Gingrich: When I Said ‘Language Of Living In The Ghetto,’ I Meant Hebrew (Or Maybe Yiddish)
Gingrich: When I Said ‘Language Of Living In The Ghetto,’ I Meant Hebrew (Or Maybe Yiddish)
Newt Gingrich said this past weekend that the U.S. should abolish bilingual education so that people aren’t speaking “the language of living in a ghetto.”
But last night on Hannity & Colmes, Gingrich claimed his statement “did not refer to Spanish.” Gingrich insisted, “What I meant is very clear[],” but then wouldn’t say which language he was referring to.
Gingrich said, “Now, I’ll let you pick — frankly, ghetto, historically had referred as a Jewish reference originally. I did not mention Hispanics, and I certainly do not want anybody who speaks Spanish to think I’m in any way less than respectful of Spanish or any other language spoken by people who come to the United States.”
Watch it:
Gingrich made his comments in the context of bilingual education. Overwhelmingly, that means English/Spanish education. Peter Zamora, co-chair of the Hispanic Education Coalition, understood what Gingrich meant: “The tone of his comments was very hateful. Spanish is spoken by many individuals who do not live in the ghetto.”
UPDATE: Jeffrey Feldman notes that Gingrich got his history wrong.
Transcript:
COLMES: You spoke over the weekend to the National Federation of Republican Women. You’re quoted as having said, The American people believe English should be the official language. And then you went on to say that people should learn the language of the country and not the language of living in a ghetto, referring to Spanish. Is that your definitive comment or was that a misquote? Were you not properly quoted?
GINGRICH: Well, that did not refer to Spanish. The point I made was that we ought to have a program of intensive education so that every person who comes to America learns English as rapidly as possible. And I’ve talked to experts who believe that an intensive program, young people could learn to be relatively fluent in four to six months, and older people could learn in a year.
COLMES: What do you mean language in the ghetto?
GINGRICH: What I meant is very clearly, Alan. I’ll let you pick the right word for me. We should not have a program which traps people into not being able to speak English by failing to teach them the language that is the prominent language of prosperity, the dominant language of government, the dominant language of politics. Now, I’ll let you pick — frankly, ghetto, historically had referred as a Jewish reference originally. I did not mention Hispanics, and I certainly do not want anybody who speaks Spanish to think I’m in any way less than respectful of Spanish or any other language spoken by people who come to the United States.
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125 Responses to “Gingrich: When I Said ‘Language Of Living In The Ghetto,’ I Meant Hebrew (Or Maybe Yiddish)”
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What a scumbag liar he is.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:51 amYeah, we’ve got such a problem of Hebrew-only speakers in this country.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:52 amLie and spin. We know what you meant Newt.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:52 amWhy is anyone giving this unmitigated horse’s ass any air time at all?
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:53 amTP’s misleading headline aside, no one is suggesting that Americans learn another language (Spanish, Hebrew…whatever) instead of English, Newt.
What part of ‘bilingual’ escapes you?
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:53 amdumb
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:54 amNewt:
Having another affair? Maybe with Foley this time?
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:54 amsure, what he said was offensive, but the headline is ridiculously misleading. He’s obviously just covering his ass, but claiming he thinks the language of the ghetto is Hebrew is pretty daft, after viewing that video. He only claims he believes the term ghetto originated in reference to Jewish neighborhoods/forced consolidation under Nazi Germany.
Still, good to hear more about this topic.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:56 amNewt, ya aint gonna get elected by speaking the same hateful gibberish that got you tossed out of congress in the first place.
Keep flapping those gums helmut head.
-GSD
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:57 amActually, it would be Yiddish, not Hebrew.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:59 amOnly on Fox could someone lie his ass off and still come off as credible. Who the hell is their audience?
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 amOops, oh yea, Americia.
That’s pretty gross of him.
OT-
There is a great post on The Carpetbagger Report from a few days ago about the mainstream media’s (specifically Time magazine’s) ignoring the prosecutor purge scandal.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10367.html
What explains the failure of the mainstream media to cover the purge scandal for so long, and so many other scandals? Do you think somebody just set up newspaper editors to cheat on their wives, and threatened to tell if the editors wouldn’t play ball when they come back some day and ask for something?
It wouldn’t be that hard to do, when you think about it. People wouldn’t talk about it.
Check out a new post on my blog http://www.aquietevening.blogspot.com
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 amJewish bilingual….what is he talking about…!!
