English: official language?

Can you read this?

When you move to a country, you must learn to speak its language. Or, as President Woodrow Wilson put it, "…while you bring all countries with you, you come with the purpose of leaving all other countries behind you - bringing what is best of their spirit, but not looking over your shoulders and seeking to perpetuate what you intended to leave behind in them."

Despite being a melting pot of cultures, languages and ideologies since its founding, the United States has always been a predominantly English-speaking country. However, unprecedented levels of immigration, both legal and illegal, in conjunction with a movement in favor of bilingual education, has incited a call to make English the country's official language. Currently, 85 percent of the members of the United Nations have an official language - 53 of those countries use English as their official language. Even 30 of our own states have adopted English as their official language. It's about time that Congress stepped in line.

According to the latest U.S. Census data, the number of Americans who do not speak English has risen dramatically in recent years. Over 16 percent of Americans do not speak English in their homes, and over 10 million admitted that they couldn't speak English well at all, which represents an increase of non-English speakers by almost 60 percent since 1990. This influx has led to a call for bilingual ballots and provision of other government services. However, since an English proficiency test is required for naturalization, the provision of bilingual government services can only be seen as a transparent attempt to abet illegal aliens in their subterfuge.

The call for official English is not merely motivated by suspicion or hatred of immigrants, either. Rather, encouraging and requiring immigrants to learn English empowers them in ways that nothing else can. For example, bilingual education has been shown to be less effective at mainstreaming learners of English than teaching English as a second language, which has also led to fewer dropouts. Though there is no argument that ESL is in high demand as a result of the aforementioned immigration of non-English speakers, it is currently a matter of practicality. With English as the official language, it would become a matter of necessity to actively participate in the political process or receive government services.

Furthermore, there is little danger that official English would run afoul of the First Amendment right to free speech. "Abridging the freedom of speech" would require Congress to prohibit the use of certain languages by individuals. Far from such an egregious violation, official English would only mandate that the official business of the United States government must be conducted in English.

Likewise, federalism concerns do not warrant the rejection of official English. Co-sovereigns such as many American Indian tribes would be free to conduct their affairs in any language they choose. However, any relationship with the government of the United States would be conducted in English. As for the states, they would still be free to conduct business in other languages under the purview of their police powers to regulate for the public health, safety, welfare and morals.

We should encourage and require those who seek freedom and a better life in America to empower themselves by learning English, and to stop looking over their shoulders at what they left behind. As Alexis de Tocqueville said, "The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite mankind."

As Americans, we are united by the strength and durability of the English language. It's time we made it official.

Chase Espy is a first-year law student. Moral Kombat runs biweekly on Thursdays.

Puede leer esto? Bien

When you move to a country, you must learn to speak its language. As President Woodrow Wilson put it, "…while you bring all countries with you, you come with the purpose of leaving all other countries behind you - bringing what is best of their spirit, but not looking over your shoulders and seeking to perpetuate what you intended to leave behind in them."

The flaw with this line of reasoning, however, is revealed by simple arithmetic: there are 7,000 living languages in the world but only 200 countries. Multilingualism is a way of life for most people in the world today just as it has been for most societies throughout history. The "one country, one language" approach has never really worked for any nation larger than a city-state. And while globalization hasn't created this situation, it has certainly magnified it.

But America is different: we only speak English here, don't we? Not quite. Ignoring, for the moment, the hundreds of surviving native languages of the United States, English has always shared the spotlight with other languages in these United States. Louisiana French, Pennsylvania Dutch, Gullah/Geechee and several uniquely American varieties of Spanish have been used by unbroken speech communities for centuries; Spanish and French predate English in most of the United States, including Alabama. Even today, the United States is home to more Spanish speakers than Peru or Venezuela. There are seven states in which over a quarter of the population use a language other than English in the home.

The societal clout in the United States is simply too great for anybody to ignore, which is why 60 percent of immigrants and 90 percent of their children speak English within 10 years of immigration. In fact, the industry devoted to teaching adults English as a Second Language is in a minor crisis at the moment because the demand for ESL instruction far outstrips the classroom space available. Linguist Geoff Pullum has remarked that "making English the official language of the United States of America is about as urgently called for as making hotdogs the official food at baseball games."

Actually, it's always been this way. English has emerged as the de facto language of public life in America without any governmental meddling. Not that they haven't tried: Congress has often debated the possibility of an official state language for centuries, but all such legislation has routinely failed. When state legislatures have taken it upon themselves to institute an official state language, it has not always met with success. The Supreme Courts of both Alaska and Arizona have overturned their states' official English bills on constitutional grounds. The First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech has traditionally been interpreted to include the freedom to choose what language to speak.

And speaking of state governments, it is important to note that six states afford legal recognition to languages other than English, additionally, several sovereign tribes including the Cherokee, Navajo and Choctaw nations - the most populous Native American tribes - officially recognize their traditional languages. To designate a single official national language would infringe on the sovereignty of these political units and violate the federal character of this nation.

We should encourage those who seek freedom and a better America to not disenfranchise themselves or others by limiting their linguistic freedom, and to not look over their neighbors' shoulders at what they've brought with them. As Alexis de Tocqueville said, "The tie of language is perhaps the strongest and the most durable that can unite mankind." As Americans, we are united by the strength and durability of our devotion to freedom. We've even made it official.

Karl Sarvestani is a senior in New College. Moral Kombat runs biweekly on Thursdays.