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This is a picture of Joseph Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia, PA. He is under attack because he had the audacity to ask that when a customer orders, they do so in..gasp…ENGLISH! As he said “Why should I bend?”
A City Council member jumped into the debate over a sign at one of Philadelphia’s best-known cheesesteak joints that reads: “This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING ‘SPEAK ENGLISH.’”
During the council’s meeting Thursday, Councilman Jim Kenney asked Geno’s owner Joseph Vento to take the small sign down. The English-only ordering sign has irritated some activists in the diverse neighborhood of South Philadelphia and drawn national attention.“It’s such an iconic institution and business, one that is that visible for many of our residents, for the region and the world,” Kenney said.
Vento, whose grandparents struggled to learn English after immigrating from Sicily in the 1920s, said his staff is glad to help non-native speakers order in English and no one has been turned away because of a language barrier.
“I don’t see much of a big deal about learning to say Cheez Whiz,” he told ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” on Friday.
Watch the GMA segment here.
More protests expected.
Juntos, a neighborhood organization that advocates for Latino communities, said it plans to send people to Geno’s to try to order in Spanish. Depending on what happens, the group may pursue court action, said Peter Bloom, the group’s director.
“His grandparents encountered the same racism and the same xenophobia,” Bloom said. “Why would he begin that process over again?”In asking for the sign’s removal, Councilman Kenney noted that Geno’s is “an iconic institution and business, one that is that visible for many of our residents, for the region and the world.”
For his part, Vento said he’s gotten plenty of criticism and threats: One person told him they hoped one his many neon signs flames out and burns the place down. But he said he plans to hold his ground, even if he loses business: “I’ll take the gamble.”
Here’s Councilman Kenney’s contact info.
Geno’s website is down. But here’s the address if you’re in the neighborhood.
Support assimilation: Buy a Cheese Wit’.
29 Responses to “Support Geno’s Steaks In Philadelphia!”
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Where in the Joe’s sign does it expressly attempt to segregate individuals of latino origin?
There are plenty of pale-skinned Philadelphians that struggle with the English language - Poles, Ukranians, German, Swedish..etc. We don’t see them or any of their cultural organizations crying “Racism” or “Zenophobia” over the sign in Genos.
What this reveals is that organizations like Juntos and their supporters have comprehension difficulties with certain words in the English language.
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Juntos, a neighborhood organization that advocates for Latino communities, said it plans to send people to Geno’s to try to order in Spanish
I say send in Mike Kilo to handle this one. He’s in or near Philly, right? He can square away the Juntos a-holes.
this guy sounds like a real asshole.
Why, for exercising his rights?
Why S.F? Because he has the audacity to tell people that if they choose to NOT assimilate, they can take their business elsewhere? There is nothing in any law that requires a business to provide Spanish speaking employees. The true racists in all of this are the Latino activists who claim that because they don’t want to learn to speak English they should receive special treatment not afforded to native speakers of any other language. THAT is RACIST, not telling them that they are going to be treated like everyone else.
I would no more expect to be served in English in a foreign country than I would to expect to get my meals for free. Why should American businesses be required to provide free interpretor services to Spanish speakers?
Sounds to me like “Juntos” are the a-holes in this case.
Time for JIM KENNENY to bend over backwards are kiss his own backside and keep his flapping piehole shut:mad:
“Why S.F?”
Because he’s bossing people around on how to talk. (!)
If anybody were to do that to me, I’d be like “who the f**k are you?”
You see…stuff like THIS is why your team will never get it on with minority voters as long as you can’t understand and recognize racist behavior.
sheesh!
I guess me living in a multi-cultural city like SF and riding a bus with 4 different languages being spoken has taken my mid-western xenophobic edge off.