He said it clearly that US should abolish bilingual language….
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:01 amHe had me going for a while when I heard Ghetto I thought he ment inner city. Now to get back to the bible maybe Newt should read it first. He knows he was speaking about Spanish but like a true liar he now has the Libby illness. Newt should stick to what he knows best cheating on his wife and blaming Bill Clinton.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:04 amI thought he was referring to the bilingual curse of English and Khazakstani….
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:06 amPersonally, anyone who serves their wife with divorce papers whilst undergoing chemo therapy is someone in dire need of tact lessons, let alone to be given a beating heart capable of emotion… Jebus!!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:06 amHow he found women to cheat with is beyond me.
Yuck.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:08 amShameless bastard.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:08 amNewt’s are such slimy little creatures…It’s time for all home owner’s to check their crawl spaces under their houses….If there is dampness apply massive amount’s of purex…Newt’s breed in foul water and darkness…We need more monatering in the newt gene pool…Blessings
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:13 amJewish bilingual….what is he talking about…!!
He said it clearly that US should abolish bilingual language….
Comment by tarazan — April 3, 2007 @ 11:01 am
Maybe he’s saying that Hebrew school for Jewish kids should be outlawed. Yeah, let’s go with that one.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:13 amThose morally superior Christian Conservat666ives just can’t help their ignorance as they are only concerned with themselves and what’s best for them.
Giving Christianity a bad name one arrogant act at a time.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:13 amThe one regret I have is that I never learned a second language. The rest of the civilized world knows more then one. Bigot’s true colors always surface.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:15 amNewt can’t back-peddle fast enough to keep from being sucked into oblivion for this one………….
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:15 amIt wouldn’t be that hard to do, when you think about it. People wouldn’t talk about it.
Check out a new post on my blog http://www.aquietevening.blogspot.com
Comment by Swan — April 3, 2007 @ 11:00 am
The Reagan administration supposedly used this kind of “honey trap” to set people up during Iran/contra. And W’s daddy was supposedly a big part of it. I read about it in on of Bill Moyer’s interview books.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:16 amA correction: Technically, had he referred to the language of the Jewish ghetto, he would have been referring to Yiddish, not Hebrew.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:17 am” How do you know she’s a witch?”
“She turned me into a newt!”
“You don’t look like a newt…..”
“Well,… I got better……………..”
(Monty Python)
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:19 am“I certainly do not want anybody who speaks Spanish to think I’m in any way less than respectful of Spanish or any other language spoken by people who come to the United States.â€
The Gingrich thought bubble: I actually do feel and think disrespectfully of the Spanish speaking immigrants, but I sure don’t want voters to think that I do. So, I’m going to make these convoluted statements filled with half truths and irrelevant truths and illogical leaps of confusion to cover my a**.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:19 amGingrich the gonif. Gingrich the macher.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 amoh, yeah, sure. cause there are so many bilingual schools with Hebrew as the second language. what a pathetic tool he is.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 amNewt must be auditioning for a spot in the next Borat movie.
-GSD
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:22 amThat is even worse!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:24 amRather than ask why give Newt the time of day, I think it should be resolved that he get as much air time as is possible. More rope with which to hang himself.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:24 amOh, that’s brilliant. He wants to trade the wrath of Latino organizations for that of the Anti-Defamation League? It’s a lose-lose situation.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:27 amHow he found women to cheat with is beyond me.
Yuck.
Comment by trueblue — April 3, 2007 @ 11:08 am
Probably somebody like our own Valiant Venus. Double Yuck.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:29 amHaving now traveled to 98 different countries in the world, I remain almost dumbfounded by the paranoia that exists in this country (among the Republic Party and its followers mainly) about bilingual education or even knowning a “foreign” language. Tiny Costa Rica, the size of West Virginia, has a literacy rate greater than the United States and there its not at all uncommon to find campesinos who are bilingual. Many Costa Ricans are tri and some quadralingual. A colleague of mine is married to a Russian geographer who was fluent in 7 languages before marrying my colleague and moving to the states. Its not at all uncommon to meet a Dutch person (for instance) who proudly rattles off a list of 5 or 6 languages they are fluent in.
