Success is not necessarily tied to language

One of the most admirable features of the United States is its reputation for being a “melting… One of the most admirable features of the United States is its reputation for being a “melting pot” of sorts – a place where people of different races and ethnicities come together as one society. Few other places in the world readily tolerate such cultural collaboration.

The United States has no official national language – and for good reason. Principles transcend language. To say that choice of language is an important part of economic or political success is pointless; the underlying system is important.

Arguing that immigrant families must be forced to learn English is unjustified. They have the right to speak whatever language they choose; no one should have the ability to remove that right.

Everyone has the right to not integrate – though, I believe doing so is a bad decision. It is not acceptable to force others to “fit in” because of some English-elitist complex.

Many have argued that legislation is necessary to stop the decay of English in America.

Any action of this sort would be a huge mistake: Spanish is already spoken fluently by 12 percent of Americans. Changing something as fundamental as language in a large segment of the population is nigh impossible. Time and money spent on English-only legislation will only result in wasted energy and negative consequences to social progress.

And the largest group of Spanish-speakers, Hispanics, is already mostly bilingual. Spanish-speaking immigrants have the highest rate of English acquisition of any immigrant group. To claim that they are purposely not learning English because they are lazy is uninformed, racist propaganda.

If the U.S. population radically changes over the next half-century such that Hispanics become the dominant race and Spanish becomes the most spoken language in the United States, so be it. English is not fundamentally better than Spanish so there is no use in defending the case for preserving it as a symbol of American culture.

The xenophobic attitude being bred today is destructive for America. After all, a significant portion of scholars and intellectually productive individuals in the United States are foreigners. We depend on these people to bridge the intellectual deficit in this country and bolster our economy. By sending the message that they are unwelcome here, we are alienating scholars who may consider graduate study in the United States.

Passing legislation to contain the spread of the Spanish language will result in persecution of Spanish-speakers. The outcome is an entire ethnic group suppressed because of an integral part of their heritage.

Aside from English, Spanish is the most-taught language in American schools and universities. This clearly shows that Americans do care about the Spanish language enough to educate themselves about it. And it makes a lot of sense for language students to choose Spanish because of its growing use and importance in American affairs.

It is arguable that English is absolutely necessary to get a well-paying job in this country, so forcing foreigners to learn English should be in their best interests. Logically then, this would be a protective measure for immigrants on the part of the government. This argument may be true; but it is also becoming progressively truer that having at least a college education is also necessary to be successful. If it becomes necessary to legislate the former, why not the latter?

Every child born in the United States is automatically a citizen and therefore entitled to an education in a public school where they will be taught English thoroughly. Even children raised in non-English households will absorb English through contact with their English-speaking peers.

Children ultimately assimilate – and they do so early on – because of their instant submergence into American culture. It is the children’s parents that may have a hard time acquiring English if they are themselves foreigners. Minority languages generally dissolve within a few generations, so the problem is only temporary.

America will eventually become bilingual, if not officially then culturally. There are, for example, already many public signs written in multiple languages. Debate is moot because this language movement is already happening and it is unstoppable. We will, as a country, have to accommodate a group of people that only speaks Spanish. These people are not stupid just because they do not speak English.

The best action is not to ignore or fight change; instead, channel that energy or rage into something productive – perhaps learning how to habla Espanol.

Contact Karim at kab85@pitt.edu.