CUSTOM METAL SIGN LANGUAGE

Signs point towards a cultural shift in America today.

One of the major news stories today, whether it be on the Internet, in the newspaper or on television, involves immigration reform. Immigration reform is a subject that many people feel passionately about because a major portion of America’s population is now Hispanic. Some believe that people, regardless of their citizenship, should be afforded basic human rights such as the ability to have a family and emergency health care; others, meanwhile, believe that illegal immigration is out of control and that legal citizens are exploited when their tax dollars pay to fund programs that serve undocumented people. Also, since Latino Americans primarily speak Spanish and America does not have an official language, many folks believe that soon more Americans will speak Spanish than English, the traditional language of the US. This is problematic because it creates a divide amongst citizens.

The controversy in Arizona.

Though immigration reform has been discussed in Congress for years, the first substantial effort towards regulation has just recently occurred in Arizona, where the Governor of the state signed a bill that allows police officers to demand official documentation of citizenship from any person whom the officers deem suspicious. Some have lauded the efforts of the Arizona government to crack down on illegal immigration, while others believe that this new bill gives law enforcement too much power and violates civil rights. Regardless of your opinion on immigration, America is without a doubt undergoing a major cultural shift.

Road signs lead the way.

I have been reading the newspaper and following major news stories since I was young, so I’ve known about the immigration reform debate for a long time. I remember being just eight years old when I first realized that America’s Hispanic population was growing. I grew up in a small city on the East Coast with a three hour drive between myself and the nearest major city. Needless to say, I was not on the front lines of the changing face of America. In fact, I was not even in my hometown when I made the realization that there was a large population of Spanish speaking people in the United States. I was on vacation in Florida and I remember seeing a metal sign on the side of the road. The metal sign said “Rest Stop Ahead” in English on the first line, and it said the same phrase in Spanish on the second line. I am a pretty observant person so this experience caught my eye and forced me to pay attention to other metal signage while in Florida.

Custom metal signs raise the eyebrows.

Soon I started seeing metal business signs written in Spanish, too! I don’t just mean the metal business sign for McDonald’s or some other major corporation trying to maintain a politically correct image. I saw CUSTOM business signs written in Spanish! These custom metal signs always included an English translation of whatever was being advertised, usually some kind of promotion for a small business. For some reason, the fact that small businesses were advertising in Spanish on metal signs really made me recognize for the first time that America is a melting pot of different cultures.

Custom metal signs are a cultural barometer.

Language reflects culture. Since we live in a free society where we can say what we want, most of the time, without penalty, businesses must be able to reach their target audience in the language of that audience. As I learned on my vacation, a large segment of the Florida population speaks Spanish. Therefore, the businesses advertised in Spanish using custom metal signs. Custom metal signs signal cultural shifts and will continue to do so forever.

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