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>> Another dilemma of bilingualism
is, of course,

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that it's perceived as a
threat even today and --

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-- allow me to illustrate, if I may.

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I used to work for an outfit
called META.

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META is a legal services organization
specializing in Bilingual Education Law,

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one of the few in the country,
based in the Boston area.

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And one day we got a call from Lynn,
Massachusetts, old milltown there.

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Said please come up to Lynn.

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Over at the high school, they
have banned Spanish at lunch time.

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And this is a fairly common phenomenon across
the country, the Spanish language being seen

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as a threat and banned outright in certain
times and places in the public schools.

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So we went, we took care of the problem.

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It's rumored that the principal
over there still wakes up screaming

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about the Spanish lawyers,
as we came to be called.

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So I wrote the following poem

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as an olive branch, you
might say, extended in friendship.

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I dedicate this poem to the
principal of Lynn English High School.

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It's called the new bathroom
policy at English High School.

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The boys chatter Spanish in the bathroom
while their principal listens from his stall.

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The only word he recognizes is his own name --

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-- and this constipates him.

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So he decides to ban Spanish in the bathrooms.

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Now, he can relax.

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I should--that one bears repeating
in Spanish, don't you think?

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So if you will permit me that indulgence.

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Nueva norma para el baño
en la English High School.

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Los muchachos cacarean español en el baño,

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mientras el principal de la
escuela los oye desde el inodoro.

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La única palabra que reconoce es su
propio nombre y esto le da estreñimiento.

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Por tanto, decide prohibir
español en los baños.

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Ahora puede relajarse.