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I love hearing people speak a language besides English in public. I love playing a guessing game of what language they're speaking. I have spent a considerable amount of time on a university campus with a healthy international student population. It's really not uncommon to hear people speaking a foreign language at various places around my town, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
One thing that may color my own opinion, though: I am a first-generation American, and I grew up listening to my opa and oma speak Dutch to each other and occasionally to my father.
I have heard people make remarks, certainly, but one thing that I think is important to remember is that those remarks are often made in ignorance. The war over ignorance everywhere will never be won if those fighting it call retreat and move back to places where they are more comfortable. Further, during the fight they might find that they have greater support in their wider community than they first thought. I am pretty sure the mosque in my town did not know how much they were valued as a community resource until my town rallied around them after the firebombing. The pity here is that it took a firebombing to bring that to light.
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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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