English Is America’s Language
Boris Johnson, likely to become England’s next Prime Minister, recently pushed the howl button among the opposition, when he proclaimed that he wants “everybody who comes here, and makes their lives here, to feel British.” And to make sure that happens, he wants newcomers “to learn English.” Australia, too, looks closely at “ability to speak English,” among its merit (points) -based system for awarding work visas. In addition, Boris Johnson wants England to adopt a merit-based system for their immigration, similar to what is already working well for Australia. And Johnson’ desires are correct on both counts: controlled legal immigration based on merit (education, skills, etc.) AND the requirement that newcomers, and past immigrants, alike, speak the nation’s first language: English.
And the same should be true in the United States: (1) legal immigration based on merit (to control the seeming unending influx of unskilled & language deficient illegal migrants), and (2) English as the nation’s only acceptable public language.
Requiring that English be spoken in all commerce, retail, workplace, schools, etc. is an important key, if not the key, to successful assimilation. And assimilation is the key to a unified nation, where citizens share not only language, but share in, and accept, the nation’s laws, values, customs, traditions, behaviors, and expectations, all long in place in America, with some aspects certainly tracing back to our very founding.
Before there was an America, this huge expanse of land between the oceans, was occupied by Indians, now referred to as Native Americans. Back then, there were a large number of tribes, occupying various geographic territories throughout. Sometimes, there were territorial frictions, resulting in fighting and violence to achieve desired ends. Bottom line: Our share of North America was comprised of separate tribes, with separate languages, along with separate customs, traditions, wants & needs.
And the same might be said of today’s America-in-motion. We are a becoming a land of separate “tribes.” Only now, we identify them as ethnic groups. Among them, especially among older, more established, multi-generational immigrant families, there is, of course, much, if not total, assimilation. Total Americanization. But there isn’t enough.
Our desired citizen unification has been fractured in recent years, largely as a result of migration, some documented, but an increasingly large number not so, such as those arriving illegally via Mexico from Central America, and now lately, even from North Africa. Prior to the more recent illegal African influx, prior administrations placed a succeeding number of Somali migrants in the Minneapolis area, presumably done so legally under some federal program. Enough of them now, apparently (estimated 50,000), to actually help elect an ethnic Somali Congressperson from that District to represent them. All of this activity raises the question as to whether we are successfully unifying America’s citizens, past and present, or surging back to a more tribal-like, separated existence.
In the early 1900’s, legal immigration experienced tremendous increases, mostly from European nations, processed in large part through the Port of New York. All manner of ethnic identities, religions, and languages arrived, but all seeking to assimilate, to learn English, to learn or exhibit existing skills, to work, to raise families, and most of all, to become Americans. As such, our country had become a “melting pot,” as all manner of newcomers worked hard to become productive, to fit-in, and to make their own way in this adopted new land. By interpretive meaning, “melting pot” referred to assimilation, turning many and widely varied peoples into one unified nation of citizens. It did not mean, nor was it ever intended to be, a separate-but-equal scenario, with stand-alone clusters, differing by race, religion, or national origin.
We worked hard through the years to clear up that “separate” concept as it related, for far too long, to Black Americans being treated “equally” with White Americans (principally, then, involving schooling), but remaining conceptually and/or actually separate from one another. We certainly don’t want to turn back that unfortunate clock, now, with legal immigrants arriving and being set apart, too often of their own choosing, regrettably perhaps, their own desire and sense of comfort. Assimilating separately, rather than as one united citizenry, maintaining their own values, customs, language, and even their own religious laws. This is not what Americans of today want, or should accept. We have separate states. We don’t also need separate ethnic or religious “tribes” within.
And that brings us back to the English language, still the prominent unifier. Although spoken (and written) by the vast majority of Americans today, sadly, English is not America’s official language, although it should be. There have been repeated efforts over the decades in Congress to make it so, but regrettably, such a proposal was never enacted as national law. English is, by far, the language most spoken here, making it the “de facto” but not the official language of the United States. As you would expect, Spanish is the second most spoken language in our country. On that note, it’s estimated that about 20% of Americans speak a language other than English, in private and at home. That figure does not account for the language(s) being spoken by those thousands upon thousands of migrants who have come across our border, illegally, in recent months and years.
Thankfully, for the sake of national unity, thirty-one of our states (almost 2/3rds) have, in fact, legally proclaimed English to be the official language within their respective states, which includes Georgia, by statute, in 1996, and South Carolina in 1987). Currently, Hawaii is our only state that is officially bi-lingual.
“Discrimination” and “diversity” are the buzz words used to derail efforts at making English the official language in other states and across the nation. They are two of the most frequent and favored words to be pulled whenever needed from the ultra-libs’ poison-tipped verbal arrows in their discussion-killing quiver (#1 favorite: “racist”). And, thus, they become the definite enemies of the very real need for assimilation and national unity in our nation, which liberals fight against. They much prefer the progressive guidebook’s instruction to fight unity with group separation for better control. As it stands today, regrettably, they are successful.
English is, however, the established language for all U.S. Government operations, in all branches, departments, and agencies, and it is the unofficial preferred language of American commerce. Designating English as the nation’s official language would save taxpayers billions of dollars each year. Although for the pro-separation reasons identified above, enacting English as America’s official national language today, is likely a ship that, sadly, has sailed. Regardless, one officially-designated language, is the most effective unifier, and identity maintainer, for any nation desiring same. The United States, in particular.
(31-States/Hawaii bi-lingual via babbel.com, Y.Yates, 8-16-17; Official Georgia Language, ballotpedia.com; Official South Carolina Language via languagepolicy.net).