If they ever ventured past the border of the United States and, say, the Bahamas, I wonder how many of the myopic Newt-like cretins who whine about America being “english-only” would find themselves thankful that the highway signs in Thailand are all but about 99 percent in Thai script AND English. Its really refreshing to sit in an oceanside restaurant in the United Arab Emirates and be presented with a menu in Arabic, English, German and Italian. Or what about getting lost in Marakesh and then asking for directions and being told (in spanish) by a gasoline station worker that “I only speak 5 languages sir, and haven’t learned english yet.”
To me and most in TP I would imagine, being able to speak more than one language is a sign of education and open mindedness. Maybe that is why the Republic Party clones are so afraid of it…..not understanding other languages demonstrates that they aren’t.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:29 amTranslation: “I didn’t mean to disparage Hispanics, I meant to disparage Jews.”
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:30 am#17-trueblue
..[ How he found women to cheat with beyond me.]
Yuck.
I agree with you,but a good percentage of women like poweful & successful men. He was the Speaker Of The House then……and some women listened..
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:30 amGingrich was correct he shouldn’t back-up because of the MSM.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:32 amNow THAT is the kind of intellectual honesty we need in the White House! Newt’s got my vote!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:33 amSpeaking Spanish in this here country since 1605. Ain’t gonna stop us now. IN NM we will continue to fight this nonsense.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:33 amAll these calls for teaching both in English and in Yiddish will surely bankrupt the system! It’s time these Yids learn to talk American!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:34 amNewt Gingrich said this past weekend that the U.S. should abolish bilingual education so that people aren’t speaking “the language of living in a ghetto.”
Poor Newt. What a shitty name to have. One has to wonder what language his mother was using when she named her baby “Newton Leroy.” Perhaps she was using the Language of living as a Hillbilly.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:38 amWhy does the left want to keep people dependent on the failed liberal welfare state? If they can’t speak English then they are doomed to physical labor until they are too old to do it anymore and become dependent on the liberal welfare state and Democrat voters. That seems to be the part the moonbats object to the most, not the truth spoken to power by Mr. Newt
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:42 amLeave Newt alone, he’s only commenting on the abolishment of Hebrew bilingual classes.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:42 amlol
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:43 amnuter is a low-life, and a liar as well. Sure as hell he ment the Spanish language.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:44 amThis slimeball shouldn’t get any airtime.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:48 amRun Newt Run!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:48 amlol patrick1. That’s a good one.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:49 amIf they can’t speak English then they are doomed to physical labor until they are too old to do it anymore and become dependent on the liberal welfare state and Democrat voters.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:50 amComment by Patrick1inch — April 3, 2007 @ 11:42 am
Please, please, please Patrick1, I beg of thee! Google run on sentences and get back to us!
Gingrich was correct he shouldn’t back-up because of the MSM.
Comment by Patrick1ol’fart — April 3, 2007 @ 11:32 am
Back up? Don’t you mean back down? Unless you meant “back that a$$ up”, which I guess would make sense, in your tiny little fantasy world.
Why is this fat ass on the tube?? oh that’s right, it’s that “Fake New” channel.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:56 amHa Ha Look everyone nobody is paying attention to patrick1
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 amObviously it’s a reference to Hebrew…because all the immigrants coming over these days speak Hebrew…jackass
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:58 amLeave Newt alone, he’s only commenting on the abolishment of Hebrew bilingual classes.
Comment by Newt hates the Jews and the Latinos — April 3, 2007 @ 11:42 am
I’m so confused now. I thought Newt was trying to keep Jews out of the Ghettos of Beverly Hills and Manhattan.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:59 amclose down all the Hebrew schools, I guess… that sounds like it’s going to be part of his campaign… yeah, he’ll go far on that platform!
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:01 pm#17 - they’re called hookeers, very expensive hookers
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:04 pmBelieve it or not,this lie by Gingrich will work with the 29%ers.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:07 pmYou know, all those Jews living in ghettos nowadays… running TV networks, banks, real estate, finance… all from their homes in the ghetto.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 pmPatrick1,
Too ignorant for words.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:14 pmNo. No Newt is a nut.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:16 pm[…] How dumb does he think we are? See the video here […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:16 pmI live in a middle-class neighborhood where most people own their own homes. My neighbors on two sides speak exclusively Spanish. I didn’t realize I was living in a ghetto. Thanks for the heads-up, Newt!
By the way, PLEASE run for President. I can think of no better way to assure that the Democratic nominee gets elected. (Although, truth be told, I thought the same thing about Bush.)
