The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education estimates that 40 million Americans will be nonEnglishlanguage proficient in just 8 years. America is fast becoming a multilingual society. and with it we will Inherit all the problems that stem from this developmentethnic strife. more discrimination and entrenched povertythe creation of an entire subculture that Is unprepared to compete In mainstream America. The solution is to return to our tradition of assimilating. through English. new Immigrants Into American society. In the past our new citizens were integrated without sacrificing their ethnic heritage. As Linda Chavez. former Director of the U.S. Commission on Civil rights. points out. "For the overwhelming majority of immigrant children. learning English was the first and most crucial step on the road to becoming American." How are we currently helping these children take hold of the American dream? Instead of a firstrate education in English. we provide these unfortunate students failed bilingual education programs--at a cost of some billion dollars annually to you. the American taxpayer. These misguided policies condemn immigrants to secondclass status. This reality was made clear by Ernesto Ortiz. a Texas ranch foreman who said: "My children learn Spanish in school so they can grow up to be busboys and waiters. I teach them English at home so they can grow up to be doctors and lawyers." Ernesto Ortiz realizes that English is essential for success In America. Similarly. in a recent San Francisco Chronicle poll. the vast majority of Filipino. Chinese. and Hispanic immigrants in California supported declaring English as our official language. We must all embrace this cause. Linguistic differences often foreshadow more dangerous divisions.
Identified stereotypes
Immigrants are becoming a multilingual society that will inherit problems like ethnic strife, discrimination, and entrenched poverty.