>> Another dilemma of bilingualism is, of course,
that it's perceived as a threat even today and --
-- allow me to illustrate, if I may.
I used to work for an outfit called META.
META is a legal services organization specializing in Bilingual Education Law,
one of the few in the country, based in the Boston area.
And one day we got a call from Lynn, Massachusetts, old milltown there.
Said please come up to Lynn.
Over at the high school, they have banned Spanish at lunch time.
And this is a fairly common phenomenon across the country, the Spanish language being seen
as a threat and banned outright in certain times and places in the public schools.
So we went, we took care of the problem.
It's rumored that the principal over there still wakes up screaming
about the Spanish lawyers, as we came to be called.
So I wrote the following poem
as an olive branch, you might say, extended in friendship.
I dedicate this poem to the principal of Lynn English High School.
It's called the new bathroom policy at English High School.
The boys chatter Spanish in the bathroom while their principal listens from his stall.
The only word he recognizes is his own name --
-- and this constipates him.
So he decides to ban Spanish in the bathrooms.
Now, he can relax.
I should--that one bears repeating in Spanish, don't you think?
So if you will permit me that indulgence.
Nueva norma para el baño en la English High School.
Los muchachos cacarean español en el baño,
mientras el principal de la escuela los oye desde el inodoro.
La única palabra que reconoce es su propio nombre y esto le da estreñimiento.
Por tanto, decide prohibir español en los baños.
Ahora puede relajarse.