Commissioner tells Latina Judge to "Speak English"- Sydney Ewing

Texas county commissioner Mark Tice has apologized for saying that Lina Hidalgo, the first Latina and first woman judge elected to head Harris County, should “speak English” after she spoke in English and Spanish at a news conference. He also posted comments saying that Hidalgo was “a joke,” and also saying, “It’s real simple. This is the United States. Speak English.” Judge Hidalgo had been addressing reporters from both English and Spanish language media outlets during a press conference. Tice has apologized in a Facebook post saying, “From my understanding, there were reporters asking questions in Spanish and Judge Hidalgo responded to those questions in Spanish, with no translation given. If that is not the case, then I sincerely apologize.” Tice also said that he apologizes to “Judge Hidalgo, the citizens of my County, and most importantly the entire Hispanic community for hastily acting out with transgression on social media.”

I had first heard about this story yesterday and I am glad that Tice has apologized for his comment so hastily. Harris county is Texas’ most populous county and it includes the Houston area. I have no idea how Tice didn't think that that comment would get him any backlash, especially since that same comment is very stereotypical among conservative southerners and is often satirized. This exact same comment has been made towards Hispanics for several years now. Also, maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but the whole “saying something offensive on social media and then apologizing on social media” thing doesn't really convince me. An apology on Facebook doesn't really seem as sincere to me. History can tell us that political leaders need to watch what they say. Just look at the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Just... proofread your posts, kids.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna987996