Restraint and reconsideration, please

On Sept. 16, a Sunday, the Bonanza published a single page of old news, reworking an article previously printed in English, but now publishing it in Spanish. The paper also titled the page "Nuestra Comunidad" (Our Community), and invited Spanish-language readers to return on future Sundays for more local news in Spanish.

Virtually every edition of the paper since has published at least one letter to the editor either vehemently opposing this project or offering spirited support for it.

Peculiarly, much of the ire voiced in these letters centered on whether the "Spanish page" was "un-American." One writer lectured that, "They are here of their own free will. They are paid in American money, employed by American businesses...then why are they not learning and practicing our language?"

Another letter declared the Spanish page was "eroding the underpinning of assimilation, a common language," and thus creating language "classes" which would in turn foster "class warfare."

Yet another letter said, "...If you live in this country then you need to be able to read and write the English language just as everybody else has chosen to do before us." Finally, one writer wrote that being illiterate in English is "un American."

Others, writing in support of the Spanish-language page emphasized, as one writer put it, that "Spanish is here to stay" and even that "many networks broadcast entirely in Spanish, and American companies line up to advertise on them." Said another letter, "If we promote a culture of acceptance that includes non-English speakers, we will be sure to avoid any future class warfare."

Finally, a Bonanza editorial of this past Sunday defended its Spanish-page translation by arguing that it is a "bridge" to the Spanish-speaking segment of the community, that "It is saying to the Latino man, woman, students, and children of Incline Village that the Bonanza recognizes they are part of this community."

Is all this much ado about very little? After all, the Bonanza is part of a for profit newspaper chain, some 30 percent of the population in and around Incline is Spanish speaking, and any "all American" knows that increasing readership is good for business. Perhaps, but the Bonanza "bridge" argument makes sense to me.

I do believe the Bonanza erred at the start. They should have explained in good old English for monolingual American types like myself what they proposed to do and why. Instead, many of us opened the paper on Sept. 16 and said, "Hey what's doing? I don't read Spanish."

Here's a little personal background. In my work life I have had the privilege of extensively interviewing several hundred hard-working Spanish-speaking immigrants.

Always, I was assisted by a certified interpreter. Almost invariably, the monolingual Spanish speakers rue their inability to be literate in English, and talk proudly about their bilingual children. Rarely, these individuals are simply too lazy to learn English. Usually, given long work hours, low wages, and occasionally limited intellect there isn't sufficient time to devote to English language mastery.

If the goal is to teach English to Spanish speakers, and this was a common and unifying theme of most all the letters to the editor, then certainly facts are relevant.

Multiple academic studies have conclusively shown that bilingual education in grade school is the most efficacious way to teach English literacy to Spanish speakers. Immersion programs, politically popular, particularly with more conservative groups, are less expensive, but also less effective.

It is more difficult for adults to master English. That's why so many letter writers recalled that their grandparents or parents had deficient skills in English.

So, is it possible that a Spanish page in the Bonanza will undermine interest in achieving English language mastery? Highly unlikely. At worst, it's a wash as Spanish speakers continue to ignore the paper, or just read the one Spanish page. On the other hand, just glancing at that page will provide news about Incline and a measure of connection to the community.

If the column encourages further exploration of the paper, or incentive to learn English, all to the good.

To those Bonanza lovers who feel they are losing an old friend, I counsel restraint and reconsideration. I wish I had achieved Spanish language mastery, but it was beyond me. For now I just turn the Sunday Spanish page, secure in knowing I saw the same news in English in a prior edition and that just maybe the paper has expanded its readership.



Andrew Whyman is a nearly-retired physician. To contact Whyman, email adwhyman@aol.com.