Gene's Blog

Immigrants and America of today

December 6th, 2007 | by gene |

I’ve known this woman for years, we’ve been friends for more than 10 years actually. We get along fine although we come from completely different sides of the political spectrum. She operates a mail list group that is composed mostly of frothing, as you will see, conservatives, many of whom also claim to be Christians, most of those seem to have never read the book upon which Christianity is based. Maybe it reads differently in the original Greek. I’ve only read a variety of English translations. The trouble with what she uses to start these little discussions (and I admit that in the early years I participated but in the last 7 years or so, mostly just read her original note, then delete anything else that comes along unread, except from a couple of sources who I know to feel as I do – I’d seen enough of the others and their mode of argument, very “Karl Rove ish”, modern Republican repartee in other words, which I grew sick of years ago. So I rarely say anything, but occasionally do feel the urge to tweak the lions nose, giggle, and a couple days ago was one of those days. The problem with what she puts out is that she believes everything sent to her in emails and never does any fact checking, just forwards on whatever bile is being pushed out at the moment. I tried for several years to teach her how to use Snopes.com (THE Urban Legend fact palace), to no avail. So, as I said, normally, I just read her mail, and once in a while tell her what is wrong with it but almost never respond to the whole group, cuz, you know, who needs all that anyway, giggle. But this one was just SO bad, and SO wrong, I felt as if I needed to say something. He who is silent is deemed to consent. And I most certainly do not consent to this lunacy. So, what you will see here tonight is, her original email, my response to her group, two nice responses to me, then one from someone who has joined the group since I last posted to the list – several years and obviously thought he was talking to some liberal college kid, liberal, yes, the rest, not so much, so I’m going to print what he said, then my response to the group. And then I’m going to leave the topic – here AND there as it is, giggle.

So first, she began it with this email.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE ELECTED OFFICIALS? It’s like I said, there are wayyyyy to many people trying to TEAR DOWN America and all she stands for! THAT SHOULD BE AN ACT OF TREASON! Prosecutable with jail time!

AND…this is just ANOTHER good reason NOT to vote for ANY of the people who are on this LIST!!!
This is a whopper!!! Pass it to everyone, and on and on . . .

33 Senators Voted Against English as America ‘s Official Language, June 6, 2007

On Wed, 6 Jun 2007, “an enraged conservative, USA Ret.” wrote:

Senators:

Your vote against an amendment to the Immigration Bill, 1348, to make English America’s official language is astounding. On D-Day, no less, when we honor those who sacrificed in order to secure the bedrock character and principles of America . I can only surmise your vote reflects a loyalty to illegal aliens.

I don’t much care where you come from, what your religion is, whether you’re black, white or some other color, male or female, Democrat, Republican or Independent, but I do care when you’re a United States Senator, representing citizens of America , and vote against English as the official language of the United States .

Your vote reflects betrayal, political surrender, violates your pledge of allegiance, dishonors historical principle, rejects patriotism, borders on traitorous action, and, in my opinion makes you unfit to serve as a United States Senator. Impeachment, recall, or other appropriate action is warranted.

Worse, four of you who voted against English as America ‘s official language are presidential candidates: Senator Biden, Senator Clinton, Senator Dodd, and Senator Obama.

Four Senators vying to lead America but won’t or don’t have the courage to cast a vote in favor of English as America ‘s official language, when 91% of American citizens want English officially designated as our language.

This is the second time in the last several months these Senators have disgraced themselves as political hacks — unworthy as Senators and certainly unqualified to serve as President of the United States .

If America is as angry as I am, you will realize a backlash so stunning it will literally rock you out of your socks- – -and preferably totally out of the United States Senate.

The entire immigration bill is a farce — your action only confirms that this really isn’t about America , it’s about self-serving politics — despicable at best.

The following senators voted against making English the official language of America:

Akaka (D-HI), Bayh (D-IN), Biden (D-DE) — Wants to be President, Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Cantwell (D-WA), Clinton (D-NY) — Wants to be President,
Dayton (D-MN), Dodd (D-CT) — Wants to be President, Domenici (R-NM) — Coward, protecting his Senate seat…, Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI) — Not unusual for him
Feinstein (D-CA), Harkin (D-IA), Inouye (D-HI), Jeffords (I-VT), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA) — Wanted to be President, Kohl (D-WI), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Lieberman (D-CT) — Disappointment here….., Menendez (D-NJ), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Obama (D-IL) — Wants to be President, Reed (D-RI), Reid (D-NV) — Senate Majority Leader, Salazar (D-CO), Sarbanes (D-MD), Schumer (D-NY), Stabenow (D-MI).

Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale, and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled or hanged.
—President Abraham Lincoln??

