Is this discrimination against immigrants?

Question

News Story:
Philly Steak Shop Can Keep 'Please Speak English' Signs

The owner of a Philadelphia institution can keep signs that ask customers to order their cheese steaks in English, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. A city agency ruled the signs at Geno's Steaks—"This is America. When ordering, please speak English"—do not violate discrimination rules; owner Joey Vento says he never turned away customers and just wanted to make a political point.

"The bottom line is that I didn't do anything wrong," said Vento, thrust into the national spotlight when the case began nearly two years ago. One witness likened the posting to "whites only" signs in the segregated South, but Vento drew support from people leery of the growing immigration. "They made me famous throughout the world," Vento said. "I became a hero."


So is it discrimination to post a sign? Sounds like he didn't enforce it, if he didn't send anyone away.

Your opinions please?

Answer 1

Ha, Ha, no it is not. What is real scary is when you go to a pharmacy at a giant store chain and ask the person there if your prescription is ready and they look at you like "duh?!" and then run around looking around and finally the pharmacist who is from Kenya comes over and ask to help you and then has to interpret the question, but then has to check it out anyway. Lawsuit in the making? Are we becoming that politically correct that we would allow people lives to be compromised? I wonder if that is what has been going on with all the drugstores giving the wrong prescriptions and killing poor people. i scope out everything if I don't know what it is.



There comes a point when enough is enough, I know in California they have voting ballots in nine different languages.



granted i had a fiancee many moons ago whose grandparents where from New york and owned a bunch of Apartment buildings and could not speak a drop of English and they wee Italian, but the kids and grand-kids were always there, so it wasn't a big deal and that was a first generation. Take someone with you.



It is important to learn the "talk" of the land as just like not knowing math you could be taken advantage of. So the sign didn't violate anything and be certain if it wher the year before last, yes they would have made him hire someone to interpret, but this is now and people, all are sick of this.



If I move somewhere I learn that particular dialect, like I am from Mississippi, but the gentleman from Kenya was in Dallas and a good thing as soeone needed to be there to figure out what the customer wants.



You might order a Philly cheese and end up with bacon on rye. Now we have the cry of racist looming around, but actually who or what is the racist. take care. Blah, blah, blah, rough night, sorry. there are much better answers than this, but you know if you go somewhere you should do all you can to adopt the place you go and help it thrive. Good thing not all are like that or each place would have to have like 60 people speaking just to take orders.

Answer 2

No big deal.. it probably just means that his waiters don't speak other langauges (although Geno sounds Italian to me).



My husband frequently takes me to asian resturants and it's amazing how many will great him in Cantonese but then they'll talk to me in English.



I think some people just like to make a fuss over anything.

Answer 3

Nope. No Discrimination there. I am concerned that we don't require all written contracts, offers, bids, public documents to be in English only. The last thing I need is for my Bank correspondence to be in Chinese, insurance in Dutch, traffic citation in Spanish, etc. If English is good enough for aircraft (commercial) pilots, then it is surely good enough for me.

Answer 4

If a particular country insists on speaking a particular language which is of its national importance, then it cannot be said as discrimination. Legally speaking, what this guy did was just to request customers that since you are in America, you should keep English. And he hasn't explicitly mentioned that those who don't speak will not be given cheese steaks.

So i guess that shouldn't be counted as discrimination.



However, I would like to say something on the "whites only" topic. Legally speaking, who would you define a white. for an example, a person from an Asian country like Sri Lanka may be fair in appearance. so will he be counted as white.?

Answer 5

Well, more like an advertisement than an enforcement of English only ordering or even a political statement, since he will get publicity anyway over this, whether it's positive or negative.



I doubt that he as a restaurant owner would reject any good potential customer, unless he didn't make most of his money from the restaurant.





Though he should have just said "When ordering, please speak English." instead of "This is America. When ordering, please speak English.", since it might be insulting to the Indians who were there before the English.

Answer 6

Very fitting that an American institution like Geno's can expect his customers to order in English. Sometimes the right side wins these political correctness battles.

Answer 7

I think he is a hero. ALL american businesses need to do this. It is not discrimation, this is america, if you want to be here learn the language why is that so hard to understand. Many immigrants in the early 1900's came to america, worked very very hard to provide for there family. all along learning a new langage and culture. although still today many of them speak it and it is broken a little, i commend them for doing it the right way.

Answer 8

No its not discrimination this is the United States of America and we speak English.

Answer 9

No its not discrimination. He has a business in the US, its not his obligation to learn every language of his customers. Plus he doesn't refuse to serve anyone.. I guess if they cant speak english they point to what they want??

Answer 10

How would it be discrimination to post a sign stating to please order in the language of the country your in!?!!!!



I think its vice versa for him even having to justify that!



Props to him.,

Answer 11

I didnt read the whole thing, but I dont think its discrimination, Id like to be able to understand the people that im talking to. This is America, we speak english, if you cant do it sorry i dont want to talk to you...

Answer 12

No private employer in the US is mandated to hire bilingual employees, therefore, no law is being broken.



If in France, speak french.



If in China, speak chinese.



If in the USA, speak english.



If I go to a foreign country, it is expected that I speak THEIR language!

Answer 13

I don't see nothing wrong with the guy putting up 'Please Speak English' Signs.







Speak English! This is America!

Answer 14

I just got back from walking the Camino Santiago de Compestelo in Spain. I could not speak much Spanish but no one turned me away when I was not able to communicate effectively with the waitstaff. Why should America not be as welcoming as other countries?

Answer 15

NO it is not discrimination against immigrants. I only wish more people and buisnesses would do the same !

Answer 16

whites are not the only ones who speak English, anyway, if you have a employee who only speaks english, how are they going to serve someone who cant speak any english?



assimilate or die!

Answer 17

of course it is, he put that sign under another that said "management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone" he is a business and as long as you have money it shouldn't matter what you speak as long as you can point to what you want... money talks...

but, he has lost a lot of business because in his area there are many hispanics and most refuse to go there... they started going to the guy across the street, that business across the street welcomes anyone... so that's what he gets...

by the way, the only reason he put that sign up is because that area used to be mainly Italians and now there are a lot of hispanics moving into the area and he's just pissed off....

Answer 18

No it is PATRIOTIC!!!!!