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NEWS & LETTERS, APRIL 2003
Voices from the Inside Out
Language as a right
by Robert Taliaferro When former President Clinton signed Executive Order 13166, he enacted one of the few well-thought out laws during his administration. Order 13166 required federal agencies to provide translations of official forms and documents into the language that an individual requests. With the new Republican Congress, and a Republican
President bent on waging war to express U.S. policy at the expense of the rest
of the world, a growing xenophobic lobby is finding it imperative to define an
"official" language for the U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY) is
taking the forefront of this argument as he is planning on introducing the
National Language Act (NLA). This Act would, in its supporters' thoughts, restore American tradition and values by abolishing bilingual ballots and requiring official forms to be published in English only. Additionally, citizenship ceremonies would also be conducted in English only. Noting that English has been the binding factor of American society, people like King feel that programs that promote bilingual education are divisive to the country. IRONIES OF PERMANENT WAR It is ironic and surprising, with war and no certain peace looking to present itself anywhere in the next decade, and with race, class, and cultural differences expanding rather than waning, that members of Congress are still discussing ways to further alienate minority populations in this country, even as they ask for support and patience. It is also ironic that the only truly indigenous languages of the country are almost nonexistent, being destroyed--not through voluntary means--but through callous acts of barbarism that seem like historical precursors of similar acts of "U.S. enemies" abroad. In a country founded by immigrants, that brutally colonized and suppressed its indigenous population, it is an absurd concept that the only divisive elements that currently exist in the country are those that are new arrivals to its shores. It is typical, however, that such racially and culturally discriminatory concepts are discussed, given that the U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that does not believe that its citizens need to understand any other language but English, when the education systems of most countries require their students to be bilingual or multilingual. "FROM MANY, ONE" The glue that has always bound America and made it unique was not English, but rather the talents, skills, ideas, and cultural individualism that was blended and interwoven into the American psyche. Among that cultural individualism was language. Language--and access to one's cultural language--is an
inherent right, not a privilege, and supporters of such measures like the NLA
and similar concepts should remember that this country was allegedly founded
because of a distinct and direct desire that rights--not privilege--should
prevail. To abrogate one's language, one must also abrogate this cultural heritage, and it is those different heritages interwoven, intertwined, interdeveloped, which have created the much-lauded melting pot of U.S. society and which supports the fundamental principle of the country, E PLURIBUS UNUM--Latin, one might add, that translates: from many, one. In a time of war, we must be attuned to the direct aspects, as well as underlying subtle notions that might be ignored in light of the overall "visible" themes so that not only people, but cultural rights, will not become casualties of war. |
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