Official Language Is Best Means for Multiple Cultures to Flourish

“Solamente Ingles!”, “English Only!” Is that what we hear today? Are countries fighting over the use of one common language? Is this new or has it been happening over a decade? “A Nation Divided Against Itself”: Is this fantasy or reality? Need I say more than Quebec?

The English language, as we know it, has been influenced by as many cultures as are represented in the United States. Words like “rodeo” (Spanish), “hors d’oeuvres” (French), “kindergarten” (German), “pizza” (Italian), “algebra” (Arabic) and “schlep”’(Yiddish) have all broadened and enriched the English language.

A very dear friend and colleague, the late Sen. S.I. “Don” Hayakawa, a man whose parents came from Japan to Canada stated, “Our language has the power to divide or unite us. Words can drive us to war or they can enable us to cooperate and to live in peace and harmony. I realized that one day this fact could be detrimental to our country--that the people of our nation could be divided by language barriers by not being able to communicate with one another.”

Was Hayakawa a “realist,” or a “dreamer” like Don Quixote? He introduced, in 1981, a constitutional amendment to make English the official language of the United States. His English Language Amendment said above all: “Let’s see to it that our children, our young people, learn English. Let us not deny them, or anyone living in our nation, the opportunity to participate fully in American life . . . so that they can go as far as their dreams and talents take them.”

Will his dream ever become a reality? I have been working toward that goal for many years. The preservation of English as our common language is essential for a cooperative and productive society, and should be the “official” language of government. Efforts are being geared toward strengthening our nation and providing everyone with the opportunity for mainstreaming in American society.

In the United States, English has evolved into the common language of all who live here, regardless of their different ethnic and/or cultural backgrounds. It is the language of the workplace and is the common bond that enables us to understand one another. President Clinton responded to a Hispanic group in California in September 1995 about making English obligatory for the majority of federal communications and he stated, “Of course, English is the language of the United States.”

I ask the American public. Is it? Isn’t it time to “officially” adopt English as the official language to dispel rumors and fantasy?

I want to see our government operate in an effective and efficient way for communications. The establishment of an official language will have nothing to do with whether other languages (and other cultures) flourish or die on American soil. These would coexist--as they traditionally have--alongside English in the private lives of its ethnic citizens.

The fact that a common language has been prescribed officially means that cultural traditions can be discussed and transmitted across ethnic and cultural barriers. Without a common language, separate cultures may be preserved only through segregation and probably not understood by other ethnic American citizens and outsiders.

Our efforts today are more crucial than ever before. Many bilingual education programs in our public schools have failed, discouraged and even inhibited the learning of English. Using public funds to print and distribute foreign-language ballots further perpetuates the myth that English is not important for citizenship. Thousands of immigrants come every year to the United States with little or no understanding of the English language, yet are pleading for the opportunity to learn English.

We should be committed to a nation that is united by a common language, not divided or fragmented by multilingualism. We’re committed to ensuring that every person be given the opportunity to learn our common language, English. This will give them the opportunity to participate in all that our country has to offer.

As a teacher and an American of Hispanic descent, I have a wish for national unity, not divisiveness, because after all, “I teach; I touch the future.”

I hope all children and immigrants will achieve English proficiency and achieve the American dream of success, and that English will be the common thread that binds us all together.