Reminds me of post WWI legislation

Reader comment on: Should Politicians Speak Spanish?
in response to reader comment: Not comparable

Submitted by Lyle (United States), Sep 3, 2015 18:41

In WI after WWI a law was passed making the teaching of german in schools illegal. On a more broad topic, speaking german after 1917 was politically incorrect. Or to give another example: one of my great grand fathers was born in germany in the late 1850s and came to the us in 1861 (thru New Orleans), in 1917 they went thru the court house records and published a list of those who had not gotten their second papers and thus citizenship. My Great Grandfather had his door painted yellow at the time. Also a lot of german newpapers ceased publication when (I suspect no records exist) that their owners were told there could be a fire if they kept publishing. Also part of prohibition was that the germans drank a lot of beer and so needed to be put in their place.

Even before WWI my two uncles were called the little german boys because my grandparents on that side spoke german in the home (church was also in german).


Note: Comments are moderated by the editor and are subject to editing.

Submit a comment on this article

Other reader comments on this item

Title By Date
Language [62 words]Lougjr1Sep 4, 2015 22:06
Trump's Good Advice [152 words]BobSep 4, 2015 00:42
Not comparable [34 words]Jim BowmanSep 3, 2015 17:49
⇒ Reminds me of post WWI legislation [171 words]LyleSep 3, 2015 18:41
Lincoln and German Campaigning [28 words]LyleSep 3, 2015 18:44
Ira - Time to stop obsessing over Trump [48 words]EriKSep 3, 2015 08:17

Comment on this item

Mark my comment as a response to Reminds me of post WWI legislation by Lyle

Email me if someone replies to my comment

Note: Comments are moderated by the editor and are subject to editing.