A post by Pat
Voters in Nashville, TN are voting today on making English the only language used for government business. The proposal reads:
Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language.
US city votes on English-only law
The southern US city of Nashville is holding a referendum on whether to ban the use of all languages apart from English in local government business.
If passed, Nashville would become the largest US city to take such a step.
Supporters say it would save thousands of dollars in translation fees, and provide an incentive to learn English.
However, critics argue that it would discriminate against the nearly 60,000 immigrants in the city who do not speak English as their first language.
They say the move could stop people who cannot read or write English from seeking vital help from social welfare agencies run by the city authorities.
Nashville has a big Hispanic population, and the largest community of Kurdish Americans in the US – about 11,000 – as well as immigrants from South East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
What is the legal status of those 60,000 immigrants? If they’re here illegally they should be deported not catered to. If they’re here legally they should start learning English. There are a lot of different languages in that hodgepodge population.
We are constantly reminded we are a nation of immigrants. Let’s also remember our ancestors endeavored to learn English as quickly as possible. They wanted to fit in and be Americans. It was their pride and their glory. We can be patient and helpful to a certain extent to legal immigrants as they learn. We want to remain a nation of immigrants, not a collection of immigrants.
Press “1” if you want to be an American. Press “2” if you want to go home. That’s the choice.
*UPDATE Jan. 23: The proposal was rejected by the voters. It is an invitation for chaos. The arguments against the proposal were strictly emotional. There is nothing discriminatory in maintaining orderliness in government business. Now how many languages will Nashville be required to accommodate?
I concur completely Pat. From Obama’s perspective I am sure he would prefer Nashville to be a sanctuary city ( you may recall he attempted to trump John McCain’s legislation, which was nothing more than “blanket amnesty”, by drafting and submitting his own version, repleat with similar provisions).
YES! Pat. I am told that the City of Los Angeles began this nonsense by having official city documments translated into seven different languages. A simple act of convenience then became law, and now the thousands of city doccuments are available in 69 languages and counting. So the burden of not understanding the local lingo shifts to the government. If you go to Mexico and need to fill out government docs, you need to go to a local lawyer and certify that you were fully informed about the spanish language doccument you signed. (You better bring your own interpretor as an anti-fleece agent.)
We are a country of immigrants and all of us learned English up until this nonsense of catering to everyone instead of our own citizens started under the failed administration of the impeached w j clinton. I can’t go to a store and see product information with English text facing out because the migrant (illegal?) workers always fill the shelves with spanish lables visible. If migrants want to be Americans, they should adopt the language and our culture. And go home if they don’t become citizens within an alloted five years of legal guest status. We, as a nation, should be particularly sensitive to the ruses of our fine neighbors to the south and use the same set of rules – one language – PERIOD!
my parents are first generation immigrants.
I live in Los Angeles.
I press 1.
LEARN ENGLISH, PEOPLE!
GOOD.
so much for that, the AP reports that it’s been defeated 57-43.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090123/ap_on_re_us/nashville_english_first
i don’t understand what is so wrong with english only. unbelievable.
This is America. English is the language of this country. Learn it. Speak it. Deal with it. Do the French or the Italians translate everything into 6 different languages for people? No. . .you are in France permanently, you learn to communicate in French. There’s none of the “press 1 for French. Press 2 for Spanish. Press 3 for. . .” America is not your home away from home. If you have legally immigrated to America, our laws are now your laws and you have to abide by them, whether they are the same as those of the “old country” or not. English is now your language because it is the language native to THIS country. You want the language and laws of your old country, go back to your old country. You came to this country because you thought the laws and the attitude of this country offered you more freedom and a better life than the laws of your old country, so quit trying to make this country over into your old one!
Come on Tammy, we both live in Los Angeles. I live in San Pedro and all one has to do to see the numeric language chaos is to apply for a drivers license. The local DMV have to print in dozens of languages. It’s ridiculous. I wonder how much this additional paper work costs the State. Anyone from the Left Coast have any idea?
For a moment there I was considering moving to Nashville (I have friends who moved out to Huntsville a year ago, and a hockey team was an added bonus) but scratch that idea. Does this mean that Nashville is home to El Opreador Grande (sorry a very bad spanglish conversion)? I mean if all civic functions have to be irrationally multilingual, why be rational about the names of landmarks?