The Geno's Imbroglio

Perhaps you may have heard of this.

Order in English only. That's the new rule at one of south Philly's most famous cheesesteak places and it is cooking up a lot of controversy.

Geno's Steak owner, Joey Vento, has really touched a nerve with a little sign on his cheesesteak stand that says, "This is America. When Ordering Speak English." Vento has been getting calls from all over the country.

"We got troops (that are) getting blown up, and here we've got this big, bad Joey Vento who's got the audacity to try to teach people to speak English in America where the language is English and if you don't know it, you're not going anywhere," Vento told NBC 10 News.

So, what happens to a customer who cannot or will not speak English?

"The bottom line is no one has ever been refused," Vento said.

Vento said his workers are happy to help non-native speakers and haven't turned anyone away.

First off, Geno's and it's neighbor across the street Pat's are the famous cheesesteak vendors in Philadelphia. Nevermind that they both suck. Real fans of the steak sandwich go to Tony Luke's on Oregon Ave under I-95.

Anyway... Here's an entreprenuer, Joey Vento, who decides to run his sandwich shop the way he sees fit. And there's an outrage?

Actually it's more of a "losing your mind."

For example, YoungPhillyPolitics.

Some would say, a cheesesteak is not a constitutionally protected right, therefore, being denied one really does not mean anything. But, in reality, it is so much more important than that. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the "CRA") makes it so. According to the CRA, "[a]ll persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin." 42 U.S.C.S. Sec. 2000a(a). It could be credibly argued that language is an indicia of national origin. Some people only speak Spanish, Cambodian or Chinese. To deny them the ability to order food based on their language necessarily relates to their national origin. In my mind, this is paramount to discrimination. Also, the racial classification of "Latino" could be implicated in terms of this language dispute.

Yeah. Civil rights. It's a good thing all the real civil rights problems in this country have been solved that we can worry about 8000 calorie paper wrapped heart attacks.

Phillyfuture.org has a round up of local links AND says this.

This is sad and infuriating at the same time. Not only is there a complete lack of empathy in displaying the sign, there is zero recognition of personal and cultural history.

It's one thing to encourage and help immigrants learn English. It's another thing entirely to forget where you came from and take some stand that spits on it.

I can't help feel that the sign was put up for false reasons. That no one can be that hypocritical. That this is a publicity stunt and now we're all taking the bait. Pat's Steaks has been synomonous with Philadelphia cheesesteaks nationally. Now Geno's enters the national consciousness - for entirely the wrong reasons.

There are children dieing in the streets from gun violence seemingly every day in Philadelphia. This kind of story is a distraction from the real problems the city faces and can even serve to re-ignite racial tensions.

So there is only one way to say this...

Shame on Genos. Shame on them.

Of course both posts miss the point that at Geno's you still get your steak. You just have to order it in English.

Blonde Sagacity writes...

Vento says that his grandparents came from Italy and though they may not have spoken perfect English --they made an attempt to learn the language...

(Notice: the sign under the order counter is of Daniel Faulkner -the police officer that was murdered by Mumia Abu-Jamal)

Ya know, I might go get some Geno's today...

I mentioned that Geno's main competitor is Pat's - "the King of Steaks". It's directly across the street. In the country I remember, Pat's would have a put up a "Se Habla Espanol" sign up and Geno's sign would end up coming down. And really, I wonder how many customers this would have really affected anyway.

At the end of the day, it's his store. If he wants to alienate (pun intended) non-English speaking customers who insist on ordering steaks in __________, that it certainly his right.

Let Them Eat Cake Posted by AlexC at June 9, 2006 8:43 PM