Xenophobia doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it SF. It’s a matter of principle. Dad’s father came over on a boat from Poland and he had to learn to speak English. I have a friend who’s family came over from China. They run a laundry and dry cleaning business in Philly’s Chinatown. They may speak to each other in Cantonese, but they wait on the non Chinese customers in ENGLISH. Why should Hispanics be the ONLY minority who gets special treatment? THAT IS RACIST. You’re also failing to understand the principle of the free market. He’s not telling people how to talk, he’s telling them that if they want to order in Spanish, they need to take their business elsewhere. Anyone who cares to order in his establishment needs to speak English because he doesn’t understand any other language nor should he have to. One quick way to solve the problem would be to lace ever sandwich ordered in Spanish with Habaneros or the dried Chinese peppers. When they complain, simply look at them and say “Well if you had ordered in ENGLISH, I might have been able to understand what you were saying.” BTW most of the Spanish speakers in Philly aren’t Mexicans, they’re Puerto Ricans many of whom have never been to Puerto Rico. The epitome of racism is an American of Puerto Rican descent who identifies themselves as Puerto Rican but not American. How much more idiotically ethnocentric can someone be? I moved to Phoenix from just south of Philadelphia, so I am familiar with the area.
Wasn’t it Martin Luther King Jr who had a dream where people would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character? Exactly what kind of character is demonstrated by coming to a country to LIVE, not visit, and still refuse to learn to speak the local language? While geography is certainly not my strongest suit, isn’t Philadelphia over 1500 miles from the nearest Spanish speaking country? I would hardly call any Spanish speaker going to eat at Geno’s a day tripper.
For a better understanding on why earlier mass migrations assimilated better than the Hispanics are, look up what Henry Ford required of his (legal) immigrant workers. By modern standards it would be called Draconian, but it did produce people who were capable of achieving the American dream, not just people only capable of mowing the lawns of those who had. Henry Ford knew that English IS the language of success in this country.
BTW I actually worked in customer relations for a casino in AC and interpreted for customers in both Russian and Spanish. I had to carry a pocket dictionary with me, but I was the only one in the place who could speak ANY Russian. It took one of the Spanish interpreters by total surprise when I started speaking to a customer in (bad but understandable) Spanish. He was waiting on another customer when the gentleman came up, so I just started asking him the usual questions, only in bad Spanish. Dan turned and looked over at me with his mouth hanging open. We had senior citizens come down from Brighton Beach who would stand in line at the customer service desk just to say “Hello” because I had walked them around the casino showing them the place in Russian. With a Langensheidt pocket dictionary (Best pocket dictionary in the world. If you’re going anywhere overseas, buy the 4″ by 6″ version and you should be able to get by.), I could probably still do a, not great, but passable job in Italian as well. I really should practice more. How many languages have you studied in high school or college?
FAO, please don’t reference that F-ing phoney, bogus, plagiarizing bastard, Michael King…he also had a “dream” of a communist utopia….F HIM.
Now, to Geno’s….
I live about 8 blocks away from Geno’s. I NEVER eat there, and the reason whey is ironic, given the recent brouhaha over the infamous “sign”. I am not a native Philadelphian, and as such, do not speak their lingo.. now, when you go to geno’s and place your order, it’s a very “soup nazi” like experience where you have to order your steak using the approved descriptions… “cheese steak with” whatever that means.. the first time I went there I found it very intimidating, and I found the staff there to be incredibly rude, therefore, I’ve never been back… I take my cheesesteak business, however rare it is, to either Jim’s on South St. (I know it’s touristy and the chef sweats all over the grille, but damn, they are good), or Abner’s in University City (right above club wizard’s if you got a hankerin’ for a lap dance).
Now, back to the sign controversy… I can’t ever figure out how to order IN ENGLISH, so I can’t imagine how anyone could even possible be able to order, not being able to speak english… which brings us to the heart of the matter, how can these people function in society..oh, I know, we start doing everything in THEIR language, which is fucking horseshit….
I will actually suck it up and go patronize Geno’s again, just to show my support for their brave stance.
and SF, what a pity that all those languages are spoken around you, yet you can’t speak any of them…. thank god I’m not such a racist, sexist, homopobic xenophobe that I haven’t bothered to learn 3 other languages…..
Mike, have you ever studied the “liberal self-hate”. I think they are crazy. They actually want to bring the destruction of the civilized west. I am glad that us conservatives have the one thing that has truly stood in the lib/soc/commie way. The 2nd amendment.
BTW, sorry for the short comments. I really don’t have much time now days. Just read over the comments, fume over the traitorous left wing comments and drop my acidic comment hoping they can read between the lines and hope I never run the country.
