Thread: Anti-Illegal Billboard Stirs Emotions

Anti-immigration billboard stirs emotions, debate
By Jared Allen, jallen@nashvillecitypaper.com
September 15, 2006

Its owner calls it the “sign of good service.” Its opponents call it “xenophobic.” And every day, more than 102,000 vehicles zip right by it.

“It” is an electronic billboard owned by Nashville-based Interstate A/C Service and clearly visible from the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 just east of Briley Parkway.

And for the last two days, the sign has carried a message that has garnered a great deal of attention, and perhaps as much criticism.

“Metro Council, welcome to America, we speak English here, pass the bill, immigrants, no habla Ingles?, no freeo stuffo, from el governmento, comprende por favor?” the electronic billboard (about 50 feet tall and 48 feet wide) has read since Wednesday morning.

The man responsible for the current message is Alan Sielbeck, the president of Interstate A/C Services.

Sielbeck said the message is intended to be satirical but also to foster further debate about one of the hottest political topics of the day - immigration.

Specifically, Sielbeck is trying to encourage support for a bill working its way through the Metro City Council that would make English the official language of Metro Government.

“When the government starts enabling immigrant minorities to communicate their needs in their own native language, they’re doing a tremendous disservice to that immigrant population,” Sielbeck said. “I think it’s very, very important that we, as Americans, encourage and give all the incentives we can to the immigrant population to learn to speak English.”

Sielbeck says he has some Hispanic employees and has heard no negative feedback.

The particular words Sielbeck uses to support the English-only bill, originally introduced by Metro Councilman Eric Crafton, have irked many in the community.

“It comes across as xenophobic,” said Metro Councilman Mike Jameson, who added that he believes Crafton’s bill is unnecessary and potentially dangerous.

“No one is suggesting that anything other than English be recognized as the official language of the country or of the state or the city,” Jameson said. “We already have a state statue that spells that out and has spelled that out for years.”

Jameson said he and a minority of the council vehemently oppose the bill.

“If what you’re telling me to do is to tell the guy who can’t speak English who calls 911 to report that he’s having a heart attack, ‘I’m sorry, call back when you learn English,’ I’m not going to be a part of anything as vicious and as backward-sided as that,” Jameson said.

“It’s just beyond me how much more hostile we can be to people when we need to be a welcoming city,” he added.

Sielbeck said his message is not one of hostility, but of humor and civics.

“We occasionally do political things,” Sielbeck said. “Some are a little more controversial than others, some are just civic minded, and most are there to just keep people from being bored with just a static message.”

He also dismissed criticism that the language he chose was derogatory in any way.

“It’s just my very bad Spanish translation,” he said.

While he knew the sign would be controversial, Sielbeck said that was his intention all along.

“People will not read boring political propaganda,” he said. “And this way, you force the community to talk about the issue.”

Yuri Cunza, the president of the Nashville Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the sign could be extraordinarily unwelcoming to legal immigrants new to Nashville.

“If I’m a newcomer here, I would say that I would feel targeted. I wouldn’t think it’s friendly. It’s actually rather hostile,” Cunza said.

Cunza also turned to humor to respond to the exact words used in Sielbeck’s sign.

“I’m impressed with their attempts to learn a foreign language,” Cunza said. “They’re not there yet, but they’re close.”

Cunza also disagreed that the English-only bill is necessary.

“I was under the impression that Metro already spoke English,” he said. “But I expect city leaders to be wise enough to understand the importance of tolerance and diversity as we grow our city.”

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index ... s_id=52138

no freeo stuffo, from el governmento, comprende por favor?”

I think he makes excellent points. If they had to learn English in order to get the free stuff courtesy of the taxpayers, I'm willing to bet they'd go above and beyond the call.