Ok, so I'm in Miami for the weekend........

[MsUSA]

I'm lilly white and from a midwestern town, and this weekend I felt discriminated against. Everyone spoke Spanish and were very hard to understand. It was very frustrating trying to get directions. Am I a racist??

[Shell Beau]

1. Huh?

:shrug:

[LeftyMom]

2. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you

Am I correct in the understsnding that you felt that other people speaking Spanish or heavily accented English constituted discrimination against you in some way? :wtf:

[MsUSA]

5. yes......I felt like some were treating me badly.

Like they didn't have time for me, or that I was wasting their time. Just felt alone and left out because I was the only white one there.

[Scout1071]

8. I think it's more urban vs rural.

It's a city. People aren't as friendly as they are in small/mid-size towns.

I don't think you are racist. I just think that you are feeling uncomfotable being a little out of your element.

Stay positive and enjoy the new experience. A little Espanol never hurt anyone!

[SoCalDem]

13. How would YOU treat a lone "Miamian" in your town?

:)

[Shell Beau]

3. Let me say this, you are in a town that has a large Latin

community. If it bothers you, then you are in the wrong place. I don't see why you felt discriminated against. You told of no examples that I can see. Are you a racist? I don't know, you should know that.

[MsUSA]

7. Was there for a wedding........ in Hialeah actually.

[Lochloosa]

4. Just go to South Beach...

:evilgrin: and be sure and share the pics with us..

[Mutley]

6. Um... I'm not sure.

For one thing, I'm not sure what being lilly white has to do with it. Plenty of people of all colors speak English. And plenty of people of all colors don't speak English.

You're not a racist just for being frustrated that you couldn't find someone who spoke English, but if you feel that everyone who comes to live in America from other countries should be required to learn English -- yeah, that may be a little racist.

"De donde es __________" means "where is the _________" -- just fill in the blank for your particular situation.

[Scout1071]

9. Donde es el bano - muy importante phrase to know!

Where is the bathroom?

I probably didn't even say (spell) it correctly, but it's enough to get directions to the potty from anyone!

Edited to add another key phrase you will need: Mas cerveza por favor (more beer please!)

[Mutley]

15. I remember very little from HS Spanish class...

but "de donde es el bano" and "mas cerveza por favor" are definately two of them. :D

[SoCalDem]

10. Enjoy that wonderful place.. I LOVE Miami...

put the top down, and cruise around late at night on the causeways.. turn the radio up :)

Go see a jai-alai match

Go to Calle Ocho and eat eat eateat

[El Fuego]

11. I love Miami

The trick is to just think of it as a foreign country. It's only about an hour from me, but it is like another world.

[matcom]

12. probably

[Shell Beau]

18. Just straight up "probably"

:P

[matcom]

19. yup

don't think she is ready to don a hood but.....

[Shell Beau]

21. LOL!

I hope not!! But if you have to ask if you are, well, :shrug: ah, nevermind!

[matcom]

22. ding, ding, ding....

TAKE ME NOW! :7

[Shell Beau]

23. Hehehe!

:rofl: See, I just can't be serious! :7

[matcom]

25. i speak Spanish too!

it's a "ROMANCE" language you know

it'll make you HOT HOT HOT!! :bounce:

[Shell Beau]

26. It's French that gets me all hot and bothered!

;)

[matcom]

27. shit

all i know is "âne gentil"

[Shell Beau]

28. Too bad I don't know what that means!

When I tried to look it up, I kept getting
Did you mean "and genital"? :shrug:


:rofl:

[matcom]

29. close

"Nice ASS" :P



but if this were SPANISH....

:P

[Shell Beau]

30. You would know "nice ass" in French!

:rofl: Yeah, Spanish... Hmm! :P

[matcom]

31. i can make love to you in spanish

in MULTIPLE phrases :bounce:

[Shell Beau]

32. Of course, but you probably don't know the basic words!

:rofl: You know all the dirty stuff!! :evilgrin:

[matcom]

33. i learn for the children

:bounce:

[Shell Beau]

34. I know you do!!

You really deserve some kind of award! Teacher of the year or something!

:silly:

[matcom]

35. IT'S A MAJOR AWARD!!

[Celeborn Skywalker]

14. Aren't most of the Latinos in Miami white, too?

I thought Miami was largely Cuban-American (most of whom are white).

And no, I wouldn't say you suffered from discrimination. It's just cultural differences.

[GalleryGod]

16. Miami: America's Casablanca

First of all you were in Hialeah! You might as well have been on Calle Ocho and the Wedding reception at Versailles.

It's a great town....my Miami Days (daze)were some of the best of my life, and yes, if you are "Anglo" you are in a minority:wow:

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

17. We have Spanish speaking whites too, you know. n/t

[Awsi Dooger]

20. I'll be there in a month and I'll love it

My old home town. I can find more variety there in an hour than in a month of this hellhole of Las Vegas. Unless you count mountains. Yeah, Miami needs some imported peaks. My favorite golf course is finally supposed to reopen in a few weeks, out of commission since Katrina in mid-August. Green fees in Miami are 1/4 that of Nevada for comparable courses.

Admittedly I don't need directions there. And Hialeah is an increasingly Hispanic and depressed area. That's one of the reasons glorious Hialeah Race Track lost attendance and sadly closed.

But I've never found Miami to be frustrating unless you count the traffic conditions in some of the southwest suburbs, where road expansion has hardly kept pace with population growth and needs. Like SoCalDem says, cruise at night and you'll love it, on the causeways toward the Beach or Key Biscayne.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

36. Miami's a great city

Definitely my favorite place to vacation!

[Ikonoklast]

24. I was in Miami last week

making a delivery. It is just like visiting a different country, only that it is still connected to the mainland US. It does help if you can speak a little Spanish, which I do oh, so badly. In my business, it helps to be able to at least have a basic understanding of Spanish so as to be able to communicate with dock personnel. I sometimes have a harder time understanding someone with a deep Southern drawl, though.

I am not sure as to not being able to get directions can make one a racist, unless you were asking directions to the local White Supremacy Meeting.:silly: