"Cablinasian" : (Caucasian (German), Black(Ivorian), (Am.)Indian, Asian(Thai)). That's how this mixed-heritage guy lists his 'race'.
And I don't mind one bit. It is the face of america. In fact, given the shadowy provenance of my mother's side of the family, I feel I can say with an 80% degree of certainty: I too am Cablinasian; translation: "American".
Language? In my opinion, english should be taught in schools, as a pupil-survival tactic at minimum (because the country at-large communicates in it, and likely will for several more generations), and advanced literature for those interested. Many new immigrants learn only rudimentary english, but most encourage their children to become fluent. Every day I deal with "only ten words of english" people with my "only 20 words of spanish" background - we either make ourselves understood with our limited vocabularies and sign language, or: grab a kid. Almost any kid will do, age 5 and up. They clear up any misunderstandings. That's my preferred solution: fall back on the resiliance and adaptability of the young.
Besides, the 'english' spoken here is a far cry from that spoken in England. Demanding it be canonized as an official language here is just silly, and would create another huge boondoggle of a Ministry of Language to enforce any such decree, which we down here in the trenches would ignore, breeding disrespect for law and regulation, and you know where I think that leads...
Affirmative Action? I personally didn't think we, as a nation were quite done yet with that program and its goals (I thought it needed one more 20-year generation), but the people/voters of both my state of birth (Michigan) and state of current residence (California) decided that we were (done). So I grudgingly accept that.
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