An excellent piece telling everyone that English-only law is bad for the country. DP
By SANDRA SANCHEZ, GUEST COLUMNIST
DesMoinesRegister.com: I am thankful to this country, for it opened its doors to me and my family 15 years ago. An immigrant citizen from Mexico, I strongly opposed Iowa's "English-only" law.
Being born outside the United States gives me a different perspective, whether consciously or not, on some issues than many Iowans may have. I've been exposed to very diverse peoples all my life - in Mexico due to my parents' jobs and in Iowa due to my own job. For me, differences in language and culture solely represent an easy opening for a fascinating conversation.
The "English-only" law has meant nothing positive for the state or its residents. After its approval, there was an immediate increase in the number of people reporting national-origin discrimination instances at my office. It takes time and resources from both governmental and private agencies to address them. Also, funds to teach adults English as a second language are shrinking every year.
Recently, Honda announced plans to open a new plant somewhere in the Midwest. Ohio had an "English-only" bill on the table. "We want to make sure we're not creating barriers for those types of situations ... if you have families coming from another country, in terms of management or the like, you want to make sure there are no unintended consequences for those families," said House Speaker Jon A. Husted after the vote that killed the bill.
Most people seem to ignore the hard facts, but big businesses don't. A few years ago, I asked a high-level executive from Pioneer Hi-Bred whether English is the language of international business. He said, "The business language is that of my clients, whatever it is!" Supporters of "English only" believe it has no practical impact. Losing business and opportunities for growth have practical and negative impacts, which are often more expensive than the costs associated with dealing with different languages.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
2 comments:
With all due respect to Ms. Sanchez, I fail to understand why she feels better being patronized by people who seem to believe that Spanish speakers cannot learn English.
I am also not a native English speaker; I grew up in Italy and spoke nothing but Italian until I was eleven. When I started going to American schools, I did so after taking some instruction in the English language, but I was far from fluent.
I put up with all the stupid “dumb guinea” jokes, I was called a greaser, a wetback, a wop, and I was routinely asked if I had any relatives in the mafia. I endured all the stupid comments about Italians being cowards, and that the only place where one was likely to find an Italian hero was in a sub shop.
You know what? I still made it through school, without going through any English as a Second Language classes. You are wrong Ms. Sanchez, English should be the official language of the United States; I love Spanish, it’s a lovely language, but I should not have to speak Spanish to you or anyone else if I don’t wish to do so.
Great article!
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