David Kanter | This is America - tolerate some diversity

Last time I checked, the United States didn't have an official language. English may predominate in the Land of the Free, but Spanish, or any other language for that matter, can rightly claim to be just as American.

Yet if you stop by Geno's Steaks in South Philly, you might think otherwise. That's because patrons of Geno's are greeted by the now well-known sign that not so subtly informs them of the preferred language. The sign reads, "This is America. When ordering, please speak English."

According to the Philadelphia Committee on Human Relations, which decided last week that the sign was not discriminatory, the sign can stay put. But regardless of any interpretation of legal minutiae, I disagree with the Committee's decision.

Geno's owner Joey Vento contends that his sign isn't discriminatory because he doesn't deny service to anyone - he's just trying to make a political statement. "If you're here in the United States, you should speak English," he told me. "English is the common denominator in this melting pot."

But this "political statement" Vento espouses to the press is lost in the true message of the sign. Simply put, it implies that if you don't speak English, you're not really American, so take your business elsewhere.

Claiming that everyone gets served, regardless of language, isn't enough. The implication that non-English speakers are unwelcome serves as a de facto form of discrimination.

By purposely making a certain segment of the population unwelcome and intimidated, Vento has essentially assured that only English-speaking customers frequent his shop. If that's not discrimination, I don't know what is.

Then again, Vento might be right in arguing that pretty much every other service in this city relies on the English language. He's merely formalizing this reality with a written request.

But just imagine someone you know, perhaps a fellow student or teaching assistant who happens to have a very strong accent, approach the ordering window.

As he quickly reads the sign, how can he not assume that it's intended for him, someone susceptible to an occasional mispronunciation? After all, if the sign were really intended for someone truly unable to speak English, it wouldn't be written in English.

And what about a customer incapable of speaking? Sign language isn't English, so I guess speech-impaired Americans also shouldn't take their business to Geno's.

Vento also argues, perhaps with some warrant, that miscommunication slows down service. He says that "the line can be 30 or 40 deep" forcing customers to wait "hours and hours." Yet if he is going to make an argument on those grounds, there is no need to preface his preferred ordering language with the loaded phrase, "This is America..."

But certainly there is something to be said for the American ideal of free speech. Don't we all retain the right to freely express our opinions, no matter how offensive they are?

This is true. It's quite another thing, however, to express our opinions in order to intimidate others, thereby denying them a service open to everyone else.

But if Vento can keep up his sign on the grounds of freedom of speech, we should be ever more wary of allowing intolerance to fester in our society. Certainly there are more obvious and pressing instances of discrimination in our city that require immediate fixing. But rampant discrimination only becomes a reality when we sanction its more subtle manifestations.

For those who find Vento's sign as offensive as I do, the first recourse is obvious - simply don't go to Geno's, and tell others of Vento's discriminatory policies.

After all, this is America. The least Mr. Vento could do is tolerate a little diversity.

David Kanter is a College freshman from East Falmouth, Mass. His e-mail is kanter@dailypennsylvanian.com. David Versus Goliath appears on Wednesdays.

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