The US has never had an official language. For centuries, there have been Spanish-speakers (Florida), French-speakers (Louisiana), English-speakers, and any number of different languages by Native Americans.
People up to now have recognized that this trend never went away -- indeed, it became more prevalent. When first-generation immigrants come from any country (Somalia, Poland, Mexico, China) they usually are not all that versed in English; part of the charm of certain neighborhoods is the chatter of a foreign language, making the neighborhood seem 'more authentic'.
But now, the Senate has decided all of that is bunk. They have attached a provision to their immigration bill that declares English as our national language.
The First Amendment makes no mention of English as the only language we are free to speak in. It never says that all government documents should be in English. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that. If people would be better served by having documents in their birth-language, why would the government oppose that?
Luckily, the proposed law may seem to have more symbolic effect than actual effect.
But its author, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), made two last-minute changes that some opponents said would reduce its effect significantly. By stipulating that the English-only mandates could not negate existing laws, Inhofe spared current ordinances that allow bilingual education or multilingual ballots. By changing the amendment to label English the "national language" rather than the "official language" of the country, Inhofe may have lessened its symbolic power.
The War on Mexicans continues.
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I just watched the news and heard that, wow!
I saw an article about this on CNN this morning and it is very interesting.
http://www.progressiveu.org/171632-health-insurance
I am really afraid for this country we are making some hapless decisions lately that are not well thought out AT ALL. American's don't even speak good English, why are we singling out the immigrants. Land of the free my butt!
http://www.progressiveu.org/174004-greed
They do not even speak English well. Unbelievable.
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."-C.S. Lewis
I thought the whole idea of this country was that it was a big mixing bowl.
I guess the melting pot has cooled off....
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/whitejabberwocky
Hey, every country has their "national language". Why not us?
If we go to other countries we speak their language if we plan to live there. European countries require their students to learn english, but they still have a language for their country. So should America. Come to this country and speak english. The founder's of this great country spoke english. Land of the free does not entail speaking any language you happen to know. If someone is so proud to live in America or so oppressed by their native country that they seek refuge here then be proud enough to speak english.
So you're saying only those who speak english deserve to live in America?
And you could pretty well survive living in a European nation with no knowledge of their language.
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There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but the founding fathers were as well versed in German as they were in English. This English-only doctrine didn't come about until after WWI when we got all isolationist. So don't talk about being proud of not being able to speak more than one language, please.
If we make English the official language, we HAVE to provide better systems for teaching immigrants English. We can't go back on everything we've ever said and expect people to be able to adapt in no time at all.
English as an official language is just disgusting, anyways. I'm so glad I'm leaving the country after college so I can go to someplace where I can actually HELP instead of be ignored as one of the masses.
"Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil."-C.S. Lewis
We do need to provide more opportunities to learn english.
Actually my understanding is that you must speak english to be a US citizen.
Should the majority bow down to the rest and learn all the languages of everyone from a different country? Is it not easier for those coming to our country to adapt to our way of life, as far as language is concerned?
Most people coming to this country legally, want to learn the language of our forefathers, which was english.
the language of my forefathers was Spanish.
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There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
English should be the official language and immigrants should have to learn it if they want to be here. If they really want to be a part of this country, they would.
Every other country has a national language. Why shouldn't the United States? Do you know how many languages there are in existence? I certainly don't, but it must be hundreds. To have every legal document translated into that many languages would cost a fortune.
For so long we haven't had an official language for the whole asethic purpose of being a "melting pot" But... the idea is ridiculous. There is no patriotism in the majority of these immigrants, especially the illegals. They come here and work for a while, then take all their untaxed money back home to live it high. Ask one of them next time you see one the street, what is your nationality? Soy Mexico!
They're the #1 minority now, and Its really jerking my chain lately how everyone wants to bow to their wishes and embrace a culture that could care less about your prized America. That's where the money is, and that's all that matters.
The melting pot idea is good in theory, but that's where it ends.
We need to stop immigrants from entering the US. If we don't we're eventually going to lose too much money. Like were not already in enough dept as it is.
As of now, the official language of Arizona is English. I'm not against people speaking their native language. What I am against is people who come to this country and don't bother learning the language. I might sound weird, but there are people who live here for 20 years, and all they know is yes and no. I would never disrespect the country I live and I get benefits from by not even bothering learning the language the majority of the people speak.
I think it is a good idea. It might encourage people who speak other langs to teach their kids english, so that they can do better in school and have a better future. Also, test scores might go up which means that summer could go back to being 3 months. everything is interrelated
I think America should have a official language, but this is aparently "the land of the free". We have the freedom to do whatever we want. We are not liminted to only speaking English. But if people should speak it if they are here!
This is America!!! I love my country, I was born here in the U.S, but I was raised in Mexico. My first language is Spanish, and my second English. So, why can't I speak both?? Why can't they both be my official language?? This isn't about the adults anymore, or about our ancestors. It's about us, the children and the teens, we are the future and we should have our opinions and our rights. We can't stop immigration to this country because this country offers opportunities. It's not about money, it's about freedom, it's about being human and knowing that we should live to worry about making a difference, a difference that makes sense, not about what we speak. If this country is really free, we should all speak what we want, and we should respect it. God bless our world.