By BOB RAY SANDERS
Two letters appearing in this newspaper last week were perfect examples of just how wrong and insincere people can be about important matters that we should be taking much more seriously.
This is not to demean the letter writers, for they were simply echoing the rants of conservative commentators who preach from their broadcast pulpits to a congregation of people who long ago became their "amen" chorus.
Void of logic and dripping with personal prejudices, statements in the letters railed against one of two topics that caught the larger public’s attention and raised the ire of those who quickly overreacted to news about people who many feel are undeserving residents of our fine state and unacceptable occupants of the earth itself.
Immigrants and prisoners, groups I’m often accused of defending, were the targets of the writers’ indignant rage.
Surely you have heard the story about the Dallas police officer who gave a woman a ticket because she didn’t speak English. As it turned out, over the past three years, drivers in Dallas had been improperly cited 38 times for not being English speakers.
Then there was the story, which was less than accurate, that said thousands of inmates in the Texas prison system would receive swine flu vaccine before "law-abiding" citizens.
Both news items generated much discussion — indeed outrage — about the non-English speakers driving on our highways and the scum behind bars going to the head of the line for flu shots.
Let’s first deal with the ticket issued to Ernestina Mondragon, who was stopped last month for making an illegal U-turn, but also was cited for not having a driver’s license
and for not knowing the English language.
"Not being able to read English should preclude anyone from driving at all," a reader wrote to the paper.
He continued, "How in the heck can anyone follow the rules posted in traffic signs if they can’t read English? It is inconceivable that state lawmakers let this obvious requirement go on without fixing it."
It is obvious that the writer’s anger is aimed squarely at those whose first language is Spanish. What he failed to think about is there are many foreigners who come to this country — diplomats, students, businessmen and women — and are permitted to drive.
Depending on how long they remain, these foreigners are required to have driver’s licenses whether they can speak the language or not, and states make provisions for that.
In Texas, one can take the written portion of the driver’s exam in Spanish.
As for road signs, most are uniquely designed so that one doesn’t have to "read" them to know what they mean, which brings me to a crucial point the letter writer apparently missed.
There are many people in this state, and in this country, who can
speak the language, but they can’t write or read it. They are illiterate.
Would he propose having those people deprived of a driver’s license (and perhaps a livelihood) because they could not read a sign post? By the way, it is mainly because of illiteracy that the Texas Department of Public Safety provides oral exams on request.
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