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:20 pmVirtually all American bi-lingual programs are Spanish-English, so his defense is nonsense.
Might he make the same argument in Montreal? Of course not.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:22 pm.
Open mouth, change feet.
.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:25 pm“Ghetto” is Italian - from the original ghetto which was a small neighborhood in medieval Venice which was the only place the Jews were allowed to live and work. After a few hundred years it got really crowded.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:33 pmI am not a scholar, but I am fairly certain they weren’t speaking Yiddish there yet, probably Hebrew. But definitely they all spoke Italian too!
I think Newt hasn’t yet figured out how to walk the tightrope between pandering to the base that fears immigrants, and pandering to the right wing Hispanic voters.
BTW - Patrick1, you are such an idiot. My husband is a Mexican immigrant, and he speaks three languages, owns 2 of his own successful businesses, and will never be dependent on America’s welfare system - unlike an uneducated lazy boor like yourself!
Next time Gingrich talks about English only, he should speak English only. Ghetto is an Italian word.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:33 pmAnother case of verbal diarrhea…
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:34 pmCould we get Lieberman’s response to Newt? And someone should check with Wolfowitz as well.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:37 pmGingrich Denies Calling Spanish “Ghetto” Language…
“Don’t watch yesterday’s videotape, just believe what I’m saying today!”…
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:48 pmBACKPEDALING AGAIN, Newt? SEEMS TO BE A FAVOURITE PASTIME OF YOU AND OTHER repugnant-repub rightwingnut crank fudge-pachyderms WHO SHOOT OFF THEIR MOUTH, AND LIKE Daffy Duck(tm), HAVE TO GO SCURRYING AROUND TO FIND IT, AS IT IS JABBERING OFF SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!! HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!!!! HAH!
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:49 pm[…] learn “the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.” Last night Gingrich claimed that he wasn’t talking about Spanish, said that “what [he] meant is very clear,” and then refused to say which language he […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:55 pmComment by SKdeA — April 3, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
So now he hate Italians too! Just what kind of name is Newton? Gingrich? If we figure that out we might be able to figure out which languages will be allowed in Newtonia.
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:17 pmI don’t understand how his sorry “explanation” makes his statement any better.
Is he trying to say that it was a put down meant for Jews, and not Hispanics?
What a dummy.
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:55 pmRight-wingers: the dumber they are, the smarter they think they are.
April 3rd, 2007 at 1:59 pmSKdeA (no. 64) — I can assure you that the Jews in the Italian ghetto did not speak Hebrew. They spoke Italian. You are right that they probably did not speak Yiddish, which is a combination of German and Russian and was common among the Jews of Eastern Europe. But they did not speak Hebrew. The only place where Hebrew is a conversational language is in Israel, and it was considered a dead language before 1948. Even in the Jewish “ghettos” in America, the non-English language was Yiddish or the language of the nation the Jews emigrated from (like Italian).
My great-grandmother spoke Yiddish at home, but my mother, her grandchild speaks not a word because her grandmother wanted to learn English, so she insisted her grandchildren use English around her. So Gingrich has a point — immersion is the best way to learn a spoken language quickly (it won’t necessarily help with grammer and spelling, though), and that is how most of the 19th and early 20th century immigrants learned English. But I don’t know if this is what he meant, and he keeps biting down harder on the foot in his mouth when he tries to explain.
And, as others have said, if there is anything wrong with language education in this country its that we are not bilingual or tri-lingual, as is the case in most of the rest of the world…
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:12 pm[…] Transcript: (more…) […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:22 pmHE IS SUCH A LIAR. YIDDISH IS A DEAD LANGUAGE. HE MEANT SPANISH. HE IS A LIAR.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:39 pmLieberman/Newt…2008 one ticket.
April 3rd, 2007 at 2:51 pmNewt is typical of the paranoid ultraconservative. While Asians, Europeans and Hispanics learn more than one language to prepare themselves academically, culturally and to obtain a competitive advantage in business, these ultraconservative nimrods want to go in the opposite direction. These morons somehow think that English will ALWAYS be the universal language. The U.S. school system needs to make it mandatory to learn a foreign language, be it Spanish, French, Chinese, Hebrew, German whatever. Maybe this will also help students with critical thinking skills and being able to communicate with people instead of killing them for their oil.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:03 pmI’ll bet AIPAC doesn’t make a peep. They’ll continue to write checks to fund this wacko, because he’s “right” on Israel.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:03 pmWhat an insult to my intelligence. I nailed it BIG TIME on my blog. My readers certainly chimed in on this topic!
