English National Language: Our Senators Shows their Racial Bias

If English were to be our National Language, why didnt our forefathers make it so? Maybe it was because they realized that immigration was bringing in people from foreign lands and that the English language would take care of itself.

Danes, Swedes, Poles, Italians, Germans, French, Russians, Jews from many lands, and Irish came into our country. There descendants now speak English. Yes, a few Italians are bilingual but for the most part, English is their language.

I spent a couple of years shepherding a flock of Spanish-speaking Mormons in Atlantic City. I noticed that those who had been in the country the longest spoke the best English and that their children were fluent in English. It is just a matter of time in our environment that the language for a Spanish-speaking family becomes English.

Here in Idaho where we have numerous Spanish-speaking people I am watching the language change again. If I say Como esta? I often get back this answer: Im fine. How are you?

The Spanish Speaking folks want to speak English and they love to show their knowledge of it. Its true that the older a person is the more difficult it is to learn a new language. Some experts say that the ability to learn a foreign language diminishes rapidly after the age of twenty-five years. Im sure this is true for most people. Only old people here fail to learn the English language.

In Europe folks often speak English and the languages of their neighboring countries. I went to a restaurant in Luxembourg late one evening and I was greeted in French, German, and then English before I could return an answer.

In Norway I was taken on a tour of Viking artifacts and the guide spoke Italian, German, English, Spanish, and her native Norwegian. Language is not a big deal among the civilized nations. In Japan, English is very common as in Holland and most European countries. Why dont we speak French and Spanish? Colorado has been teaching kids starting in kindergarten for years, but Colorado is an exception.

Creating a National Language by law when one already exists is just a juvenile practice exhibiting juvenile prejudice. If our senators had one brain between them, they would place emphasis on the national debt, the trade deficit, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and finding Osama Bin Laden.

Poles, Italians, Russians, Jews, Africans, and Mexican have been held in low esteem in this country at various times. Some of these groups have lost some of the stigma placed on them by small-minded twerps, but for the most part, the prejudice still lurks. The American Indian was held to be sub-human my many Americans for decades. Some still feel that way. Such arrogant feelings lead to sadness and bloodshed. Race riots have not been eliminated in the United States. It appears that the Senate is doing all they can to create a new one.

Immigration is a fact of life in our world. Many people were displaced after World War II. Migrant workers are a fact of life in Europe and they are a fact of life in the United States. We need these workers to do the work we dont want to do. In Idaho, the economy would shutdown without these workers that work hard and for long hours. When I see the dairy and irrigation workers out playing football (soccer) after they have spent a very long day at hard work, Im amazed at their stamina. I realize that a good part of the money they earn each day goes back to their families in Mexico, Central, and South America.

I said in another article that this is a form of foreign aid. The difference is that the immigrants have to come here and work to get it. I think that is better than just sending money across the border that would never get past the fat hands of foreign bureaucrats.

We need to control our borders. I dont find a problem with that. I just dont see why we cant get an agreement with Mexico and other countries to make the immigration of workers an organized and efficient process. There should be a way for many of these workers to become citizens. We need them as much as we needed immigrants during the early growth of our country. If they are citizens they will have a better chance of serving the country, fighting our wars, and teaching us some good manners.

The President is on the right track with immigration. He is not the greatest thinker in the world so he never details his plans. But we need to support him in resolving this problem with care and understanding and according to our laws.

The world is a crowded place. Move over!

The End

Immigration, Bush, Mexico, Jews, Poles, Italians, Senate, National, Language, English, tolerance, Spanish

copyright2006 John T. Jones, Ph.D.