Recently in my Spanish class, we watched a short film called "El Rincon de Venezuela," which means "the Venezuelan Corner." It was about a family from Venezuela owning a restaurant in New York City, and their struggles facing classism and financial issues. At one point, the mother is trying to advertise by handing out flyers. As she yelled out the name of the restaurant, "El Rincon de Venezuela," a man walked by and said "English, English, I don't know.." This part can be seen at 7:45 in the video below.
This short clip made me think about how immigrants are treated in America, especially those who do not speak English. As we discussed in American Studies, people tend to have expectations that all people who live in this country must always speak English. I think this shows that many Americans are closed minded when it comes to different cultures. As you can see in the clip, no one stopped to talk to Rosario and her mom when they handed out flyers. Although this is a work of fiction, I wonder if their restaurant would get more business if it was owned by a white American family. I also wonder, if America is often referred to as the "melting pot" of all different cultures, why are people so closed off towards the different languages of immigrants?
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