I’ve gone on and on about this topic so many times I’m starting to bore myself, but this is indeed a welcome development:
You might have thought the United States had an official language, considering it was founded by British colonizers who were looking for religious freedom and wanted to distance themselves from the overbearing English monarchy. Virtually all official documents in our republic have been penned in the English language, from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution on down, but for some reason, it has never been designated as our official national tongue.
That all changed on Saturday, as President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order mandating that we now have one unifying language tying us all together.
Nothing repeat nothing has the power to divide a society when we aren’t able to communicate with each other. I speak here after having grown up in an officially bilingual country and seeing for myself how bitterly divisive that can be.
And I absolutely do not care if newcomers to this country are unable to understand what’s going on because they don’t understand English. The English expression for that is “tough shit”, and that might as well be the first expression — and concept — that should be learnt when the huddled masses arrive here.
I’m not going to hold up other nations as examples — although try conducting any kind of official business in France without understanding French — and considering that our republic’s foundation was laid upon the English language, we have been foolish in not establishing that principle from the outset.
And frankly, Margaret, I don’t actually care if that seems cruel or uncaring to the newly-arrived. If we choose to accommodate foreigners by posting signs that read “Itt magyarul beszélnek“ or whatever, it is purely an accommodation and not an obligation.
To quote POTUS:
From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language. Our Nation’s historic governing documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, have all been written in English. It is therefore long past time that English is declared as the official language of the United States. A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language…
Accordingly, this order designates English as the official language of the United States.
As a Belgian with 3 official language ( French, Flemish/Dutch and German ) I fully approve that move. Here whe have the flemish that want to split the country, the French speaking Wallons that would love to go back to France ( good luck with that ) and the “Cantons de l’Est” who are patiently waiting the split of the country so that they can go back to Germany. Note that Belgium was set up as a French speaking country at our Indépendance in 1830 but politician being what they are.
A welcome gesture but ultimately meaningless unless and until it is placed a) into the constitution by amendment or b) into law by passing both houses of gathered monkeys (a congress), following which the bastardy of printing federal forms in 35 languages shall cease completely. If a state wants to waste money on the latter (CA), then they can fund it.
Like the boss of this delightful web site hints: Learn English as a LEGAL immigrant or starve. Millions that preceded you have survived, you can too, or die, matters little if you are not capable of adapting and WANT to become American.
With English as the official language it means that when Canada joins the US it won’t have Quebec included. A win!
I would hope that we have seen the last of “Press 1 for English”.
…at least when dealing with Gummint — especially in dealing with Social Security. (If you’ve been here long enough to be eligible for SocSec, you’d fucking well better be English-fluent. )
Private companies, however, may still offer that, as an accommodation to customers — but they’d be under no legal obligation to do so.