Rare News Desk
Some people were outraged by the “America the Beautiful” Coca-Cola ad that aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday, taking to social media to express what many considered racist or bigoted views.
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The commercial featured the non-official American anthem being sung in different languages, reflecting cultural and linguistic diversity in the United States. The hashtag #SpeakAmerican immediately began trending on Twitter after the commercial aired.
This multilingual and multicultural commercial obviously made a lot of people mad.
But who?
Who, exactly, in the year 2014, is thrown into a fit of rage over hearing an American song sung in a language other than English?
A 2011 Pew Research Center poll showed how youth attitudes toward immigrants and multiculturalism differed from older generations:
The greater acceptance of diversity among young people extends to views of immigrants and immigration. Overall, about half of the public (52%) says newcomers from other countries strengthen American society, while 39% say they threaten traditional American customs and values.
By a wide margin (69% to 27%), Millennials say newcomers strengthen American society, and most Xers (55%) share this view. Older generations are more divided: Boomers and Silents are about as likely to say newcomers threaten traditional American customs and values as to say they strengthen society.
A Gallup poll in August showed that while most Americans believe immigrants should learn English, the younger you skew the more multilingual the country becomes.
When Gallup asked if people spoke a second language well enough to hold a conversation, 52 percent of 18-29 year olds said yes. 36 percent of 30-49 year olds responded the same, but only 27 percent of 50-64 year olds and just 21 percent of those 65 and older.
These trends have been steady for some time. A Tufts University poll taken in 2002 showed that, “60 percent of 15-25 year olds agreed with the statement ‘Immigrants today strengthen our country because of their hard work,’ compared to 51 percent of 26-37 year-olds, 49 percent of 38-56 year-olds and 42 percent of those 57 and over.”
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