YOu know what, I was in a hispanic forum reading some of the posts and one guy was talking about the unfairness among mainly mexican people. YOu would all be very happy to hear that all of the south americans in the forum were all against illegal immigration tas well as confronting lies about mass amounts of south american migration to the U.S.A. The south american immigrants expressed and agreed with the americans. Their reasoning was not only for national security but also the fact they know that illegal aliens are causing the country to go broke. The south american students were basically making the head moderator look like a moron. south american families agree with most americans that the reason the children of illegals are not doing well in school is because the parents are not learning themselves. That and they dont allow the kids to speak english at home. I explained to an activist in the forum that if he really wanted to help the indigenous, oppressed illegal/legal non english speaking illiterate latinos in the country, he should start by encouraging latinos to integrate and not seperate themselves from other americans. Another thing the activist groups could do(if they really want them to succeed which I dont think they do. I Think they cater to them and tell them it is not neccessary for them to learn english in an effort to keep them uneducated and to be nothing more than exploited cheap slave labor for Uncle SAm.) Let's just say, I got the race card played against me. Another thing they could do(besides coming up with their usual frivalous lawsuits based on claims of racism), is offer them free english tapes or let them know where to purchase with them. A lot of the poor uneducated latinos(especially rural mexican nationals) speak decent english enough to get by if they had to but if they can they usually rely on someone else to interpret for them. The reason they do this is because the activist groups make them think that we will make fun of them or if they dont say the sentence completely right, that we will embarrass them. NOw, correct me if I am wrong but my beloved americans have never done this to me. NEVER!!! When I was three years old I practiced my english on the old lady next door. I would get embarrassed but she would tell me,. "hunny, at least your trying". That is all that matters. I just cant believe that the latinos who act so macho and tough as well as violent are afraid of speaking english for those reasons. My father gained more and more respect in the workplace because of how fast he learned english. If anything, the anglo americans had more respect for us considering where we came from and the fact that we respected them. We have never and I repeat never done things like speaking in spanish to each other in front of those who dont speak it. IT seems that now people are getting hired for being bilingual. For this reason, I check off other under race. I dont disclose my lineage until I make my mark with a company. I usually wait 6 months. I dont want to be looked at as a hispanic girl who did a good job . I dont want anyone to feel they are different than I am and I dont want to feel different or be treated different. I have never used my spanish skills in the work place. I had a boss once tell me that if I did not speak spanish to clients, I would be fired. I turned around and looked at the scrawny little bastard and told him"you cannot force me to speak spanish, the language in this country is english. I said, you do know I can sue you if you fire me for that. He did not know what to say.