Tancredo has a little problem speaking English himself, but that's beside the point. The racist platform upon which his campaign is built is very sa
December 7, 2007

Tancredo has a little problem speaking English himself, but that's beside the point. The racist platform upon which his campaign is built is very saddening to witness. Watch his reasoning for boycotting the Univision debate.

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Q: Tom Tancredo, taking a lot of heat for refusing to take part in this Sunday's Spanish language presidential debate, it's airing on Univision. ---why take yourself out of this, sir?

Tancredo: Because I wonder to whom this audi...to whom you are supposed to to be speaking in a debate of this nature. Remember, that we are supposed to be talking to American citizens who have the right to vote. Alright, that's what a debate is for so you can inform that electorate. It's against the law to become an American citizen without the ability to speak and understand English. The law requires that. So, to whom are you speaking?

Q: Many Spanish speaking people still view Spanish as their primary language even if they have passed that test.

Tancredo: And that is the problem. We should not be encouraging that. My grandparents, when they came here. They would only let my grandparents speak Italian. They only let them speak English.

OK, jackass. Who is the "they" that made his grandparents only speak English? And who monitored their progress? What a fool. The "they" that he's talking about are the racists and now he's become part of that mob. And in the process of his race baiting---he attacks Univision's entire audience---essentially calling all viewers of Univision "Illegal immigrants," because they speak Spanish.

It's interesting to note that I never heard Tancredo mention his grandparents before. I wonder if he got the idea after Geraldo Rivera brought the subject up and shamed him about them in this video.

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My grandparents came to America in 1915. The ONLY reason I don't speak Italian at all is because of the intense racism that they were subjected to. PERIOD. For years, I would ask my mother why I couldn't speak Italian when I was a kid because I thought it would have been an important language skill to possess and I was proud of my family's heritage. Finally, when I was a teenager she told me. I find it hard to believe that Tancredo's grandparents weren't subjected to that same racism. This is what makes Tancredo all the more loathsome. My relatives would hang out during holidays speaking in Italian because it came natural to them, as it should. What kind of America would we have without the melding of our cultures? It's one I certainly wouldn't want.

Now Tancredo says the other GOP candidates are pandering...

"It is the law that to become a naturalized citizen of this country you must have knowledge and understanding of English, including a basic ability to read, write, and speak the language," Tancredo said, in a press release e-mailed by his campaign to reporters. "So what may I ask are our presidential candidates doing participating in a Spanish speaking debate? Pandering comes to mind."

"America has been a melting pot of people from all over the world but it can not survive as a nation if our immigrants do not assimilate. A common language is essential to that goal. Bilingualism is a great asset for any individual but it has perilous consequences for a nation. As such, a Spanish debate has no place in a presidential campaign."

I'd say the country has been doing fine all these years and have found no evidence of any "perilous consequences," because of bilingualism except the fact that I had to study a language in HS and then take tests on what I learned...

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