In “Translation Equation” (April 22), we were treated to a quotation from Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board Member Chris Arend:
“The rule is when you address the board … you can address the board in English. You do not address the board in Spanish, which none of us understand.”
Let’s unpack that.
According to the 2019 census (the most recent data I could get for Paso), Paso Robles was 38 percent Hispanic or Latino. It was 57.3 percent white alone.
Furthermore, the 2019 California census reported the state was 39.4 percent Hispanic or Latino, and merely 36.5 percent white alone.
Trends suggest that the Hispanic or Latino percentages have gone up since 2019.
Yet, the school district does not seem to prioritize having a board that represents its community. Instead, it tells the community to bend to the will of a certain group. A group that doesn’t seem to be willing to take reality into consideration.
I suppose that’s just the way things are. Even when Paso Robles has blown up with wineries and vineyards, and it seems like there’s an underserved population in the school district working hard to keep them going. It’s clear who’s in charge and what they won’t value.
Mexicans matter. Latinos matter. Chicanos matter. Hispanics matter.
That’s a fact. And another fact is that what you do about itspeaks volumes about your character.
Thank you for all your hard work, Yessenia Echevarria of Paso People’s Action and Mujeres de Accion! Si se puede!
Rachel S. Bird
Nipomo
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2021.
Pura mierda Rachel Bird.
School board member Chris Arend has gone on record claiming that systemic racism in America ended in the 1970s. Mr. Arend either needs more education or needs to stop lying. What, other than bigotry, would compel Mr . Arend to continually and publicly promote the notion that systemic racism is no longer an issue to be concerned with?
It’s pretty obvious to most people that the Paso Robles school board is clearly somewhere that systemic racism can be found and seen to be blatantly supported by at least one school board member.
Pura mierda rightword 2.
Is Ms. Bird suggesting that every group is entitled to have meetings conducted in their language? Beside Spanish and English, we also locally have people who speak various Chinese dialects, Japanese, Hindi, Tagalog, Russian, German, Farsi, French, etc. etc. Would each have its own meeting? How could you be sure the same matters were discussed at each meeting? Regardless of the changes in demographics, English is the official language of this state. To become a naturalized citizen and entitled to vote, you are required to demonstrate a proficiency in English. The only practical language in which to conduct governmental meetings is English.
Satchmo, you are the man! YOU should run for Paso school board and demand that they hold all meetings in Sanskrit. Or maybe Swahili, better yet… all language in school board meetings must be transformed into interpretive dance with Ebonics heavily inferred. Yes! Inclusion is fun…
Once again…lefty head up ass syndrome…when you come to another country….learn it language…..dumb ass
This letter writer perfectly illustrates the nonsensical hypocrisy of the whacky left, she ought to be embarrassed to call herself an American, and I have no doubt that she is a dupe of the liberal left.
Vaya Con Dios.
Rachel Bird: Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board Member was absolutely correct in his statement concerning the rule of addressing the board in English. A country in in order to survive has to have a common language and girl, the common language in the United States of America is ENGLISH! If you come to this country and take all the good our country has to offer and don’t learn our language, it is a slap in the face to our country. Forget all the percentages of the Hispanics, Chicanos and Latinos, white people matter too!
You sound like you are a pure racist. If you want to speak Spanish 24 hrs. a day, I suggest you go back to your Mother country and live. I waited on a quota system for 5 years to come to America and another 5 years to become a US citizen and I hate to see people like you open your mouth about my country and it’s language! Forget your percentages, you are in the United States and our language is English. And if you wanted to look it up for the State of California, English is our official language, do keep your mouth shut!
Its for the benefit of the school district that efforts are made to communicate the district messages to non-native speakers. Its also a beautiful thing, these efforts to facilitate communication and understanding among a wide variety of people in our community. It wasnt too many generations ago when the official language of California was Spanish. Its nice that we can honor that legacy in a productive and loving way that helps the district get its messages across to students, their parents and others in our community. Cooperation is what its all about and part of what we should be teaching our children.
So defensive! What are y’all so scared of, anyway? Heaven forbid an idea that might benefit all students in the district might originate in a language other than English. And if it’s fearing that your way of life, language and culture are being challenged, then don’t worry! If those elements of your life are truly superior, other folks will catch on and get onboard with your program.
