City Removes Spanish-Language Census Sign After ‘Angry’ Citizens And Lawmakers Raise A Fuss

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City Removes Spanish-Language Census Sign After ‘Angry’ Citizens And Lawmakers Raise A Fuss

Until recently, downtown Prescott, AZ had two large banners encouraging people to participate in the 2010 Census — one in English and the other in Spanish. However, the Spanish-language banner has been taken down “after at least four dozen citizens and two city council members questioned its appropriateness“:

City of Prescott Executive Assistant Patty Crouse said she also fielded five or 10 calls from people angry about seeing a banner in Spanish near the entrance to the city.

(Council member John) Hanna said he personally didn’t like the sign, either.

“If you’re here in the U.S. and can’t speak English, you need to go home,” Hanna said, especially people who are here illegally. “If you’re counting them…you’re saying you’ll do whatever you can to cater to their needs.” <...>

When The Daily Courier asked about why he was concerned about visitors seeing a sign in Spanish, (Council member Steve) Blair explained, “It would seem like we’re a Spanish community rather than an English community,” and most visitors are not Hispanic.

Blair also tried to insist that he wasn’t being racist. “I have nothing against Spanish people,” said Blair, adding that “many of his wife’s family members are Hispanic.”

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