I responded with this email to the group:
Bonnie, you really need to do more research with these things. Snopes has this on it, as partially true, yes, the first amendment was voted down, the reasoning is below, to summarize, 47 million people in our country, legal immigrants do not have English as their first language – yet, the first version would have prevented the government from providing official forms in any language other than English, do you have ANY idea how much it would cost people, taxpayors, private citizens, governmental agencies and programs that have to work with those populations to do private translations of everything to be sure people understood what they were being asked for or asking for? A half hour AFTER the first bill was defeated, a second bill, making English the “unifying” language of the country, which is what it already is, was passed, that one allows present practice to continue – the first would have cost a fortune – to undo all that has been done over the past half century to ensure immigrants can fully participate in our country, the second preserves the ability of the federal government and states to continue making sure people know what they are asking for and getting. Taking half-truths and send them around the globe as if they were all truth, is lying by omission. Isn’t that against republican principles? If it isn’t, it should be… :^) gene

The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the national language of the United States of America. Unless otherwise authorized or provided by law, no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services, or provide materials in any language other than English. If exceptions are made, that does not create a legal entitlement to additional services in that language or any language other than English. If any forms are issued by the Federal Government in a language other than English (or such forms are completed in a language other than English), the English language version of the form is the sole authority for all legal purposes. In other words, this amendment declared that the federal government had no obligation to provide documents or services in any language other than English; that if the federal government did choose to provide some documents or services in any language other than English, they were not obligated to continue doing so.

The issue became even more complicated when, half an hour after amendment 4064 was passed, the Senate voted on amendment. This amendment sought to “Declare that English is the common and unifying language of the United States, and to preserve and enhance the role of the English language.” The relevant section of the amendment (as passed) read as follows:
The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the common and unifying language of America. Nothing herein shall diminish or expand any existing rights under the law of the United States relative to services or materials provided by the Government of the United States in any language other than English.

For the purposes of this section, law is defined as including provisions of the United States Code and the United States Constitution, controlling judicial decisions, regulations, and controlling Presidential Executive Orders. In other words, this amendment contradicted the previously passed amendment by declaring that English was to be regarded as “the common and unifying language of America” (rather than the “national language of the United States of America”), and that whatever obligations the federal government had to provide or honor documents and services in languages other than English should remain unchanged. This amendment also passed, by a 58-39 (No Democrats voted against this amendment, although 14 Republicans and one Independent voted in favor of it.) Altogether, 22 senators voted in favor of both amendments, making it difficult to determine exactly where they stood on the “official language” question.

According to the 2000 United States 18% of theU.S. population aged 5 or older, (47 million people) speaks a language other than English at home. That figure has been growing rapidly in recent decades, up from 11% (23.1 million people) in 1980 and 14% (31.8 million people) in 1990. How to deal with the national language issue in a country where one language predominates but more and more people are speaking other languages is something Congress apparently hasn’t yet decided.

I got this well thought out mail in response:

Thnx, Gene, 4 saving me some time. You wrote pretty much what I was about to, after reading what’s been fwded. Realizing that this is one of those issues that will continue to be debated as to what the Founding Fathers intended and what they may or may not have anticipated for future generations, I’d like to add that, even without the economic considerations, the spirit of the Constitution would not call for any “official language.” Opening our country’s doors to immigrants who were/are willing to compete for the “American Dream” has always been a part of this spirit, which has always been recognized around the world and has been memorialized many times (e.g. Statue of Liberty.)

Early in our history (i.e. 1820s) as seen in the Monroe Doctrine and in the concept of Manifest Destiny, it was a widely held belief that the territories in “The West” were rightfully on U.S. soil, but just hadn’t been settled and incorporated, yet. It was our policy that colonization by other countries was to be curtailed and, for the most part, we proceeded to settle in, purchase and annex these lands. Since these lands were considered rightfully ours (eventually with reasonable compensation), it would be very presumptuous to assume that the national language, if there were to be one, would be English.

Also, balancing federal and state powers, it would’ve been (would be) debatable whether determining a single official language should be a federal decision or one to be made by each state. Obviously, some of the territories (and eventual states) would’ve, most likely, selected other languages (e.g. Spanish, French, Russian.)

Putting all that aside, today we speak English as our primary language. Now, when you read my last sentence, did you read “we” as “residents of the U.S,” or, perhaps “U.S. citizens?” What I actually also meant was “we” as “worldwide residents that partake in the global economy.” Sure, each of you resides within a family, on a block, within a community, in a village/town/city, a state/province/territory, a country, but you are also a global resident. Not all of us prioritize our allegiances the same. Some of us put family, community and even state ahead of country. Many of us put our global community ahead of country. This is all within the context of not bringing our country down, but actually, strengthening it. And so it should be in a “free” society.

