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English-only movement

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English-only movement, called also Official English movement by its supporters, refers to a political movement for the use only of the English language in public occasions through the establishing of English as the only official language in the United States. There have been various unrelated incarnations of the movement throughout American history.

English and reasons behind English-only movement

In 1914, President Theodore Roosevelt stated, "We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house."[1]

U.S. English, an advocate group for "Official English" summarizes their belief that "the passage of English as the official language will help to expand opportunities for immigrants to learn and speak English, the single greatest empowering tool that immigrants must have to succeed."[2]

Earlier English-only movements

In 1803, as a result of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States acquired French-speaking populations in Louisiana. After the Mexican-American War, the United States acquired about 75,000 Spanish speakers in addition to several indigenous language-speaking populations.

An 1847 law authorized Anglo-French instruction in public schools in Louisiana. In 1849, the California constitution recognized Spanish language rights.

French language rights were abolished after the American Civil War. In 1868, the Indian Peace Commission recommended English-only schooling for the Native Americans. In 1878–79, the California constitution was rewritten: "All laws of the State of California, and all official writings, and the executive, legislative, and judicial proceedings shall be conducted, preserved, and published in no other than the English language."

In the late 1880s, Wisconsin and Illinois passed English-only instruction laws for both public and parochial schools.

In 1896, under the Republic of Hawaii government, English became the sole medium of public schooling for Hawaiian children. After the Spanish-American War, English was declared "the official language of the school room" in Puerto Rico. In the same way, English was declared the official language in the Philippines, after the Philippine-American War.

During World War I, there was a widespread campaign against the use of the German language in the U.S., including removing books in the German language from libraries.[3] A related action took place in Australia, where the South Australian state government passed the Nomenclature Act of 1917. The legislation renamed 69 towns, suburbs or areas that had German names.[4]

The modern English-only movement

  • 1980: Dade County, Florida, voters approved an "anti-bilingual ordinance." [5] This was later repealed by the county commission in 1993.
  • 1981: English was declared the official language in the state of Virginia.
  • 1983: Dr. John Tanton and Senator S. I. Hayakawa founded a political lobbying organization, U.S. English (organization). (Tanton was a former head of the Sierra Club's population committee and of Zero Population Growth, and founder of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an immigration reductionist group.)
  • 1986
  • 1994: Tanton and other former U.S. English associates founded ProEnglish specifically to defend Arizona's English-only law. ProEnglish rejects the term "English-only movement" and asks its supporters to refer to the movement instead as "Official English".[6]
  • 2006: The U.S. Senate voted on two separate changes to an immigration bill in May, 2006.[1] [2] The amended bill recognized English as a "common and unifying language" and gave contradictory instructions to government agencies on their obligations for non-English publications. [7]
  • 2007: In what was essentially a replay of the 2006 actions, on June 6, 2007 the U.S. Senate again voted on two separate amendments[3][4] to a subsequent immigration reform bill that closely resembled the amendments to the 2006 Senate bill. Ultimately, neither the 2006 nor 2007 immigration reform bill has become law.

Criticism

The modern English-only movement has met with rejection from the Linguistic Society of America, which passed a resolution in 1986–87 opposing "'English only' measures on the grounds that they are based on misconceptions about the role of a common language in establishing political unity, and that they are inconsistent with basic American traditions of linguistic tolerance."[8]

Linguist Geoffrey Pullum, in an essay entitled "Here come the linguistic fascists" charges English First with "hatred and suspicion of aliens and immigrants" and points out that English is far from under threat in the United States, saying "making English the official language of the United States of America is about as urgently called for as making hotdogs the official food at baseball games."[9]

Samuel Francis criticized the modern movement on the grounds that official English laws are, in his words, "ineffective symbolic measures".[10]

U.S. English claims that the movement is focused on making English the official language, not necessarily banning the use or education of other languages.[11]

Current law

States where English is the official language

Currently, all official documents in the U.S. are written in English, though some also have versions in other languages.[12] The United States federal government does not specify an official language.

  • None:
    • In addition to the states not otherwise mentioned:
    • Alaska's 1998 Official English amendment was overturned by the Alaska State Supreme Court in 2002.[citation needed]
    • Arizona's 1988 Official English amendment was overturned by the Arizona State Supreme Court in April, 1998. It was reinstated by voters in November, 2006.[citation needed]
    • West Virginia passed a law in 2005 but it was rescinded due to a technical flaw.[citation needed]

Also, English and Spanish have been official languages in Puerto Rico since 1993; from 1898 to 1952, however, it was a misdemeanor to speak Spanish in public there. English and Chamorro are the official languages of Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands. English and Samoan are the official languages of American Samoa.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Roosevelt, Theodore, Works (Memorial ed., 1926), vol. XXIV, p. 554 (New York: Charles Scribner's 11 Sons).
  2. ^ us-english.org "Background of organization"
  3. ^ Martin, James J (1988). An American Adventure in Bookburning in the Style of 1918. Ralph Myles Publisher.
  4. ^ Leadbeater, Maureen M. "German Place Names in South Australia:". {{cite web}}: Text "accessed December 29, 2007" ignored (help)
  5. ^ the Language battle: Speaking the Truth (PDF), University of Miami law School: Inter-American law review, February 9, 2007, p. 2, retrieved 2008-02-17 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Official English Is Not "English Only", proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-02-17
  7. ^ "Snopes on the English-only amendments". Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  8. ^ Geoff Nunberg (December 28, 1986), Resolution: English Only, Linguistic Society of America, retrieved 2008-02-17 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Pullum, Geoffrey K. (1987). "Here come the linguistic fascists". Natural Language and Linguistic Theory. 5: 603–9. doi:10.1007/BF00138990. Reprinted in The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1991. pp. 111–19. ISBN 0-226-68534-9.
  10. ^ Francis, Samuel T. (2002). America Extinguished.
  11. ^ Misconceptions About Official English
  12. ^ "Spanish language website for the FDA". US Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  13. ^ The 50 states at a glance, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  14. ^ Blocked by a state judge pending trial. The case is still pending. See Legal Status of official English in Alaska, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  15. ^ 5 ILCS 460/20 (from Ch. 1, par. 2901‑20) - Sec. 20. "Official language. The official language of the State of Illinois is English."
  16. ^ Governor's Signature Makes English the Official Language of Kansas, Business Wire, May 11, 2007, retrieved 2008-05-21 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Official Language Law of Massachusetts (1975)
  18. ^ Legal Status of official English in Hawai'i, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  19. ^ For background see Legal Status of official English in Louisiana, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
      Refuted by Language Legislation in Louisiana, retrieved 2008-05-21, quoting provisions of the 1974 Louisiana State constitution
  20. ^ Language Laws of New Mexico, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  21. ^ Oregon Official English legislation, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  22. ^ Proposed English legislation, H 5830, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  23. ^ Washington State Constitutional Amendment for Official English legislation, proenglish.org, retrieved 2008-04-12
  • Lynch, William, "A Nation Established by Immigrants Sanctions Employers for Requiring English to be Spoken at Work: English-Only Work Rules and National Origin Discrimination," 16 Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review 65 (2006).
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