In the recent Spanish-language Democratic debate, Dennis Kucinich suggested making Spanish a second official language of the United States. I think this is a bad idea. I believe that perpetuating linguistic divisions is tantamount to a modern-day equivalent to "separate but equal." Instead, I think we should be making every effort to encourage people to learn English, including instituting and funding programs to enable them to do so.
For decades, people came from around the world to live in the United States. They worked hard to build better lives for themselves and their families, and they assimilated into society, adding their cultural uniqueness to ours in the great American melting pot. A big part of that assimilation was learning English. In many immigrant communities (Italian, Polish, German) it wasn't unusual that first-generation Americans couldn't even speak their parents' language anymore. In fact, sometimes parents themselves actively discouraged it. While that may be going too far (I think everyone should speak a second language), it contributed tremendously to a feeling of being American.
Today, immigrants – particularly illegal immigrants – often live in communities where only their native language (and, let's not beat around the bush here, we're usually talking about Spanish) is spoken. This contributes to the feeling, both among immigrants and Americans, that these people are somehow "outsiders." The perpetuation of this "us and them" mentality makes assimilation more difficult. That is unfortunate. The fact is that immigrants add enormously to our society and our economy, and we should be encouraging them.
But we should also be encouraging them to learn English.
I work in a hospital that treats a lot of Hispanic patients. I cannot count the number of times that someone has called the hospital after hours (when there is no interpreter) speaking Spanish, and gotten annoyed when nobody on the unit was able to understand them. To me that is the height of arrogance. Yes, sometimes there is a nurse or doctor available who can speak Spanish. But not always. I would never call a hospital in, say, Argentina and expect the floor staff to speak English. The irony is that it wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption to make, given that nurses and doctors are highly educated people, and many educated people around the world do, in fact, learn English. Still, I would never just take it for granted, and I would make some effort to learn how to say what I needed to say, as well as the likely response, before I called.
Official or not, English is the language of the majority. If I were to move to Germany, I would expect to have to learn German. It not only makes my life easier, but it's just the right thing to do. Why should I expect people in their own country to speak my language?
Americans overwhelmingly favor English. In a 2006 Zogby poll, 84% of respondents believe English should be the official language of the United States. Even more telling, fully 71% of Hispanic respondents favored making English official. Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of US English, said:
"I, like the majority of Hispanics, hold my native language in high regard but understand that English is the language of this country. Hispanics, like all immigrants, are free to speak whatever language we choose, but we do not have the right to demand that the government speak our language. In a land of more than 300 spoken languages, but united by one, it is irrational to consider that we should cherry pick a second language for government business."
To be fair, there are two somewhat separate issues here. One is whether or not English should be the United States' "official" language. The other is whether the learning of English should be actively encouraged, maybe even required, of immigrants. But I believe the two issues have become convoluted in the public mind. When people say they want English as the official language, I think what they are really saying is that if people are going to live here, they should speak English. I don't think that's an unreasonable opinion.
I believe that the United States should be welcoming immigrants. I believe that they contribute incalculably to the economic and social growth of our country. But I also believe that it is the immigrant's job to adapt to his new country, not the other way around.
Update: I altered the title of this diary, taking out the phrase, "As The National Language," because I think I was being misunderstood. I take no position on the issue of whether or not English should be the "official" language. In fact, I think that's a non-issue. Official or unofficial, who cares? It's like saying we're going to make green the "official" color of grass. Official or not, it already is the color.
By a similar token, English is the national language. Not the National language (note the big "N"), but the language of the majority of people in our nation. As such, mastery of English is a useful, maybe even necessary tool for upward mobility within our society. I also happen to think it is incumbent upon immigrants to adapt to the language and culture of their adopted home. But agree or disagree with that opinion, it's difficult to deny that learning English is an incredibly valuable tool for success in most cases.
I believe that we should be allocating more time, more energy, and more resources towards helping immigrants acquire English fluency. I also believe that Americans in general should place greater emphasis on learning foreign languages. Those two positions are not antithetical to one another.