Adam's Apple
Senior Member
- Apr 25, 2004
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This article is about more than making English our official language.
Americanize America's Immigrants
By Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service
3-08-07
Voters in Beverly Hills elected city council members last Tuesday. Americans from Bangor, Maine to Bellevue, Washington, would fume if they saw the ballot. It appeared in English, Spanish, and Farsi.
That's right. U.S. citizens just days ago cast ballots published in the official language of Iran, the nation that nicknamed America "the Great Satan." See for yourself: wsj.com/public/resources/documents/bhfarsi-ballot-03032007.pdf
This bizarre outrage highlights a bigger problem: What will America do with the millions of immigrants--illegal and otherwise--who pour in, across the veritable open field that is our southern frontier, and through the international airports that replaced Ellis Island? Whether this parade should be accelerated, slowed, or stopped, America's immigrants should be Americanized.
As this English-Spanish-Farsi ballot vividly demonstrates, American officials and elites expect so little of immigrants that voting, studying, and even publishing official documents in foreign tongues are increasingly routine. As this multicultural "gorgeous mosaic" has replaced the traditional melting pot, it has fueled many Americans' immigration-related anxieties.
GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said last month that he wants to see "Americanization as part of immigration." Once our dangerously unguarded borders are tightened--through low-tech fencing to high-tech surveillance tools--how should America handle immigrants who already are here?
America should renew its commitment to English in civic life. Speaking other languages at home and in cultural festivals like Cinco de Mayo and Chinese New Year adds color and variety to the American scene. But if we cannot communicate among ourselves in the town square, a self-imposed, Balkanesque bedlam will engulf this land.
for full article:
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=MURDOCK-03-08-07
Americanize America's Immigrants
By Deroy Murdock, Scripps Howard News Service
3-08-07
Voters in Beverly Hills elected city council members last Tuesday. Americans from Bangor, Maine to Bellevue, Washington, would fume if they saw the ballot. It appeared in English, Spanish, and Farsi.
That's right. U.S. citizens just days ago cast ballots published in the official language of Iran, the nation that nicknamed America "the Great Satan." See for yourself: wsj.com/public/resources/documents/bhfarsi-ballot-03032007.pdf
This bizarre outrage highlights a bigger problem: What will America do with the millions of immigrants--illegal and otherwise--who pour in, across the veritable open field that is our southern frontier, and through the international airports that replaced Ellis Island? Whether this parade should be accelerated, slowed, or stopped, America's immigrants should be Americanized.
As this English-Spanish-Farsi ballot vividly demonstrates, American officials and elites expect so little of immigrants that voting, studying, and even publishing official documents in foreign tongues are increasingly routine. As this multicultural "gorgeous mosaic" has replaced the traditional melting pot, it has fueled many Americans' immigration-related anxieties.
GOP presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani said last month that he wants to see "Americanization as part of immigration." Once our dangerously unguarded borders are tightened--through low-tech fencing to high-tech surveillance tools--how should America handle immigrants who already are here?
America should renew its commitment to English in civic life. Speaking other languages at home and in cultural festivals like Cinco de Mayo and Chinese New Year adds color and variety to the American scene. But if we cannot communicate among ourselves in the town square, a self-imposed, Balkanesque bedlam will engulf this land.
for full article:
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=MURDOCK-03-08-07
