Santorum in the "country" of Puerto Rico

Although the Santorum presidential candidacy may soon be a thing of the past, his visit to Puerto Rico may live in infamy, at least among many Latinos, both on the island and the continent.

Mr. Santorum, expressing ignorance or cultural insensitivity or both, made the following ill-advised remark:

“As in any other state, you have to comply with this and any federal law — and that is that English has to be the main language.

“There are other states with more than one language, as is the case in Hawaii,” he continued, “but to be a state in the United States, English has to be the main language.”

His subsequent “misspeak“, although immediately corrected, may have been something of a Freudian slip, as Mr. Santorum accidentally referred to Puerto Rico as a “Spanish-speaking country”.

“There were requirements put on other states when they came into the union that English be the principal language. … It was a condition of admission to statehood, and that’s simply what I’ve said.”

“Puerto Rico is a Spanish-speaking country — excuse me, a Spanish-speaking island, not a country but a Spanish-speaking island — and they’ll continue to speak Spanish, and of course that’s their culture, and they have every right to do so.”

Apparently the former senator was creating preconditions of his own, those not shared by Republican opponent former Governor Mitt Romney who countered:

“I will support the people of Puerto Rico if they make a decision that they would prefer to become a state; that’s a decision that I will support. I don’t have preconditions that I would impose.”

To former Senator Santorum, like many citizens of the United States, any people who do not speak English as their ancestoral language are a country of their own, a strange group of people not to be fully identified with the “good ol’ United States”.

I speak daily to Hispanic immigrants of my city.  Most of them either speak or are learning to speak English.  But I love to speak to them in Spanish, which is my second language.  In doing so I, at least symbolically, pass through the cultural divide experienced by many English-only Anglos.

And when I do, I am neither more nor less USAmerican.  Nor are they any less fascinated with the concept of the “American Dream.” Nor do they dispute Governor Romney’s view that English is a “language of opportunity”

Surely US exceptionalism includes the ability to welcome with respect peoples of many cultures and languages; to offer to share our culture and language as we celebrate theirs (whether we chose to speak their language or not).  To degrade a people, or a potential state, as substandard because “they” are not “us”, is not exceptional.  It is simply the pettiness of nationalism seeking some sort of official recognition.