Btw, whether you agree with Mr. Arend or not, as a leader in education, I’m sure he’d cringe at some of the spelling and grammar used here. If we’re all so pro-English, let’s at least use the language properly.
What’s wrong is that people to not want to assimilate in this country. They come here and expect to be catered to which is totally wrong. It is truly sad that we educate their children,
but the parents won’t learn the English language. In order to become a US citizen, one has to read and write in English, but we print ballots in California in 27+ languages which is a waste of tax payers’ money! Years ago in California, if you didn’t speak English one brought
an interpreter with you. Now, when looking for a job, the ad reads Spanish speaking only, which is a crime in this country! It is pure discrimination and hope someday someone will win big in court because this shouldn’t be in America where our language is English!
Gail, where does it say that English is the official language of the US? What crime is being committed to simply communicate?
And btw, didn’t we learn (in the very type of school curriculum we’ve gotten off topic from discussing here) that stereotyping is shallow and inaccurate?
Im sure most people would prefer to be bilingual. But its not that easy or quick to do for most people. It seems most of the people that are demanding that others be bilingual are not bilingual themselves. They apparently dont appreciate that it not easy to learn a second language, especially when you are working very hard at low wages and have a family to take care of.
Rightword also thinks most people would prefer to be bisexual. Hey it improves the chances of sex by 50 more percent! Folks who are bilingual already speak other languages righttard. Speak English in America if you want to be taken seriously in circles of influence. Speak Spanish in Spain if you want the same. Speak Chinese if you want the same in China. DDDDDDDUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I take a different approach. I don’t make my decision on whether to take someone seriously or not based on what language they are speaking. I don’t grant respect to people based on what language they speak or their ethnic heritage.
Please read what I said. English is the common language used in the United States, but
English is the official language of our State of California
They say they only come for a better life, but they don’t care about the impact they have on your life, lol.
What is it that you need that you don’t have? We are very blessed to live in such a wonderful place. Our local farm workers are one of the reasons that we are so blessed with such good food. Our immigrants have blessed us with so much diversity of culture and great work that has made the central coast such a special place to live.
It’s interesting to note that recent immigrants to the United States are less likely to commit violent crimes than people who have been born in the United States.
As Jesus taught us: love thy neighbor.
Save the collectivist jargon and worn out talk points for the illegal aliens you pander to rightword. It is interesting to note you state “facts” without proof. Where do you get this stuff from anyway? Our immigrants have “blessed” us with so much fentanyl (mexican drug cartels), tax burden (welfare for illegals, California ESPECIALLY), human trafficking (see Atascadero motel 6 police blotter any night), and let’s not forget Kate Steinle. She was killed by an illegal alien with an ILLEGALLY obtained firearm. By the way, the offer still stands if you want to sell your unwanted guns. Have notified some folks that we can LEGALLY transfer through. Oh yeah…let’s not forget the new 5,000 bed illegal alien motel at Camp Roberts!! Our ILLEGAL ALIENS have blessed us with nothing but turmoil and burden. LEGAL immigration, just like LEGAL firearms provide diversity in law abiding society. YOU and YOUR liberal cohorts use illegal people and means in our country for political advantage. You are noticed and through LEGAL and compassionate elections will be stopped cold.
As Jesus taught us: “love thy neighbor!“
I never considered Jesus to be a communist. I don’t think that’s an accurate characterization.
Jesus was, however, an immigrant despised by many conservatives of his time. They said what he was doing was illegal and punished him for it. It is something worth remembering. Through it all he preached love. That was supposed to be a lesson for all future generations. Live in love—an unending resource for all time.
Africans languages matter too. Learn Swahili.
At this time, it makes sense to focus on Spanish and English. Fostering respectful communication is what it’s all about and a good lesson for our children. Mucho Gracias!
Retain American Sovereignty.
Build the Wall!
Reject Whacky Liberal Nonsense.
Support ICE.
End DACA (Deport ALL Criminal Aliens)
Enact Gang Injunctions.
English Only on Official Documents.
National ID Card
E-Verify for ALL Employers.
No Taxpayer-Funded Government Benefits to Illegals.
Stop Illegal Immigration So We Can Retain Legal Immigration.
RIP Katie Steinle, Cal Poly Grad Killed by Illegal Alien.
