Xenophobia

By now all you K34 readers know that xenophobia means (I bet some English readers are reaching for their dictionary right now). Just a few days after we covered this topic with R-4, this article appeared in a New York City newspaper. The Candidate From Xenophobia

Some of it may be hard to understand because it involves American politics at the state level so I'll include some notes below. But the article will give you a better understanding of the meaning of the word.

From time to time some American communities get on an English-only kick -- that is, they emphasize the need to use only English in schools and government. Of course, since America is an English-speaking country, it is important for immigrants to learn the language. Many don't and they end up relying on their kids to translate for them because their kids usually go to American public schools and learn English well.

However, it's a bit ridiculous to pretend that English is the only language that should be used in America -- especially since America has 35-40 million people who speak Spanish, making it the fifth-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world.

The editors of the NY Times thinks it's more than ridiculous and used the word, "xenophobic." Try reading the editorial and see what you think.

Notes:
 
primary elections: From the U.S. presidential election, you probably remember that primaries are pre-elections that political parties use to select their candidates. They do that with state governors too. Whoever wins the primary election becomes the party's candidate for governor in the general election.

bottom-feeding: This is slang for lacking dignity, disgraceful.

gubernatorial: An adjective related to state governors. You won't see this word used much outside of U. S. politics. Pronounced with a long u.

make-my-day growl: A reference to the old "Dirty Harry" movies. It means to say something is a threatening way.

A primary race...can be a fantasy universe: The writer wants to say that primary elections can be a chance for politicians to raise issues that are not important or nonsensical.

American Sign Language: This is a communication system used by deaf people -- they speak by making hand gestures which represent words. I've seen deaf people in Hanoi use sign language too.
 
spin on the Know Nothing Movement: "spin on" here means "interpretation of" or "version of" In the 1840's and 1850's in America an anti-immigrant political movement began to try to curb immigration from Europe. It began as a secret group and when members were asked about it they were supposed to reply, "I know nothing about it."