Today, I sent an email responding to an opinion piece in the local paper. I decided to share it here so that I won't have to work hard writing something else. It went something like this:
"The outrage over Coca-cola's multilingual rendition of "America the Beautiful" is, in my opinion, not wrong or intolerant per se. While hate and racism should not be excused, objections to the song are not entirely unreasonable. Imagine if it were another country. Imagine an arena of French people in Paris. How would they react if La Marseillaise was sung in English , German or Arabic? They would no doubt be upset especially since the French are very conscious of their cultural heritage.
A single national language is essential to developing a national culture and to maintain cohesion within society and government. Even the Philippines, a country which consists of diverse ethnic languages and dialects, has a national language. If in Araneta Coliseum, during a game, they sang the first part of Lupang Hinirang in Tagalog, then in Cebuano, Waray, Ilokano, Ivatan, Tausug and Gorontalo, nobody would understand it. Without one unifying language, it is difficult for cultures to assimilate and unite under one flag. People would scatter like the citizens of Babel. Therefore, it is understandable that many Americans would have strong reactions over the issue and their objections may not be borne out of intolerance and meanness but of love of country and national pride."
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