The Asheville Daily Planet claims that they will publish a Spanish language newspaper to "meet the news and information needs of the Asheville area's burgeoning Hispanic community," entitled El Eco De Las Montañas (The Echo Of Mountains).
However, they leave it unclear -- and, I think, purposely so, if not defiantly so -- whether their target audience is intended to be legal immigrants or illegal aliens -- an important distinction that local media often attempt to obscure. Legal immigrant Hispanic American citizens would certainly not need a newspaper written entirely in the language of the countries they chose to vacate.
I think it's fine to publish a niche newspaper with content that would interest Hispanics. But why in Spanish? Would not an English-language special interest newspaper serve that purpose?
Foreigners who come to this country without English language skills are called tourists. The only reasonable explanation for this is that the Daily Planet intends to actively support and enable criminal entry into this country, exacerbate cultural and racial division, and further arrest the prospect of the naturalization and assimilation of people who knowingly violate the law.
By publishing a local newspaper that caters to the language deficiencies of illegal Hispanic aliens, the Daily Planet is not doing this so-called "burgeoning Hispanic community" a service, but a thoughtless and disastrous disservice. Indeed, the Daily Planet does a disservice to our entire community.
TIM PECK
ASHEVILLE
