Bilingual U.S. Makes No Sense
Dick Fleagler
This is America. We speak English here. The Poles knew that. The Italians knew it. So did the Slovaks and the Czechs and the dozens of other nationalities who struggled to come here and become part of the great, savory, American stew. They sailed in, past the Lady in New York harbor, and fanned out into this wonderful nation, which was, for almost all of them, a second lease on life. Soon they became bilingual. They spoke to their kids in two languages around their kitchen tables. They spoke the language of the old country - the language of escape. And they learned, haltingly, to speak the language of their new country - a language of hope and promise. That was English, American English. "Pa! Speak English," the kids would demand. And Pa would haltingly try. I remember 1956, when the Hungarians fled to our town to escape Soviet repression. We welcomed them and pointed the way to Buckeye Rd. where many of their relatives lived. We greeted them with friendship, but we didn't change the street signs so they read in Hungarian. We didn't teach bilingual Hungarian classes in the schools. We didn't post signs in Hungarian that said "Don't Smoke" or "If Your Employer Discriminates Against You, You Have A Right To Sue." We just absorbed them and made them Americans, as we had always done. We wished them well, and they've done well. And, frankly, I can't remember a grumble or a complaint out of any of them. When Hispanics began to flood across our borders, things became markedly different. They didn't all pass the Lady in the harbor. Many passed over a dry riverbed. About 80 feet of muddy Rio Grande made them Americans, legal or illegal. Still, the sentiment toward them was the same. We are a nation of immigrants and we know it. We still welcome newcomers to our shores. We can understand why they want to be here. But our language is English. This is America. Our common language is what holds our uncommon mixture together. About 10 years ago, the notion that we ought to all speak a common language came under serious attack. The attack was staged by the usual nincompoops who had their brains fried in the 1960s. Their brand new school of thought (thought?) endorsed the notion that America ought to be a bilingual nation. And that kids who came over here speaking Spanish ought to be allowed to keep on speaking it. And that schools ought to change their habits and teach courses in Spanish. This idea was unprecedented and dumb. But we live in an unprecedentedly dumb age. So it was allowed to flourish for awhile, lobbied for by Hispanic pressure groups and the politicians who pander to them. California went along with this idiocy. Then, two years ago, voters banned bilingual education in public schools. A million Spanish-speaking students were forced to take classes in English. And guess what? A new study shows these students are improving in reading and other subjects at striking rates. The why is simple. This is America, and we speak English here. Freed from the repression of their agenda-oriented elders, the Hispanic kids are flourishing the way the Slovenian kids did. And the Polish kids. And the Hungarian kids. They are thriving in an atmosphere that allows them to be Americans. Will they always be hyphenated Americans? Yeah. But what American isn't? The great thing about us hyphenated Americans is that we all speak the same language. Let's keep it that way. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH COLUMN: DICK FEAGLER |