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:11 pmEveryone knows those “crafty Jews” spoke Spanish so the Germans couldn’t understand them.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:14 pmGingrich: nothing more than a cultural xenophobe, intellectually less stimulating than a mound of dirt, whose message reduces to the idea that immigrants are the source of all our woes, seeking to unite us all behind the banner of Anglo-American glory, sharing in the virtues of the Eagle Scout and rifles and God-given freedom itself, with Gingrich, as it happens, at the top, leading all us believers..
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:46 pmLike it or not, English is the defacto standard language of Science. So in effect, if you don’t know English you will be hard pressed to have a career in any science related field - hence your income will be lower.
That is reality. Get used to it. Newt is a big mouth but he is essentially correct.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:49 pmVenetian Jews would have spoken Venetian dialect, and possibly Ladino if they were Sephardim rather than Italkim (OG Italians). Perhaps Paul Newman, decendant of such a family, could give Newt a righteous smiting?
Gingrich is Croatian, and I have no doubt that his relatives were among those who enthusiastically cooperated with their new overlords during a certain regrettable period in the 20th century. He has some nerve saying anything about the Jewish people.
I am Asian, and I had one relative who never mastered English; we had to communicate in French. I always thought she understood English well enough, but had absorbed the French resistance to speaking it.
April 3rd, 2007 at 3:52 pm“What a scumbag liar he is.”
Yeah, he’s a conservative.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:04 pm[…] how does Newt Gingrich expect to dig himself out of this one? Democrats should spend less money attacking each other and more money publicizing the slew of […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:18 pm“Ghetto” is not Italian as such, but derived from Italian. The original word was “borghetto,” which means “little town.” The same place we get the word “borough.”
It was then shortened to “ghetto,” but there’s varying evidence whether this was done by native speakers of Italian, or native speakers of English or other European languages.
In any event, it certainly predates World War II, but as far as anyone can tell was originally applied to Jews in Europe rather than Mexicans, or African-Americans, or anyone else.
I highly doubt that’s what Newt was referencing in his original comments, since in the USA we don’t have ghettos in that sense. These medieval ghettoes were literally walled off. Blacks and Mexicans have had a rough go of it in the USA, but many of them have had opportunities to move up in society. They may have been unable to get out of the ghetto in one sense, but they weren’t literally walled in. We have a long way to, but at least we’ve made some progress, no thanks to people like Newt.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:29 pmNotice that when he was cornered on “ghetto” Newt immediately backpedaled to an “historical” context in order to mask his blatantly racist earlier comment.
Newt assumes (usually correctly) that his opponents don’t have a clue about historical contexts, and so he constantly uses that ’safe’ area as a retreat when confronted on his nasty rhetoric.
Of course, his reference to Jewish ghettos has absolutely nothing to do with his original bigoted commentary, but it got him by, didn’t it? That’s because the MSM NEVER confronts people like Newt with their most obvious bullshit. As long as they have SOME KIND OF RESPONSE, the MSM is more than glad to let bigots like Newt Gingrich off the hook.
In fact, if they don’t give guys like Newt an easy out, they’re liable to be labeled “liberal media” rather than being acknowledged as journalists with a normal sense of logic…and bullshit.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:24 pm[…] en rajoute un couche lundi soir, en cherchant à s’expliquer (à voir avec la vidéo, chez Think Progress): Now, I’ll let you pick — frankly, ghetto, historically had referred as a Jewish reference […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:39 pmGo home Newtie, we are tired of you and your blithering!!
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:41 pmhey newt, your’re a putz and a dumbass to slur the hebrews so closed to passover. watch out for blood and locusts.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:43 pmIs there any Republican that does Not Lie? They are pathological liars!
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:53 pmNewt is a locust
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:53 pmWhat a slimeball. What we should be doing is having intense English AND Spanish classes AND classes in other languages so that American kids, wherever they’re from don’t grow up being arrogant, ignorant, isolationist, xenophobes like the former Mr. Speaker.
April 3rd, 2007 at 5:58 pmWhat do you call someone who can speak two languages?
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:26 pmBilingual.
What do you call someone who can only speak one language?
American.
