I should preface this post by saying this incident happened several years ago back when I was in college, but my feelings on the matter have remained consistent over the years, so I think it is still relevant enough to share. 

Back in college, I was at a house party with mutual friends. One of my friends, Ryan, must have just gotten an “A” on his political science 101 paper because he was very eager to discuss some recent political hot topics. Not normally a great line of conversation for a casual Friday night, but everyone taking part pretty much had the same liberal-leaning ideology, so it was mostly just everyone nodding and agreeing with one another. 

At one point, the conversation came to illegal Mexican immigrants and how our country should deal with this. I don’t remember how the conversation got to this point, but I said that I am emphatic towards Mexican immigrants, but the least they should do is try and learn English if they want to immigrate here. 

Ryan and several other mutual friends got fucking PISSED!

They were railing into me about how “English isn’t the national language of America” and how “I shouldn’t annihilate their cultural identity.” I was so confused because I have zero problem with Mexican immigrants who can’t speak English. IMO, they are always welcome to speak whatever language they want, in public or private, but I just think it is arrogant and displays a high degree of entitlement (especially coming from those seeking out help and a big lifestyle change) if you think the country you’re moving to should adjust their behavior for you. If I wanted to move to Japan, you would be sure my first course of action is picking up Rosetta Stone instead of getting pissy that my English language skills aren’t working well in Tokyo. 

Am I the asshole for thinking this way? 