The Observer Newspapers | Spanish Requirements Discriminate Against English Speakers

June 13, 2008

Spanish Requirements Discriminate Against English Speakers

To the editor:

Having high school-age and college-age children, I have become increasingly aware of the difficulty our youth is having in finding summer employment. Some of the reasons would surprise you and perhaps change your buying habits or your patronage if you knew local companies are denying employment to English-speaking applicants. How many servers, wait staff, doctors, nurses, dental technicians, laborers and even plumbers would be jobless because they could not speak Spanish?

In Virginia, English is the official language. Businesses and local governments mandating Spanish as an employment requirement should be scrutinized. Recently, a Reston chiropractor looking for a receptionist felt speaking Spanish was more important than a degree. A local college student lost an employment opportunity because she spoke French, not Spanish. Interestingly, the chiropractor doesn't speak Spanish nor is he bilingual.

Unless the job is that of an interpreter, businesses should not discriminate against our working youth. If the Town of Herndon is paying an hourly monetary incentive for Spanish-speaking employees, they should cease immediately.

Local businesses and governments who discriminate against our youth should be held accountable for reverse discrimination. When local teenagers and college students are denied summer employment we all should take notice.

Philip Jones

Herndon