English has become, at least for now (since it might be Mandarin in the not too distant future,) the global “primary” language. That is far different from it being the “official” language. To effectively compete, in millions of cases, it is in one’s best interest to improve one’s skills in communicating using English. As evidenced by the thousands of English schools worldwide, the demand is obviously there, but this is also true here, as evidenced by the thousands of ESL schools in the U.S.

So, if learning English is so valuable, then why are so many of you troubled by the vast numbers in this country who seem averse to learning English? The answer to that is actually in the question and, specifically, in the word, “valuable.” Non/Limited English speaking children learn English in public(ly funded) schools. Adults, generally, have to pay. For many, this cost is prohibitive. Assuming that you speak another language (one of the many reasons the U.S. is growing weaker year by year is that Americans are relatively uneducated in speaking/writing at least in one other language,) try asking a non/Limited English speaking adult if they would accept a grant that would pay for this education.

After you’ve received enough positive responses to your query, you might want to consider supporting programs that offer this kind of assistance, instead of trying to undermine at least one tenet of our heritage.

Then, this one:
BRAVO!!! Funny how these things get twisted isn’t it?

Then, the lion woke:
Whomever wrote the first part of this E-Mail should be hung for treason. If you don’t like America, go to another Country.  When I went to Rome in 1974, I bought a book that helped me to communicate in Italian. I certainly was not offended by that necessity. I figured if I wanted to go to ROME, I better do as the ROMANS DO. It seems the person who wrote this item believes that if someone decides to come to America, American’s better do as they do. This is one of the most treasonous pieces of CRAP I have ever seen written. It is just another person who hates America, and will do their level best to tear it, and it’s principles down. I would venture to guess that this person also despises the Christian beginnings of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.  I’ll bet the writer of this document Hates to hear those words. An American Who Believes in AMERICA.

And, then, my response as an American who believes in America to my counterpart – though I am not sure we are talking about the same country giggle.

I would imagine you must mean me.   Since I wrote the first piece in which I fleshed out Bonnie’s original half-story. Let’s see now, 1974 Rome, huh? Okay, I was there, Italy,  in 1969, most of that year, at a place called Camp Darby, a port through which most US military goods came by ship and then were flown throughout Europe. I left that beautiful little place on the Italian Riviera in September of 1969 when I volunteered for a tour of duty in sunny Viet Nam, from which duty I completed my enlistment and was honorably discharged 10/25/70 – I started college on the GI bill in January 1971 and was in my second senior year of college, thanks to Gerald Ford, in the summer my first son was born, 1974, while you were in Rome. Where, by the way, I also bought a book from which I learned the fundamentals of the Italian language, all the better to enjoy life on Friday evenings in Livorno where by buying a drink for the house, an American GI would make 30 friends instantly and not have to buy a thing the rest of the night. Which was good because I made $137 a month back then, 660 lira to the dollar.

In other words, you are not talking to some wet-behind-the-ears child. And if that is the tone you take with those you meet, I can imagine you are welcome wherever you rest your sorry carcass.

I did not suggest that immigrants not learn English, only that the choice made by the Senate, that Bonnie only printed half of, was correct in the second effort. It is easier and cheaper to print forms in multiple languages than only in one – if there is only one, it is a little hard for a newcomer to get around. You must have found that yourself in Italy. Even then, there signage was in both English and Italian. I know as I traveled alone from Venice clear across the country to Livorno by train, by myself, and before I had purchased an english to italian dictionary as I had no money whatsoever at the time, being in transit, partial pays were not allowed, and I left my leave stateside flat broke.  I was helped at every station, and in Italy those stations have 8 to 10 tracks going every which way, find my way to the right place, by Italians who didn’t cuss me out for not knowing their language but took the time to appreciate my difficulty in moving about their country not knowing their language.  They didn’t hate me.  They HELPED me.  Which is what the second vote, the second vote, the part that was left out of the first email was about.  Helping others.  You know, that is actually supposed to be a hallmark of American culture – or once it was.

There is no point in making things hard for others simply because we can. There is reason in making things as accessible as possible even if only for the tourist trade from Europe. Treason? Please. Treason is desertion in the face of duty. I never did any such thing. I only suggested that we who are so blessed as to have been born in this free country, be a bit more open with our minds and our hearts. As were those here one hundred years ago when my own forebears immigrated from Sweden. Most of THAT first generation didn’t learn much English either, it is the second generation that does that, the third that graduates high school, and the fourth that begins to go on to college. This isn’t rocket science, it is the history of our nation. To expect immigrants NOW to suddenly be fluent in English, one of the hardest languages of all to learn, is not only silly it is mean-spirited. But then it is easy to tell from your tone, that is exactly what you are. You don’t speak for all Americans and you certainly don’t speak for all veterans. Open your heart, let the love in, and show others a little grace and understanding – your blood pressure, and your God, will both thank you for it. :^) gene

If today brings even one choice your way
choose to be a bringer of the light :^) gene