Saturday, November 01, 2008

Subtle Racism?

English only I saw this sign in Westminster a few days ago. I thought it was odd that a church located in a city with a large Vietnamese (38%) and Hispanic (21%) would insist that their services will be in English only. When I mean predominately Vietnamese, I am not kidding. Westminster is also know as little Saigon. It is a great place to eat! I once attended a wedding feast in Little Siagon that served 14 courses. Between each course they served Cognac.  I was blitzed, and the food was wonderful... except for the pigeon. It was all bones.

Is English the language of God or is this just a subtle form of racism?

Technorati tags: , ,
Posted by at
Labels:

Comments (6)

Loading... Logging you in...
Dashboard | Edit profile | Logout
  • Logged in as
0 Vote up Vote down
Shelley Mountjoy's avatar

Shelley Mountjoy · 858 weeks ago

I don't necessarily think it's racism... it could just be informative. What if they just don't have a Vietnamese pastor on staff and due to the high population of non-English speaking residents they want to avoid disappointment of those who chose to attend?
0 Vote up Vote down
Karen's avatar

Karen · 858 weeks ago

Shelley's probably right, though it seems kind of odd on a sign that lists just one worship service. If there were multiple worship services, it would make more sense.

My city has a large immigrant population from East and South Asia, and there are lots of little Chinese and Vietnamese congregations that rent worship space from larger, longer-established churches. They tend to have services in an Asian language. Maybe the First Vietnamese Christian Church recently stopped renting First Baptist's basement, and they don't want to confuse visitors.
0 Vote up Vote down
John Morales's avatar

John Morales · 858 weeks ago

Without further data, I think it's considerate, not racist. I'm pretty sure the preacher would wish to reach as many as possible, but is limited to English.

The WTF is that non-English speakers aren't going to be able to read the sign anyway ;)
0 Vote up Vote down
John Morales's avatar

John Morales · 858 weeks ago

OOT - I note my comment shows, but it shows as "32 minutes ago" (I've just done it) and the header shows "Comments (2)". No biggie, and I apoligise if you're already aware of these issues.
0 Vote up Vote down
ATL's avatar

ATL · 858 weeks ago

I live in Little Saigon and know something about my community and also the development of its churches. There is a growing need for congregations that are pastored by those who can conduct services in English b/c of the youths who've grown up in America. Outreach to faith and relationships with God must not be limited by language barriers.
Loading...
+1 Vote up Vote down
Andrea_Brown's avatar - Go to profile

Andrea_Brown 1p · 857 weeks ago

Hey, Daryl (?), I grew up in that area, and my mom lives right there. I think that churches should expand to include services meeting the needs of all. When we moved there, in 1962, it was a mostly white community--yet, I moved there at 10, and in middle and high school we had kids from all cultures. I appreciate that so much now. I have raised my children to see the world as multicultural. My mother still lives where I grew up in the predominantly Vietnamese (sp?) area.

I think that churches need to come to grips with what is. That church at least is honest in that maybe they feel ill equipped to handle multicultural groups.

I am in Oregon, and in the past 20 years, there has been a huge influx of hispanics and we still have Orthodox Russian and many Mexican-Americans. I have taken many classes and still am working on my Spanish. I am professional counselor. I feel it is important for me to be able to communicate with the people here who have migrated here. Unfortunately, my spouse thinks I am wrong in my stance.

Thank you for your comments.

Andrea

athompson.couns

Post a new comment

Comments by

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)