Irony In Our Nation’s Capital

My sister, my niece and I were entering the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington today behind a man wearing a T-shirt with an anti-immigrant message and the words “No hablo español.”

It seems to me that a white man entering a museum devoted to the history of the original inhabitants of this continent wearing a T-shirt that insults immigrants must have an extremely well-developed sense of irony. Or none at all.

The guy held the door open for me, so I said, of course, “gracias.”

Later that afternoon I thought of that guy again. I was reading names like Jose Ruiz Jr. on the Vietnam War Memorial. I wonder whether Mr. No Hablo stopped by and read all the Hispanic names on that wall.