Language Bill (culture/politics))
Drop language bill
www.muskogeephoenix.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/OPINION/60530004/1014We should have pride in our country and in the things that make us
Americans, including our common language. But America has never been a
country in which only English has been spoken, so it’s with regret that
the Senate passed a bill earlier this month proclaiming English the
national language.
The Senate measure, which was approved 63 to 34, wants to “preserve and
enhance” the role of English by restricting federal communications or
services to English without altering current laws that require some
documents and services in other languages. ??We don’t need a language
law, though, for a few good reasons. ??For one, English is the
predominant language in the United States, and nothing in more than 200
years of nationhood has threatened its unofficial status. Up until the
1980s, few even thought about the need for a national language
declaration.??The proposal, if it becomes law, also is an affront to
this country’s diversity.??Many Native Americans still speak their
native languages. They are proud of their languages, as they should be,
and it doesn’t make someone less of an American if they do not speak
English.??But the simple fact of the matter is that most people
naturally will assimilate and lose their native language, and if not
them, their children. Again, that’s something that has been happening
throughout our history and is happening right now at a rate greater than
ever. ??But English-only supporters raise unfounded fears that somehow
things are different today and English will be squeezed out of
existence. It won’t, even given the diverse world we live in. Just
because the merchandise signs at Lowe’s are in English and Spanish and
product assembly instructions are printed in four or five languages, it
does not mean suddenly the Senate will become bilingual.??And lastly,
opponents to the national language bill are correct — if made law, the
Senate’s bill could eventually negate executive orders, regulations,
civil service guidances and other multilingual ordinances not officially
sanctioned by acts of Congress.??We are and have been a big country, big
enough to accommodate many people with many ideas and languages. Their
presence doesn’t affect the status of English — it never has — but the
Senate’s national language bill does make us look small-minded.
Originally published May 31, 2006