‘Is Spanish Wrong Signal?’

Speaking Spanish to a predominately Latino crowd is not a “wrong signal,” as Chavez attempts to point out unless it is done by a person who has little understanding of the importance that language and culture plays in the lives of most Latinos today. Unfortunately, I think Chavez is ignorant of the growing importance of speaking several languages.

Dukakis’ command of Spanish is clear and precise. In fact, he has used it as a show of respect for the love we have of the language; not to patronize us.

Yet, Chavez fails to note that Vice President George Bush has recently acknowledged the Hispanic people. He is trying hard to win the Latino vote by using his son who also speaks Spanish (unfortunately, he was recently rejected by his Hispanic Republican group meeting in San Diego) or by promising a Latino appointment to the cabinet, a commitment he made in an address to a Latino group. Why didn’t Bush make that promise before the national press or to the Chamber of Commerce? His promises sound like political rhetoric and special-interest politics.

Latinos of every stripe know that to succeed in America, we must be able to read, write and speak English. They don’t need Chavez to remind them about its importance.

But Latinos also know that we don’t have to learn English at the expense of giving up Spanish. We continue use it at home, especially if our grandparents live with us, as many do today.

Maybe what we need is to invite Chavez to visit one of the community adult schools to see the numbers of Latinos and other ethnic Los Angelenos who are seeking to enroll in English classes. She might get an awakening to a real issue--the need for more state and federal support for English adult classes.

DAN VERCHES

Los Angeles