Speak English, Stupid
This month, exactly two days after our new President is to be sworn in, citizens of Nashville, Tennessee will be voting on a referendum that will create an English only rule of law that applies to anyone “doing business” with the Nashville government. The law states, and I quote, “Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language….” It further states, “No person shall have a right to government services in any other language.” Now, I’m no congressional law expert, but I do believe that in Title Six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 there is a clause about discrimination based on the origin of birth. Hmmm, so Nashville would attempt to reverse constitutional law because it’s offended that some of its inhabitants speak a different language. Speak English! They say. Man, do they say it loudly, too. Speak English or else. We would speak your language if we went to your country! They say. Oh, really? I would love to hear some testimony the success rate of U.S. Citizens speaking other people’s languages. Really.
Truly, though, this is an affront to democracy, human rights and the spirit of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Just when you think this country is making progress, you hear more and more bigoted efforts such as this one and it’s enough to make one sick. Come on, what is at the bottom of this ‘English only’ push? Hatred? Fear? I’ll vote fear, which can (and often does) fuel hatred. What is this about? We, us Latinos, with our 2+ children per family, scare them? We, us Latinos, with our majority Christian values, scare them? We, us Latinos, with our lack of proper legal paperwork, scare them? We, us Latinos, with our millions of exploitable labor and ready disposable cash, scare them?
No, I don’t think so. I think we scare the few remaining ignorant bigots in this land that cling to myths about human beings who don’t fit the WASP bill. I think we scare the pockets of ignorance that refuse to believe that Jim Crow was ever a bad thing, or that a human being, hung and dying on a tree was ever a bad thing, or that “Whites Only” signs across public spaces was ever a bad thing. And I think that irresponsible, power-hungry public leaders take advantage of this ignorance so that they can continue to stay in power, doing little good for anyone but their fat cronies. Barak Obama couldn’t have arrived at a more significant time in our history. His arrival marks a new proposition for the future of this country, and because of that I am encouraged that perhaps tomorrow we will have that much less bigots than we have today. Since when has all this bigotry and fear got us anywhere, anyway?
The saddest thing about these English only policies is how they tend to reveal true ignorance in public leadership. If you look at history, most immigrant communities learn English by the second generation. If the first generation arrives at an early enough age, and has the time and the resources to receive an education, then this generation also learns English. It’s only the older immigrants and the folks who don’t have access to education that have a harder time at learning the language. Often it takes several years to pick up a new language. So in the meantime, while our newly arrived fellow immigrants are slaving away in the United States to make ends meet, how do we respond? With the dumbest look and the dumbest phrase possible, “speak English, stupid.”
Tags: english only policies, hispanics, immigrants, immigration, latinola, lucas diaz, nashville tennessee, puentes, puentes director
January 19th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Everyone is racist in some way. I’m lots of different races, and I have screwed up things to say about every single one of them. Take yourself down a notch and have a valium. It’s not all going to fall to pieces if you take a moment to yourself and just BREATHE. I have pride that you are out there doing things for La Raza, when I was taught at home to hide who I was at school, but take it from someone who is many things. Nothing is just black and white.
April 16th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Why do we have a need to be victims? It seems to me that some Latino’s enjoy being victim’s? When will we learn? Many Latino’s are full of fear, and are all to ready to accept anything that is handed to them as if it were a gift from God, instead of standing up and leading or trainning the Latino Leaders of tomorrow.
Racism is a heart problem and not a skin problem. Again, I think that we use racism as crutches to make us feel better for being where we are as a people. We, Latino’s, are not trapped by metal bars, but mental bars and I as one hope we can assert ourselves for our families and our future, for we will be the dominate minority in America in the future. Hopefully, we can lead the way, instead of being led.
God Bless,
armando