English vs. Spanish
Tancredo is right. He knows that any country having two or more official languages are divided countries. The English language is our national de facto official language, the glue that holds us together. For individuals bilingualism is an asset, BUT for nations two common languages is divisive, and destructive. At home Americans are free to speak, as they do, as many as three hundred different languages, but for our national unity all citizens must be able to communicate well— in one language. Twenty-eight of our states have English as their official language. Since 1988, when Colorado’s voters passed the Official English Amendment overwhelmingly , our State Constitution reads in Section 30 of Article II as follows: “The English language is the official language of the state of Colorado.”
A strong move is now underway in Congress to make English our de jure official language. Write or phone your Congressman.
Boulder
Then Professor King should know that one state (Hawaii) has 2 official languages, neither one being standard English. And Louisianna recognizes both English and French. While Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York have had French speaking minorities since the founding of the country.
Posted by Otto on February 5, 2007 07:05 PM"For individuals bilingualism is an asset, BUT for nations two common languages is divisive, and destructive."
Then why aren't Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, India and Singapore crumbling, failing states?
Language differences don't cause divisiveness; being a jerk about language differences does.
Posted by Julie O. on February 5, 2007 09:49 PMSwiterzerland, Finland, India, and Singapore may not be crumbling, failing states, but Canada and Belgium are an entirely different case.
The Quebecois in Canada are determined to have a free French state, so much so that the last vote was less than 0.5% from this very event. If Quebec were to become an independent nation, Canada would splinter into at least 4 different nations.
Belgium is very much the same way. Over the past two decades or so, the Flemish majority has been undermining the Walloon minority, so that much of southern Belgium wants French cultural protection.
I usually don't agree with Dr. King (or Tancredo; I'm in his district and have voted against him everytime) on much of anything, but in this case he's right on. History has shown that countries that have two or more languages generally have greater difficulties staying united than those that have one. My background in European history, as well as geography and anthropology, has taught me this lesson well.
Why do you think that France, Italy, etc. tried to standardize their languages before they became truly unified? It's because these nations knew that cultural divisions caused by different language/language variations cause limited interaction among different peoples. C'est la verité mes amis!
Posted by Jeff on February 5, 2007 11:30 PM