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English unifies, brings security to our nation |
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Thursday, 21 September 2006 |
by KATIE ANN HENDERSON
Sports Reporter
In the United States we are privileged to have many freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom to pursue happiness.
It seems as though these freedoms are attracting more and more immigrants to our lovely country.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, there were 35.2
million immigrants, both legal and illegal, living in the United States
as of March 2005. This is the highest number ever recorded.
With immigrants coming predominately from Mexico, the number of Spanish-speaking individuals is becoming overpowering.
I am not against Spanish-speaking individuals or people honoring their
culture and heritage. I think it is great for people to be in touch
with who they are and where they came from, but it gets to a point
where being solely immersed in their native tongue can be dangerous for
their own safety.
It is very difficult for doctors and other emergency technicians to
help someone if they do not speak the same language. If someone is in a
state of emergency and could not speak English to explain their
situation, it would be very detrimental to their state.
Additionally, the number of students in public schools who cannot speak English is dramatically increasing.
English-as-a-second-language classes are growing rapidly in school
settings. But what becomes difficult is when the classes are full and
students who need to be enrolled in them are forced to be in standard
classes that they cannot keep up in, due to the language barrier.
Writing, seminars and other classes that involve extensive essays and
intense reading can be extremely difficult if the language is not
clear.
In 1996, the House of Representatives sent the Emerson English Language
Empowerment Act to the Senate to hopefully do something about this
issue.
Unfortunately, it was left untouched and eventually set aside.
But in July 2005, the subject came up again at the Subcommittee on Education Reform hearing in Washington, DC.
It was proposed that English should become the nation’s official
language, to make all routine government operations be conducted in
English, with the exception of circumstances where multilingual
procedures make more sense.
Chairman of the Board, Mr. Mauro Majica, a key witness in the hearing,
has been making advocacies to make English the national language since
the 1980s. He said English is the “language of opportunity.”
As an immigrant from Chile, Majica understands the importance of
assimilation, as do many other individuals both native to America and
new to the country.
In his testimony, Majica said, “A Rasmussen poll this June found that
84 percent of Americans favor a law to make English our nation’s
official language, and a Zogby poll last summer found that support…is
higher among first- and second-generation Americans that it is among
native-born Americans.”
Majica went on to call this a “pro-immigrant bill” and clarified the
purpose of the bill is not to eliminate other languages in the United
States, but rather to unify the country under the “language of
opportunity.”
Majica is not pushing for “an English-only nation,” he is just hoping for it not to become an “English-optional nation.”
I completely agree with Majica.
If this country is to be fully unified under our basic rights and
freedoms, the best way for that to happen is for us to share a common
thread of language.
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