STAR SPANGLED BANNER IN SPANISH

LET US BE MULTICULTURAL

from JoeUser Forums
German almost became the national language of the USA. I think German lost by a very narrow margin. Now an attempt is made to render the Star Spangled Banner in Spanish. Personally I do not find this new development cauing any degree of unease. However traditional American conservatives are out raged. Is there anuy thing wrong in siging the National Sonmg in Spanish. Afterall the US has become a ulticultural society. Aggressive identity politics built up aroud language is always a regressive development in that it fosters very narrow loyalties. From that point of view I can understand the sharp reactions from a section of the American media.

However now that the Immigration issue has become a crucial issue in the political scene it is highly unfortunate that some Spanish language groups are stridently pushing forward the Spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner. This will provoke a bitter backlash.
1,432 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

It's not only conservatives who think this new version of the Banner is over the top....its pretty much rejected on both sides of the aisle.

If it were translated into Spanish accurately, then who would care?  But they changed it and it is NOT theirs to change.  Can they do it?  Sure.  But they aren't winning themselves any 'charity of spirit' from Americans.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
The ones advocating this king of agressive language games are not doing the Mexicans within the US any good as this issue will only inflame even mainstream liberal Americans.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
German almost became the national language of the USA.

Actually an urban legend - there is even a snopes.com page about this. Link

In reality there was never any vote about making any language the national language of the United States. There was a petition to Congress from a group of German-Amercicans in 1795 asking for some of the laws to be made available in both German and English, which was debated without arriving at any decision. It was the vote to adjourn and consider the matter at a later date that was lost by one vote, ensuring that the matter was dropped.