When I voted on Nov. 4th, I voted against section 34, which ammended the state constituion in Missouri to state, "That English shall be the language of all official proceedings in this state. Official proceedings shall be limited to any meeting of a public governmental body at which any public business is discussed, decided, or public policy formulated, whether such meeting is conducted in person or by means of communication equipment, including, but not limited to, conference call, video conference, Internet chat, or Internet message board."
In other words, it would legally make English the official language of the state of Missouri. And I was in a minority of people that voted against this amendment. Not only did it pass. It passed by with 86.3% of the vote.
Frankly, I am heart-broken. And I am angry. I don't understand why such a law would pass by such a large margin. I have been trying to educate myself on the reasoning of the other side, to open my mind to opinions that differ from my own. Some websites I've visited are: www.proenglish.org/ and http://http//bobmccarty.com/2008/11/05/missouri-voters-make-english-official-language/. Not only do I still not understand the reasoning of the other side, but I am even more angry about the issue. This law denies information to people who have a right to be informed. It denies rights to children whose parents do not speak English. It denies and divides; I don't believe that it unites us as these websites suggest.
As part of working with Project Transformation, I have worked in areas of Kansas City where a large part of the population is spanish speaking. Often, the children of spanish-speaking parents, have been born in the U.S. and are full U.S. citizens. However, their parents may not have english skills. And I'm sorry, the argument "if you want to live here, take an english class" is completely ridiculous. Taking a college-level language course is incredibly expensive. And even in those cases where non-profit organizations offer free English training, the families that I worked with often worked several jobs, and had no money for child care. So, between taking care of their families and making ends meat, not to mention the difficulty of learning a new language, they simply do not have time.
In many cases, there are government programs that offer assistance to these families. There are welfare, health care and various educational programs that as residents and citizens they and their children ought to have access to. However, if communication from the government is only ever in English, they have no way of finding out about their rights or such beneficial programs.
This is not an issue of national unity. It is one of basic human rights. And to me this law is saying that if persons don't speak english, or if their legal guardians do not speak english, then they can be denied their rights. In fact, they are being denied even the knowledge of what their rights are.
I believe that diversity is America's gift. It is not a threat to our identity. It is our identity.
Please feel free to comment and share your own thoughts on this issue.
1 comment:
I completely concur with your sentiments. It has not just been through my involvement with both sectors of PT but also through my current employment at a low income school here in Topeka.
Every day I experience a language barrier between myself and some of the Spanish speaking students. I am only able to communicate broken phrases, hoping that my thoughts are comprehended.
I cannot even fathom what it must be like to experience this barrier outside the confines of a school.
Again, kudos to you for taking advantage of an opportunity to vote against yet another injustice.
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