Speaking English In America

The controversy about using English here in the US appears to be growing. First, it's the EEOC going after the Salvation Army for requiring their employees to speak English when they're working. Now it's the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) chairman Roberto Fonseca giving his report in Spanish. That angered a number of parents attending the meeting.

The obvious question is this: why did Fonseca (who is bilingual) think it was appropriate to run the meeting in Spanish? After all, African-Americans are well represented on the council, and many of the Latino parents speak English. Furthermore, current bylaws stipulate that all parent meetings across the district be held in English.

Apparently Fonseca took the opportunity to challenge those bylaws, motivated by a lawyer’s conclusion that the English-only rule was illegal and impractical and the district’s assurance that it would not be enforced. The LAUSD probably fears the reactions of parents like Guadalupe Aguiar, who told the [L.A.] Times that it is “racist when parents are told that, in America, they have to speak English.”

...Hispanic Democrat [Rep. Charles Gonzalez of Texas] is quoted in the [Wall Street] Journal as saying, “If it is not relevant, it is discriminatory, it is gratuitous, it is a subterfuge to discriminate against people based on national origin.” This type of heated rhetoric made its way to the House Floor on Nov. 8, when Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois called English-only requirements symbolic of “bigotry and prejudice.”

But not all politicians think it’s racist to insist that employees speak English when working in America. In fact, Gonzalez and Gutierrez were reacting to an amendment introduced by Lamar Alexander from Tennessee. Alexander’s legislation would shield employers from federal lawsuits if they refuse to hire non-English speakers. The amendment passed the Senate by 75-19 last month, and, more recently, the House by 218-186, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is determined to kill it.

It figures that Pelosi wants to kill the bill. After all, why should we speak only English when dealing with government, business, or education? Instead, the rest of us should be forced to learn Spanish to make it easier for Hispanic immigrants (particularly illegal immigrants) to succeed in this country? What kind of madness is this?

It's liberal Democrat madness.

It is becoming more and more evident that many of those like the Speaker of the House dislike mainstream America with a passion. After all, all the world's evils are our fault and therefore we must make penance with the slow destruction of American sovereignty within our own country.

NOT.