In the United States, on a per capita basis, United States citizens commit more murders and other violent crimes than non-citizens. We can see this play out in San Luis Obispo County and just about everywhere else in The United States. In California, you are much more likely to be shot and killed or sexually assaulted by a citizen than you are from an undocumented immigrant. Do the research. Find out for yourself.
The Republican Party and white supremacist factions are doing everything they can to create animosity and fear between the races. Extremists in the republican party use fear and bigotry to manipulate voters.
Learn Swahili.
Let’s all remember that illegal is a crime, not a race.
Despite what our ‘friend’, Wrongword, says, illegal aliens are criminals who are here in violation of our democratically-constructed laws, and it is perfectly reasonable for working class taxpayers to expect the laws to be enforced. Allowing our borders to be overrun by illegals results in human trafficking, drug running, damage to the US economy, taxing our social safety net system, and lawlessness.
No country in the world allows in as many LEGAL immigrants as America, and we should stop illegal immigration so that we can retail legal immigration. Our whacky liberal friends try to defend our loser President Biden as he puts children in cages, and the Border Patrol says the number of illegal crossings is now at an all-time high, so it is the Democrats who have caused this crisis on our border.
Abandon Democrats in 2022/2024.
Turns out Joe Biden is one of the most Popular United States presidents in history. It’s remarkable how much good he has done for our nation and our world in such a short time.
The Republican party’s efforts to “Abandon democracy in 2022” is sickening. Equally discussing is the Republicans efforts to ramp up racial animosity in our nation and violence toward immigrants.
An inconvenient truth: in the United States the incidence of violent crime perpetrated by citizens is considerably greater than the of undocumented immigrants. We see this on the central coast where we are much more likely to be killed or assaulted or robbed by a native born citizen than an undocumented immigrant. Bottom line: in the United States The violent crime rate is lower among undocumented immigrants than it is for citizens. But white supremacists and members of the republican party don’t want us to know this, preferring to breed lies , fear and animosity to manipulate voters for the benefit of a few not the expense of the majority.
Let’s vote for people who want to bring unity and understanding and respectful communication among all the diverse aspects of our society. That is what makes the United States strong and resilient able able to accomplish just about anything we unite behind.
Right tard, your so called “facts” are flawed as always. I’m glad you post things so the general public has a record of the idiocy of the left privileged chi-com dems and their policies. Naturally more crimes are committed by citizens because they live here in THEIR country. Illegal aliens are criminals by their very being here. There are less of them than us, thank the good Lord, because they are not even supposed to be here. You open border types should open border your homes to them, open your wives to them, open your wallets to them. Wouldn’t that be inclusionary? Then the rest of us could save the tax money Senor Biden wants to redistribute to the world.
On a per capita basis, American citizens in the United States commit more violent crimes than undocumented immigrants within our borders. It’s a simple fact. You don’t have to believe me. You can do the research yourself. Saying it another way: The rate a violent crime committed by American citizens within the United States is considerably greater than that of undocumented immigrants within the United States. In other words, the overall per capita rate of violent crime goes down when the percentage of undocumented migrants in the U.S. rises.
ILLEGAL ALIENS! ILLEGAL ALIENS! Undocumented my ass, it’s documented that there are TOO MANY ILLEGAL ALIENS in this country. The path to legal citizenship is easy and clear. USE IT! The democrat (socialist/communist) party needs illegal votes to gain and maintain power over LAW ABIDING U.S. CITIZENS! You who read this who are an AMERICAN CITIZEN are being duped and re-prioritized (to 2nd class status) by the left privileged , RACIST, secularist, power mongering party of Jeffry Epstein’s child-rape, slavery, human trafficking, terrorism (BLM riots) and female degradation. These conniving “politicians” and their lackeys are trying to fool you. OPEN YOUR EYES!!!
Among illegal aliens living in the United States, the rate of robberies and violent crime is lower than among American born citizens. Some people find this fact surprising. Some people don’t want you to know about it. Some people want to demonize immigrants in order to scare people and create chaos in America and bolster the Republican Party, The party of fear and division
Learn Hebrew.
Some people want to demonize capitalism and traditional values to scare people and create chaos In America and bolster the communist…eeeerrrrr democrat party.
Capitalism is not the problem. Bigotry and selfishness is.