Philly has become a more open city in the past decade, inching toward cosmopolitan status. You can see evidence of this in the rise of new ethnic neighborhoods in South Philly, Olney and the Northeast. Just sitting in the cafe where I do most of my writing for this blog, Hausbrandt, one hears Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French, Russian and Hebrew on a daily basis. You can see it in all of the businesses being opened by people born outside of this country.
Unfortunately, this post must deal with the complete opposite concept, the perfect encapsulation of the old Philly and the generation that ruined this city. It's the South Philly, Frank Rizzo, us against them mentality, the one that sees only the neighborhood, only cares about those who look like us. It revels in ignorance, wary of anything new and different.
The last vestiges of the old Philadelphia have reared their ugly head again, rising up from the depths of South Philadelphia. Philebrity was the first to report about the new sign that Geno's Steaks owner Joseph Bento put up, which eloquently reads "This is America. When Ordering Speak English." Never has a more perfect example of this backwards, neanderthal Philadelphia come out. I mean, it's a logical reaction to the waves of illegals crossing the Mexican border to taste the delicious scraps of beef and cheese whiz, taking perfectly good sandwiches away from good, hard-working white Americans. Oh wait, it's actually a completely unnecessary action done simply to exclude, to appeal to other white racists. What about tourists come to the city, who have been enticed with the ads run over there and the great media attention of the last 5 years? They don't get served? Or is there a way to distinguish the right non-English speakers and the wrong ones? How about the fact that Vento's own grandfather came here not knowing how to speak English? Should he have been sent back to Italy? If this wasn't so offensive, I would laugh at this pathetic man.
Actually, I think that it's been a blessing, a chance for people just coming here to see how far the city has come, while simultaneously showing those of us who've been here what we don't want to go back to. I'm dead serious about the title of this post, as I hope that everyone will join me in boycotting Geno's for good, head across the street to Pat's Steaks or even better, go to a place that has good cheesesteaks like Tony Luke's or Del'Assandro's. Go visit Geno's and treat it like a museum exhibit, showcasing an ancient, primitive Philadelphia where racism, xenophobia and Mumia Abu Jamal reigned surpreme. For the rest of us, let's look to the forward and not give a penny of support to validate such bigotry.
Philebrity broke this story, and has been far funnier than I could ever hope to be no such an embarrassment. Deborah Leavy wrote a great editorial in the Daily News on this, which sums up my own feelings well and isn't afraid to call Vento out as a racist. Rick Nichols has a piece in today's Inquirer Dining section, which nicely juxtaposes Geno's with the growing number of taquerias and Mexican shops rising around it. The Daily News Editorial Page calls out Vento.
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