Official languages damage the melting pot
Dan Verderosa
Issue date: 4/19/05 Section: Opinion
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Although many legislators have reported that they had no idea they had passed such an unusual measure, last week the West Virginia state legislature voted to make English the official language of their state. The issue of an official language has been long debated in America, although it rarely made it onto the national stage, and for good reason -- because the idea of a national language in a pluralistic society like ours is simply unreasonable.
Perhaps if the members of West Virginia's legislature had bothered to read the amendment instead of taking the Senate Majority Leader's word that the measure would clarify "the way in which documents are produced," the level-headed among them would have fought the bill. Instead, a state which is under one percent Hispanic and over 94 percent white passed a superfluous measure that will stand only to influence other states to act accordingly.
While some may not find fault in making English the official language in West Virginia -- or the entire United States for that matter -- there is good reason to stand against such a plan. To start, the best reason not to implement an official language is that there are no good reasons to do so anyway. The only thing that a standardized national language would accomplish in as plural a nation as ours would be to make the lives of foreign immigrants needlessly difficult. It would not provide an impetus for them to learn English, mostly because most immigrants do not have the means to do so. Not only is it incredibly difficult to learn a new language as an adult (five years and I still don't know a lick of French), but it can also be expensive. Most immigrants who come do America are poor by our standards and have come to make a living; they cannot put out the necessary money to take classes in English.
Besides making life difficult for foreigners, an official language would also likely increase racism and xenophobia, giving justification to "know-nothings" who harass those of a different cultures. The way to maintain a melting pot is not to set strict guidelines for what immigrants must do but to accommodate them while they assimilate into our culture.
Perhaps if the members of West Virginia's legislature had bothered to read the amendment instead of taking the Senate Majority Leader's word that the measure would clarify "the way in which documents are produced," the level-headed among them would have fought the bill. Instead, a state which is under one percent Hispanic and over 94 percent white passed a superfluous measure that will stand only to influence other states to act accordingly.
While some may not find fault in making English the official language in West Virginia -- or the entire United States for that matter -- there is good reason to stand against such a plan. To start, the best reason not to implement an official language is that there are no good reasons to do so anyway. The only thing that a standardized national language would accomplish in as plural a nation as ours would be to make the lives of foreign immigrants needlessly difficult. It would not provide an impetus for them to learn English, mostly because most immigrants do not have the means to do so. Not only is it incredibly difficult to learn a new language as an adult (five years and I still don't know a lick of French), but it can also be expensive. Most immigrants who come do America are poor by our standards and have come to make a living; they cannot put out the necessary money to take classes in English.
Besides making life difficult for foreigners, an official language would also likely increase racism and xenophobia, giving justification to "know-nothings" who harass those of a different cultures. The way to maintain a melting pot is not to set strict guidelines for what immigrants must do but to accommodate them while they assimilate into our culture.