your newspaper June 17th entitled: Key Factor in bridging the digital divide: English.
You state that the reason more Hispanic families don’t own computers is because they don’t speak English. That’s absurd. More Germans own computers and have Internet access also, so maybe it’s the lack of speaking German that’s holding them back? Your conclusions are not supported by the evidence you stated. In fact, they seem to have been pulled out of your….hat.
The survey only included a few hundred people. It may not have even been a statistically valid sample population. Maybe all of the people surveyed who were listed as “Hispanic” already spoke English. If that was the case, your whole argument becomes laughable.
There are thousands and thousands, maybe millions of Spanish language Web sites. Millions in Japanese, French, Chinese, German, Russian. Knowing English isn’t a prerequisite to using a computer, nor does the lack of knowing English really stop you from using the Internet, or enjoying Internet access. There is no doubt that knowing English is a must have for success in America. That can be proven in many ways. I have never met anyone in my life that has ever argued against that. Never.
But when suggestions that computers be given to the poor is turned into a condemnation of “those Hispanics that don’t learn English are causing their own troubles”, when in fact there is NO evidence to suggest that as even a factor, is a racist reaction. You assume, based upon your prejudices, that the cause MUST be “those people”, when in fact there is no evidence to support your conclusions in any way. It reads as though you are reaching for a reason to bash Hispanics. Quite frankly, that’s a common reaction from your publication, and hardly surprising.
I bet more Swiss have computers and Internet than non Hispanics in this area. We can only hope us non-Hispanics can learn Swiss in time to close the digital divide! God knows it can’t be just because they are wealthier than we are.
Examine your biases and get them in check. If you ever find yourself writing something at the end of your editorial that is a variation of, “I’m not a racist” as in the last two sentences of that editorial, know that you are probably having to say that because you ARE being racists.
Dave McRae,
Gilroy
EDITOR’S NOTE: Normally, the editorial board lets letters stand on their own merits, but Mr. McRae’s premise for his condemning letter, “more Hispanic families don’t own computers because they don’t speak English” and charges of “racism” merit a response. The editorial did not make the point Mr. McRae alleges. The point it did make was this: “No matter how many computers are donated or how many are available for use in South Valley’s libraries, schools and community centers, language is going to be a gating factor to learning to use them. Encouraging donation of computers to low-income families is a great idea. So is expanding access at schools, libraries and community centers. But for those programs to be as successful as possible, the users will need to master English.”
