Woman told to stop speaking Spanish in her retirement home
The director of a Salvation Army low-income senior living complex in Houston has been fired, after sending a letter to a Spanish-speaking resident, telling her to not use her native language in her own residence.
Katherine Hernandez moved into the Salvation Army of Greater Houston retirement community four years ago and told Houston news station KTRK that she’s always been vocal to management about the way that residents are treated, often writing letters to voice complaints. Still, she could never have imagined that she’d receive a response quite like the one she got recently where a manager told Hernandez that it is “rude” and “grossly unfair” that she speaks Spanish in the retirement community complex’s lobby.
“The United States of America is an English-speaking country and those who come to the United States or are born here should learn to speak the language,” the letter from William Booth Garden Apartments Director Mary McElhannon read.
The letter went on to say that non-Spanish speakers have felt “offended” and “left out” by conversations that they cannot understand. Now, Hernandez is not only defending herself by saying that she has never excluded anybody in the home, but is also left wondering why she has to surrender her own rights.
The Salvation Army USA has since confirmed to Yahoo Lifestyle that McElhannon is no longer an employee. A spokesperson provided the following statement:
“The Salvation Army is dedicated to creating safe and uplifting environments for our residents and does not tolerate discriminatory remarks or actions. Upon learning of inappropriate language used in communication from one of our employees to a William Booth Garden resident, we immediately investigated. The employee in question is no longer a Salvation Army employee. We are reaching out to the resident and will work to ensure that she and all residents feel comfortable sharing current or future concerns.”
A representative for the Salvation Army of Greater Houston, where Hernandez is located, provided an additional statement to Yahoo Lifestyle assuring that their organization welcomes all languages.
“The Salvation Army of Greater Houston is committed to making sure those we serve feel welcome and meeting the needs of the community without discrimination through a wide range of programs and services,” the statement reads. “The Salvation Army allows all languages and has some operations that are 100% Spanish – all relative to the first language of the program participants.”
Still, Hernandez is upset that she’s facing this kind of discrimination at this stage in her life.
“This is our last years,” she told KTRK. “This is gonna be my last home, and if I have to fight for what’s left of the rest of my life, I don’t want to live like this.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
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• Substitute teacher banned from district after allegedly making racist comments to students
• Duke professor steps down after asking students to speak English 100% of the time
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