There seem to be two major schools of thought regarding the official appointment of Spanish as an official language of the United States. The first supports such action, citing a large Hispanic-American population. The second opposes it, stating that English should be the only official language of the United States. A third would sanction the addition of Spanish as a secondary official language, but only if English remains the PRIMARY language of the US.
I am getting sick of this debate. The sudden wave of nativism and anti-immigrant sentiments that is sweeping the nation is probably a result of the increased immigration from Latin American countries (okay, Mexico). Similar increases in nativism occurred during the 1840's, when Irish and German immigrants were flooding into the country and poisoning the good American people with their immoral whiskey, beer, and Catholicism. During the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the US was fed up with the high numbers of Asian immigrants and thus began to limit immigration. Thus, racism (towards foreigners) often stems from high levels of immigration from a certain region or country.
I don't see the big deal about making Spanish an official US language. Many countries have English as an official language, thus nullifying the statement, "This is AMERICA, and here we speak ENGLISH!" I find that phrase rather amusing, actually. It's not like people say, "This is AMERICA, and we speak AMERICAN!" Suddenly, people want to remember that this country was founded by Britons, never mind that we had a war to get away from Britain shortly thereafter. It doesn't matter what language the founders of your nation spoke, it matters what language(s) your nation's populace speaks as of right now. I don't want every single printed form and/or TV or Radio broadcast to be bilingual, because not as many people speak Spanish as English and it wouldn't be as widely understood as English.
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isn't it? How there can be such a seemingly huge issue although no one ever really seems to care?
I agree with you, I'm sick of it too, but I would be fascinated at the transformation of our nation if we became bilingual. I guess I don't see why it would hurt.
Learning more than one language is a major goal of mine, and with the "support" of the government and our country, I think thousands more would be wiling to learn as well.
Latino's make up a grand minority in the American public. Why would we switch our language to theirs?
English is the predominant language in modern America, and therefore if ANY language should be made official, it should be English.
Your argument would be the same as me saying that if alot of Americans fled to Dubai, then we should change their language to English as well. There is no reason and no justification to do this.
I think English is already our official language. And it is currently spoken by most of our population, which is why I think it should remain an official language.
~Violinstef
The Senate passed a bill in 2006 that would have made English official, but I believe the House never got around to it. Some states have passed English-only laws, but I think that's the closest we get to an official national language.
I could be wrong, but that was all I could find on the matter.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Actually, I have a friend from Dubai, and they have been required to learn English since Elementry school. And, if I remember right, she speaks a lot of english at home, although she is Indian by birthplace as well as ancestry. So Making Spanish an official languege isn't such a rediculous languege, when you consider 19 countries have it as an official languege, and most countries require students to be fluent in as many as three langueges. And yet, most red-blooded americans don't even speak one languege correctly.
Agreed - and it's important to note that everything wouldn't be bilingual. For example, Maine is about as white as a polar bear in a snow storm, so I don't think there would be many Spanish road signs up there. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, parts of California, and some other Southern states would probably benefit a lot from Spanish becoming the country's second language.
America has always been a melting pot of different cultures and languages, and I don't see why our English-speaking predecessors should be any more important or exalted than our Spanish speaking ones (or any other languages, for that matter)
Just to play devil's advocate, I live in Tucson, Arizona (very close to the boarder) and Spanish is not a necessity at all. It's helpful for business owners, but the lay man has no real reason to have to speak it.
I don't necissarily think that Spanish, or any language other than English, should be made an official language, but I do heavily support requiring a second language in schools (at least a second). Americans are at a serious disadvantage in the global community if we rely solely on English, and we should be ashamed of ourselves for not putting forth the effort to understand other people and other cultures.
English should be our official language. It is not only the most important language in the world, it is the greatest language the human race has ever developed. We're lucky to be English speakers. It is the language that elevates people. English was the language of Shakespeare. It was the language that the Declaration Of Independence & the Constitution were written in. English speakers deserve the majority of the credit for saving the world during the 20th century from Nazism, Japanese imperialism & Communism. We've also taken the lead in the fight against Islamic fundamentalism. English speakers made the United States what it is today. If this country had been founded by the French, Portuguese or Spanish, America would be like Quebec, Brazil or Mexico (and we wouldn't have an illegal immigration crisis).
America's system of government is supposed to allow for rule by the majority with the rights of the minority protected by the Constitution.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion but you are in a tiny minority. English as the only official language enjoys the support of about 80% of the American people and is perhaps the only issue where such a broad majority of Americans of differing political perspective agree.
There is nothing in the Constitution regarding language so this is one of those areas where the majority of the people should be free to implement laws as they wish. English should be our official language and it has been elected Democrats who have continually thwarrted the will of the vast majority of Americans, including most democrats, on this issue.
Actually, the Hispanic Caucus in Congress fights every effort to make English our official language.