Don't Speak The Enemy's Language

This poster cautioned immigrants from three countries not to speak their native language, because it was “the enemy’s language.” It urged them to “speak American,” and in response, many stores in Italian neighborhoods hung signs announcing that ‘No Italian was spoken.’ This stigma on one’s native tongue had numerous effects, one of which was that the Italian language was often shunned by the children of immigrants, many Italian newspapers were closed, and it was removed, for many years, from the curricula of American high schools.