Yeah, it’s quite stunning… liberals consistently side with, agree with, sympathize with our enemies, and then get all huffy and indignant when you call them traitors.
amazing
John, You couldn’t be more correct. I just had the unfortunate experience of a liberal telling me that America is no longer a world leader, a great place, nor that we are worth fighting for. It was pathetic and disheartening.
But I realized that arguing with this mentality was not worth my time or emotion.
America is still a world leader.. our soccer team is losing…THANK GOD!
““We’re alleging that the sign itself is enough of an unwelcoming message that it may violate the Fair Practices Act,” Rachel Lawton, acting executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations”
link
oh, that’s rich..is this department, pray tell, under the direction of the fucking racist mayor who said this
“The brothers and sisters are running this city! Running it!”
LOL…did he really say that?
Sweet.
yeah, here you go, I can’t even consider who is the bigger racist asshole, him or Nagin
Link
Here is to another hurricane hitting New Orleans..you deserve it.
A little bit of news for you folks on the 2nd Amendment front.
Philadelphia over 400 murders last year and rising
Phoenix over 200 murders last year and rising
Guess which city has no restrictions on bearers of state issued concealed weapons permits. Yep, unless they’ve changed the laws, PA state CCW bearers do so in Philadelphia at their own peril. Unless they’ve changed the laws, PA CCW holders had to call the city police and ask permission to carry a weapon inside of the city limits, despite having a state issued permit. Yes I did have a PA CCW.
Phoenix allows AZ CCW holders to carry anywhere that they would normally be allowed to do so and AZ law now requires any governmental building that restricts people from carrying weapons into the building to provide an easily accessible and secure storage facility for people seeking to enter the building while armed. BTW I also just took the class and submitted the paperwork to receive an AZ one this weekend. Learned a few things about the difference between common sense and some of the laws.
For anyone not involved in the NRA, if you value ANY of the Constitutionally guaranteed rights, you really must google the Un Convention on Small Arms being held next month.
“Mike, have you ever studied the “liberal self-hate”. I think they are crazy. ‘
John, I agree and that is why I have been saying for more than 10 years that Liberalism is a form of mental illness. I have come to that conclusion because Liberalism is the antithesis of everything that made America great.
For some reason, Liberals want to promote everything that will destroy America as we know it. Side with our enemies; destroy traditional America. Turn everything upside down. etc. It is madness, insanity.
Are these libs insane? I am watching our county self destruct before my eyes. I am going to scream KUM BA YAH
“Are these libs insane?” YES! That is a question with an answer that is self-evident!
I am a Philly transplant living in Florida. About 50 of my close friends are the same and we just read about the Geno controversy. Joe needs to holdfast to his commitment to English. Otherwsie, Philly will resemble Florida! English is the minority language and most of the people here have no understanding or patrotic feelings for America. Everything is taken and little is given in return. If I didn’t have to WORK to support myself, I would have long left this state. But where do I move to now?
I saw him on Tucker Carlson and he was hysterical! I mean that he made a great point..:razz:
If Joe can’t understand non english speaking possible patrons, how does he know what they want in order to serve them?
If women have the right to terminate a fetus, why doesn’t this guy have the “Right to Choose? his patrons?
Seems to me this is all being blown out of proportion by the liberal left, just like the recent Ann Coulter remarks.
I might annoy some by saying this, but…
Obviously this guy has the right to turn away business if he wants to. I personally think it’s a bit silly to turn away paying people, especially since he doesn’t know if the person is an immigrant or a tourist.
How many people here have gone to another country without being fluent in that language? I have, and thank goodness some people realize that not everyone speaks your own language. I realize this is America, and we speak English here, but no matter what we do, there will always be people here who don’t speak English, tourists included. I don’t think we’re so elite as to completely ignore someone that speaks a different language.
Just my personal opinion…
Alyssa- he isn’t turning business away..he is asking that you please order in English..if not, don’t get mad if you don’t get what you think you ordered..
If you can show a passport (proving you are a tourist) then no problem. Otherwise, learn the language!
Alyssz,
I have travelled in Europe and Mexico. Their businesses don’t serve you if they can’t understand you. Same thing with Geno’s. The fools are the ones making the fuss and the government agency being the bully.