God can't speak Spanish

Dora the Explorer just isn't enough. You know, the big-headed Latin cartoon girl who speaks Spanglish to a monkey on Nickelodeon. I love that show (not that I watch it or anything). It teaches little kids to be bilingual, which is great. But what's not so great is that it's just about the only Spanish-language show in Bloomington. And there's a chance this could be a symptom of a language prejudice, the belief that everyone should speak English. \nI think about this every time I go home for the weekend. I find myself lying on the sofa watching the same channels, Telemundo, Univision and Telefutura (the new Spanish-language channel). It's strange because while I was in high school, I never watched those channels. Whenever I did, it was because my parents had control of the TV before I got there. But now that I don't have Spanish-language channels to ignore here in Bloomington, I find myself watching them the entire time I'm home. \nMy parents live in Chesterton, Ind. Even though it's over 96 percent white, it still has three Spanish-language channels, and you don't even need cable to watch two of them. Judging from the five years I've lived there, Chesterton seems to be way more prejudiced than Bloomington: I get looks just walking into the K-mart. But just because you don't see it here doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I have Insight Digital Cable at my apartment but not one Spanish-language channel. My only options are waiting for SCOLA to focus on Spain or bilingual cartoons. \nI'm not trying to knock SCOLA or Dora, but they're about the only Spanish-language TV shows offered in Bloomington. The Indianapolis affiliate of Univision is on the roster of channels in the dorms, but most Spanish speakers don't live in dorms. Can't Insight add one measly Spanish language channel to their cable line-up? The answer is no; you can't even pay more for Spanish channels. The Insight lady just said, "They are not available." There used to be a Spanish language public affairs show every month on WB4 called "Hoy en Dia," but the show recently went off the air.\nPeople, especially children, need TV in their own language. It's good that Latino children watch English shows because it's a great way to learn the language, but they also need Spanish language shows to remind them that knowing Spanish is important, too.\nA friend of mine recently told me about this article published in The Post Tribune of Northwest Indiana this past weekend about how it's important for Latino children to realize that Spanish is an important part of their lives. She said it featured this guy who rejected Spanish at a young age. Apparently at his Catholic gradeschool he said the morning prayer in Spanish until a nun sat him down and told him he better pray in English because God doesn't understand Spanish. After laughing for a minute or two I thought: Wow, that's traumatizing. \nThings like that still go on today. I can't even count all the times I've heard someone say "why can't they learn English." Adults can just brush that kind of thing off and talk about those people in Spanish (just kidding), but kids are vulnerable. \nThat's why there needs to be TV in both languages, so that they can grow up knowing it's okay if they speak both Spanish and English. \nI feel like I was lucky to have those options when I was a kid. I guess children of Latino immigrants in Bloomington are lucky to even have a bilingual show like Dora, but they could still use a little more. So, in the spirit of Dora: Goodbye. Adios.