Vifil yor er iz gegangn oyf di fis zol er geyn af di hent un di iberike zol er zikh sharn oyf di hintn.
April 3rd, 2007 at 7:35 pmI’m not a Gingrich fan, but I do recognize that “ghetto” has a general meaning of a culturally isolated area that fits his explanation. I’m not sure his reply deserves 96 comments (including mine, so you may ask - why am I writing?)
April 3rd, 2007 at 8:46 pm[…] Huh. You can see the video of this exchange here. Very funny. I like how Gingrich attempts to shift the responsibility for misinterpretation onto […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:26 pm[…] of the word. Sad that some don’t understand the actual meaning of words.  Think Progress: Gingrich: When I Said ‘Language Of Living In The Ghetto,’ I Meant Hebrew (Or Maybe Yiddi… — Newt Gingrich said this past weekend that the U.S. should abolish bilingual education so […]
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:28 pmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newt
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:44 pmAnd the Rev. Dobson called Newt the most intelligent of the Repubs considering a presidential run!
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:40 pmAnd the Rev. Dobson called Newt the most intelligent of the Repubs considering a presidential run!
Comment by Lora
Lora, I’ve looked at that statement from every angle I can work out, and it’s just not looking good for Newtie. :D
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:10 pmLearning English as rapidly as possible is like growing up as rapidly as possible– it happens when it happens. There is plenty of research (the Virginia Collier study, for example) proving that bilingual education is the best way for students to become fully proficient in *English*.
I don’t know where Newty found his “experts”, but this expert calls foul.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:28 pm# Zooey
April 4th, 2007 at 12:34 amI hope you realize I was being sarcastic. I wouldn’t take Dobson’s word on anything.
BTW, what does your Yiddish posting in #95, if you don’t mind telling us–or me?
Far be it for me to defend Newt Gingrich, but on some fundamental level I tend to agree with him on the issue of Bilingual Education. More importantly, if you want a glimpse of your future, it behooves any Progressive to read this
this LA Daily News article from Sept. of 2005 - whereupon you will find that many people in the Los Angeles area feel there is no need to learn English whatsoever (yes, I know that has nothing to do with bilingual education). Korean restaurant & shop owners - who don’t speak English - are learning Spanish so they can talk to their hired help, and the hired help are learning Korean to better communicate with The Boss.
Myself, I tend to subscribe to the moderate view (on this issue, anyway; on most issues I tend to be easily lumped into that “Bambi-hugging Commie Pinko Fag radical leftist Liberal” camp the Right-wingnuts so easily want to slot us into) as best espoused in this article in today’s edition of the Cornell Sun.
As for Ben Dover in post #35 - have you not figured out that the multi-language menus and traffic signs, and multi-lingual gas station workers are born out of necessity? Those are all byproducts of catering to tourists - if your livelihood depends on tourists (whether it be individuals’ livelihoods or the country in general), of course it’s more advantageous to you to speak as many tongues as you can. That has nothing whatsoever to do with this situation we’re discussing here, if you ask me. I’m seeing Spanish-only signs on main streets in LA in neighborhoods that aren’t even predominantly Hispanic. I find that offensive - it’s “training wheels” in the same way Bilingual Education is training wheels. I don’t think there should be non-English monolanguage-only signs in the US - at the very least they should all be bilingual; or even better, pick another 5 or 6 major languages to put on them to boot.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:29 am“What I meant is very clearly, Alan. I’ll let you pick the right word for me.”
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Someone please teach this man how to speak English.
Gibberish is not, yet, a recognised language.
April 4th, 2007 at 5:48 am[…] Think Progress there is a video of Hannity & Colmes, in which Gingrich claimed his statement “did not refer to Spanish.†Gingrich insisted, […]
April 4th, 2007 at 9:59 amI hope you realize I was being sarcastic. I wouldn’t take Dobson’s word on anything.
I knew that. :-)
BTW, what does your Yiddish posting in #95, if you don’t mind telling us–or me?
Comment by Lora
Translation: As many years as he’s walked on his feet, let him walk on his hands, and for the rest of the time he should crawl along on his ass.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:17 amI am a strong liberal, but I think people are being unfair here, much like conservatives were unfair to Sen. Kerry about his botched joke.
It is an undeniable fact that when non-english speaking people come into this country they often join pre-established communities of their ethnic background. They do this because they can get by easier with the language they already know and receive various other forms of support from their familiar community. You can properly refer to such a community as a ghetto, although that usage has negative connotations of impoverishment.
I don’t see why “the language of the ghetto” means spanish anymore than it could chinese (china town), italian (little italy), greek (greek town), korean, etc.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:56 amWhat Gingrich is saying is straight-up racist and ignorant.
As a former public school teacher who struggled desperately with ESL kids and kids whose vernacular was far from workplace english, I still think that in many cases bilingual education is necessary.
Why can’t we teach students English in a rigorous, grammar-heavy curriculum while letting them stay at pace with their peers in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic etc. in other subjects? Children need to feel understood and that they understand, and bilingual classes can help them tremendously that way.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:03 pmI agree with 110–Newt made a poor choice of words but otherwise wasn’t referring to a particular group, I believe. I am also a far-lefty type and would pay to see bamboo shoots driven up under his fingernails but why not concentrate on the merits of the issues rather than jumping on every insignificant little misstatement. 111 has the right idea IMHO
April 4th, 2007 at 3:20 pmI’m an ignorant, spanish speaker, so help me understand. Is this words of a man that wanted to get Clinton out of office for a having an affair while he was doing the same thing, are this words of a man who’s daughter is a lesbian and well not speak to him do to his views against gay people. Is this words of a man that has been married three times.. I’m not suprised the guy is an idiot.. I hate politics how ever if he runs I’ll make sure to get involved…. Dummm asss
April 4th, 2007 at 4:44 pmLouis A
April 4th, 2007 at 6:14 pmI’m not sure if his daughter is a lesbian, however his half-sister, Candace, is.
[…] Gingrich apologizes for calling Spanish the “language of living in the ghetto,” in […]
April 4th, 2007 at 6:15 pmZooey,
April 4th, 2007 at 6:24 pmThanks for the translation. Is that a Yiddish saying, or your own words?
[…] Future Hispanic Vote Share to Drop from 1% to 0 Posted by halona under Politics From Think Progress:Â “Newt Gingrich said this past weekend that the U.S. should abolish bilingual education so […]
April 4th, 2007 at 6:39 pm[…] buying that you were talking about the Jews, Newt. Come […]
April 5th, 2007 at 1:32 amPoor ignorant, scumbag. Bilingual education guetto? gosh….too bad ignorance isn’t painful.
April 5th, 2007 at 5:02 amThe native english speakers in this world face a terrible problem : they are cutting themselves off the other big cultures in this world by making it more and more difficult for their youth to learn foreign languages. Lately in the UK there was an official who stated his wish to abolish the teaching of Latin and classical Greek in schools…
If in Almerica I would be grateful that there is still an opportunity to learn at least a 2nd language. Living in a small 4-lingual country, I can watch television on cable in no less than 6 different languages -
April 6th, 2007 at 4:27 ammy earliest education was bilingual and for now I speak 5 languages fluently. What is wrong with the US today ? Have you people become
afraid of knowledge ?
He obviously means that your chances of success are far greater if immigrants immerse themselves in learning English, rather than some inferior hybrid nonsense that won’t get you nearly as far. I’d be willing to bet that we could tie the likelihood of living in ghetto-like conditions to the effort an immigrant puts into learning English. Bi-lingual education is ipso facto a less rigorous enterprise.
April 6th, 2007 at 7:38 amNewt Gingrich was caught in a moment of sincerity when describing his aversion against Latinos and immigrants. To be elected he can’t be sincere, so he decides to appear in Hannity & Colmes. If he decides to run for president, I believe he will continue pushing towards legislation similar to having English as the official language of US that don’t solve anything other than furthering discrimination and division.
April 6th, 2007 at 1:03 pm[…] News. He said that he didn’t really mean nasty hispanics, per se, what he really meant were Jewish and Yiddish ghetto types. But last night on Hannity & Colmes, Gingrich claimed his statement “did not refer to […]
April 7th, 2007 at 12:56 amYou have got to be kidding Newt. (What a great name for a true chameleon), what you say demonstrates what you were thinking-ghetto-are you trying to tell us you were really thinking of the Jewish ghetto. Oh yeah which one, Warsaw maybe? What a racist low life.
April 8th, 2007 at 9:36 amActually, “ghetto” is not a Hebrew nor Yiddish term, it comes from Italian as ghettos got their name from an area called Ghetto in Venice.
April 17th, 2007 at 3:30 am