Press 1 For English: Is America Destined To Become A Multilingual Nation?

Endoftheamericandream.com  (Part I of II)

The quickest way to divide people is to have them speak different languages.  America has always been a nation of immigrants, but one of the things that has always united us as a nation has been the English language.  In the past, it was always understood that if you wanted to thrive in the "land of opportunity" that you had better learn English and learn it well.  Unfortunately, times have changed. 

Today, many radical activist groups are actually referring to the English language as a "tool of oppression" and are demanding that special accommodations be made for those that do not wish to learn the English language.  But what languages are we supposed to accommodate?  Overall, there are 325 different languages spoken at home in the United States today.  So which of those languages should receive special treatment?  How far are we really going to take all of this? 

Someday, instead of your telephone telling you to "press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish", it may tell you to "press 323 for Italian, 324 for Arabic or 325 for English".  Yes, that is kind of a ridiculous example, but we really should examine where all of this is headed.  Is America destined to become a multilingual nation where we all struggle to understand one another?

This debate can become very heated.  The first thing that both sides should acknowledge is that everyone deserves to be loved and respected no matter where they are from and no matter what the color of their skin is.  If someone speaks English that does not make that person better than someone who speaks Spanish and vice versa.  Every single person on this planet is extremely valuable no matter where they come from and no matter what language they speak.

And the reality of the matter is that tens of millions of Americans speak Spanish as their primary language today.  All of us have noticed many of the changes that have occurred as a result. If you use an ATM in America today, you will likely have the option to conduct your business in the Spanish language. If you call a customer service hotline, you can "press 1 for English" or "para español oprima dos".

In many areas of California, Texas and Florida some employers have made being bilingual a mandatory requirement for many jobs.  If you apply for those jobs and you do not speak both English and Spanish you can just forget it. Down in Miami, there are large areas of the city where Spanish is actually the primary language.  It is almost like going to a foreign country.

Big retailers in many parts of the country have also hopped on the bandwagon.  The following is a photo sent to me by a reader of the interior of a Home Depot store....There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to be helpful to your customers, but are we eventually going to get to the point where almost everything in America is done in two or more languages?

Increasingly, radical activist groups are deciding that it is not right to expect that immigrants will attempt to assimilate into our culture.  Instead, they are demanding that all of us must be willing to make special accommodations for them.

This whole "political correctness" thing has totally gotten out of control.

According to Marta Jimenez, a lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, "the historical use of English in the United States" has been used as "a tool of oppression". A tool of oppression? Really?

One of the biggest areas where we are seeing this kind of activism is in the education system.  In some areas of America today, Hispanic students are taught most of their subjects in Spanish.  This makes it very difficult for them to successfully integrate with the larger society.

The consequences of not insisting that public school students become proficient in English have been very dramatic at times.  The following example comes from an article by Mauro Mujica....

In May, about 20 percent of the students at Miami Senior High School, where 88 percent of the students speak English as a second language, failed the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) exam, which is required for graduation. The poor results prompted protests and demands for the test to be given in Spanish as well as English. Over 200 students and teachers gathered outside the school waving signs and chanting "No FCAT." A state senator from Miami introduced a bill that would allow the FCAT to be given in Spanish.

Unfortunately, these issues are not going to go away any time soon.  Today, approximately 20 percent of the entire population of the state of California is considered to have limited English proficiency. (Part II Follows)