How many times have you heard this: “Hey, this is America! Learn the language…speak English?”
I heard it as a child speaking with my grandparents and parents.
I heard it as a teenager when speaking to my friends.
I hear it as an adult when interacting with employees at the grocery store.
The U.S. Census Bureau released last week an online map pinpointing the vast host of languages (other than English) spoken in homes across the country.
Read Related: I’m Latina, and I Don’t Speak Spanish
According to the report, that’s approximately 38 million people que hablan español. That makes the U.S. the fifth largest Spanish-speaking country on the planet, behind Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Argentina.
This is no surprise to the more than 50 million (and growing) Latinos who reside in the U.S.
It is a surprise to ignorant people like the ones who were quick to attack 11-year-old Sebastien De La Cruz after he sang the National Anthem before game 3 of the NBA finals in San Antonio earlier this year. It is to the bigots who were upset that someone (singer Marc Anthony) from “another country” would sing at the MLB All-Star game. One person on Twitter wrote, “Why is a Mexican, Marc Anthony singing god bless America? Doesn’t he know this is AMERICA’s song?”
