NonEnglishspeaking tradesmen operate at a severe disadvantage to their Englishspeaking counterparts. "Youd have to be a damned fool not to realize that English is the official language." noted Hispanic leader Ralph Hurtado. "if you dont speak English. youre a dishwasher." The bilingual policy of the Government is discriminatory in nature. There is no room for upward mobility in a society if one does not speak the language. Were English to be made the official language of the United States. however. all immigrants. all our citizens. would be stimulated to learn English. The Department of Education has suggested repeatedly that money now appropriated for bilingual education would be better spent teaching children to speak. read. and write in English. The Department believes that efforts to assimilate immigrant children into American society by teaching them in their native tongues outweighs any attempts to stress the incontrovertible importance of mastering English. Special interest groups use public services such as bilingual education to increase the awareness of their particular heritage rather than to prepare their children for full and successful participation in American society. Many civil liberty groups are concerned that an amendment to make English the official language of the United States would discriminate against nonEnglishspeaking peoples.
Keywords matched
immigrants assimilate immigrant