I will be the first to admit that this is filled with hyperbole. Yet, it still is applicable, so I hope you'll stay around for the description.
The whole reason for this is based on a recent discovery about my home country that I never previously known. In 2005 I moved from the US to New Zealand. I knew when I moved that Maori (or Te Reo), the language of our native people, was a second official language. It wasn't until tonight in the news broadcast did I know that sign language was our third official language. As I contemplated this it made me think of the dilemma of the deaf in the US.
The irony, (or perhaps not irony - I'm lacking a better word here) is that language or specifically the non-vocalisation of the non-official language of the US, is one of the primary factors that will lead many to believe that someone is an illegal alien. In other words - if you can't speak English, well than you can't possibly be an American.
I will be the first to say that I find this idea disgusting. My brother in law's mother is an American citizen and doesn't speak English. She came here from El Salvador and has had a very long life of struggles. Her husband, my brother-in-law's father, came here from Mexico. He speaks English, although it is broken and sometimes difficult to understand. My sister and I are from a European-American background, although we have had many relatives marry into Native American Indian families.
The point of all of this is that I fear for my brother-in-laws parents. While all of the family is citizens, and the children all speak English, the parents are not necessarily in the same group. The father speaks broken English and the mother speaks none at all. It may be very easy to say that someone should speak another language, but how are YOU really when it comes to another language?
The point of all of this really came to head tonight while watching the news. While I grew up in the US, I moved to New Zealand 5 years ago - a country that recognises the role that the indigenous culture should play in governance (while not perfectly - there are certainly problems). So in this time in the past 5 years I've always known that Maori was official language - it's very clear in our government document and our evening news broadcasts.
What I didn't know was that NZ sign was our third official language. While this may seem insignificant, all I could think of was the dilemma regarding undocumented workers (which my brother-in-law's parents have been at various times) and though - what would happen if we approached all of the other non-English SPEAKERS in the same way? Would we see discrimination against the deaf at the polling booth as we see non-english speakers? After all, neither speak English....
If anyone doubts the racism behind these kind of legislation, then I hope you wlll only think of those who do not communicate in the same mode as the average person. Sign Language is A LANGUAGE. Braille is A LANGUAGE. Not being able to speak English is not an automatic disqualifier of participating in the American Experience. Although skin color apparently is.
So when someone argues that the non-English speakers have no right to be in the US, ask them if the deaf have any right to be in the US. After all, sign language is no more an official language than English, or Spanish. In fact, in the minds of all of the English only crowd, our own American speakers of Sign Language should be shunned to the dark corners of civilisation by their uncooperative in speaking English.
In this setting one can ask, what is it that these people are trully after? Those that speak English? Or those that are white? Neither answer will satisfy them.