Wednesday, March 26, 2008

What the Experts Say

There are a surprisingly significant amount of political leaders and also relevent people within the government who feel that an English-Only law would be unjust. For instance, President George Bush says that, "The ability to speak English is the key to success in America. [I] support a concelt [I] call English-Plus, insisting on English proficiency but recognizing the invaluable richness that other languages and cultures being to our nation of immigrants. In Texas, the Spanish language enhances and helps define our state's history..."

A Democratic representative from Texas writes, "Through [my] experiences with Hispanics and other immigrants, I have seen how hard they work to learn English and become full participants in American society. This is also one reason [why I] oppose 'English-as-the-Official-Language' bills that are brought up in Congress." He also feels that, "Declaring English the official language of the United States would not increase the percentage of Americans who speak English. And those who do not speak English are not any less American than those of us who do." He makes a very valid point in the quote.

Robert D. King, teacher at the University of Texas at Austin and writer of linguistics, expresses his feelings towards language diversity. "Rather than fearing language diversity, Americans should celebrate their country's linguistic richness."

An editor of the NYTimes also writes that, "Legislating English as the official language... is a slap in the face to each and every [Spanish-speaking] legal immigrant and does nothing to address the 11 million problems we have." -Richard Pook