Re: English only legislation

[Karen Kay <karenk -at- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

Johanna Manning said:
> I also think that if Spanish is accepted as an official
> language, hold onto your hats. In ten years, oriental people will be
> holding the majority.

Hispanic peoples share a common language; Asians do not. Even if
Asians become a dominant minority in the US, which IMHO is doubtful,
it isn't clear what language we would be talking about.

One of the topics that hasn't come up is the number of states that
have English Only laws already. I think that California does, and I
know that when I was living in Missouri it was up for discussion in
the state legislature, but didn't pass. At the time I was happy about
it, but since living in California my feelings have changed.

I am painfully aware of Joe's point about bedfellows, but I think that
at this point I would support English-only legislation. I don't think
the point about needing to know English to advance socially is a valid
one any more. There are various foreign enclaves that support their
members and allow them to function, and indeed succeed in life, without
ever learning English. It isn't the fact that these people can succeed
w/out learning English that bothers me, but the fact that these support
groups are not mainstream, but limited to those of a particular
ethnicity. I wish that all resources could be made available to all
people. Perhaps this is hopelessly Utopian. I'm just beginning to
work out what I think on this thorny subject.

Karen
  karenk -at- netcom -dot- com