Nuestro Himno "Our Anthem"

Apparently I hear about popular controversies a little late. The newest dispute that I am reading about is the singing (and recording) of "The Star Spangled Banner" in Spanish. The translation is called "Nuestro Himno." A group of Hispanic singers recorded a Spanish version of our national anthem. Since I just heard about this, I am still formulating an opinion.

I am not against immigration at all. The founders of our country were themselves European immigrants; with the exception of the Native Americans, we are all of immigrant descent. Were it not for the massive influx of immigrants at the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, our country would not have had the manpower to face the threat of World War II; most of Europe would now be speaking German and saluting the swastika, Hawaii would be part of Japan, and if the west coast was still part of America, it would be under constant attack from Japan.

We probably cannot imagine how different our country would be if we had shut down our borders 100 years ago. How will we look back on this time in 100 years? Will we say "the Hispanic immigration wasn't that bad" or will it be "nosotros suyo entuerto (we were wrong)."

The problem with the immigrants, or "displaced foreigners," is specifically those that are here illegally. That is a slap in the face to the millions of Hispanics that have gone through the trouble of moving to the U.S. legally. They (the illegal immigrants) do not pay taxes, but they expect medical care (which EMS services and emergency rooms cannot refuse them); many of them refuse to learn English and our government agencies and hospital must provide translators to them at no cost.

Now there is a push to change America's official language to both English and Spanish (currently there is no official language, although 83% of us speak English) to facilitate the assimilation of Hispanic immigrants into our culture. Unfortunately this will only cripple the careers of the Hispanic children growing up in America. While managers of fast food restaurants, construction companies, landscaping companies and gas stations may learn Spanish in order to increase their pool of applicants, no large corporations are going to require their employees to learn Spanish in order to communicate with their new coworkers. Talk about a glass ceiling! Many feminist groups in America complain about women hitting a "glass ceiling" in their careers; at least we can understand what American women are saying (although sometimes I doubt that as well). It would be a great disservice to the Hispanic children here in America to not force them to learn English while they are still young.

How "Nuestro Himno" fits into this, I don't know. Maybe it is just a way to establish patriotism among the Hispanic Americans. Maybe it's a strategy to desensitize us to translating everything American into Spanish (as if bilingual signs in Home Depot aren't enough to do that). Maybe it is as simple as some musicians who wanted to make some money selling albums to the 30 million Hispanics in America.

Maybe I should be more worried that our country has forgotten verses 2-4 of "The Star Spangled Banner." The text of the fourth verse is:

O thus be it ever when free-men shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust!”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!


Maybe I should be worried about the changes I'm seeing. Maybe I should quit procrastinating and go back outside and finish my yard work. Yea, that's what I'll do.