After a determined struggle, on March 2 Atticus Bookstore Café repealed its racist “English only” policy that prohibited workers from speaking in foreign languages within earshot of customers. Faced with the outrage of community members, the owner of the New Haven, Conn., bookstore issued a written apology to the workers and praised them for their ability to speak in multiple languages.
 The racist “English only” policy put in place at Atticus Boosktore was repealed following a determined community struggle. |
The initial policy sent to Atticus employees in November opened, “Here we speak English.” The manager threatened to send employees home for a week without pay and fire them if they were caught speaking Spanish to each other outside of the kitchen. The manager himself, it should be noted, frequently spoke French in the store.
To help organize against management, Atticus workers contacted the New Haven Workers Association and members of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). A letter was distributed to alert the community of the racist policy, and demand that there be “no discrimination against Spanish-speaking employees.” Joe Rodrigues, a local alderman and advocate for immigration rights called the policy “troubling, divisive and discriminatory.”
In late January, the bookstore claimed the policy had been “misunderstood” and would be “reviewed,” but the movement continued. Deb Malatesta, an ANSWER activist and PSL member in New Haven, said that a review “does not go far enough. The intent of the policy posted in the store was explicit and it should be overturned immediately.”
While many workers were afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs, the community displayed outstanding unity in opposition to the English-only policy. Organizers leafletted in front of the store, called for a boycott and initiated a letter-writing and call-in campaign to make clear that the community would not stand for this discriminatory and racist policy. At one point, business was reported to have declined by over 30 percent.
After a little over a month of struggle, the owner issued an apology and repealed the policy.
This was a small but important victory. It shows that there is something we can do about the wave of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies. We can unite and take action.
