I thought it was odd when I first heard it. "Please press one to continue in English." What? Then I saw this poster.

I actually agree with the sentiment.  I mean the root language of the phone voice messaging system in the USA isn't Cantonese as far as I know. 

But I am having a problem with the juxtaposition of that statement with the American flag.  The poster conveys an expression of a subtle and sublimal kind of xenophobia that many could find disturbing. 

The fact remains that we are a country composed of men and women from differing national origins and cultures.  But what does the depiction of the flag, associated together with the English language imply?

My grandparents were immigrants.  And they loved their newly adopted country, even if their new home didn't love them so much.  They were deprived of the opportunity to become citizens due to the Naturalization Act of 1790 which denied citizenship to Asian immigrants until the passage of the McCarran Bill of 1952.  The 1920 Alien Land Law prevented them from owning a home in their new country.  They were detained by Executive Order 9066 and unconstitutionally incarcerated as "enemy aliens" during the second World War. 

And yet, they loved America!  They settled down and had their family here.  They sent one son to Cal while the other siblings would root for Stanford during the annual Stanford-Cal football classic.  I doubt that my grandparents understood the nuances of the game, but they were all about Cardinal red, white and Cal blue and gold. 

And they loved the red, white and blue too.

By the time I came along, the 4th of July meant buying the most expensive box of fireworks and, together with our European American neighbors, celebrating their country's day of independence.  My grandpa could barbecue with the best of them!

English?  It wasn't their first language.  But they got by, shopping at the Co-op and at Sears on San Antonio Road and El Camino Real in Los Altos.  They conversed and interacted with their English speaking employers and neighbors.  But did their lack of English proficiency equate to a lack of pride in their adopted homeland?  Or should they be considered unpatriotic or un-American because English was their second language.  I don't think so.

Yes.  It's irritating and annoying to have the "press one for English" option in America.  But let's not feel like we need to raise a flag over it.