Jul 28, 2010
Elitists in Minnesota town Lino Lakes approve English-only resolution
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The city council of Lino Lakes, a Twin Cities suburb, has voted to make English their official language and avoid as much translation as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 will allow.
Way to be progressive.
In trying to defend that the new ordinance is motivated strictly by economics, the mayor said, “It angers me that people made it into a race issue.”
Perhaps he has a point. Language and race don’t strictly correlate. How about we call it a culture issue?
A townsman in favor of the resolution opined, “I’m tired of going to restaurants and hearing these new families speaking their native tongue to their kids.”
I’m sorry, What?
I feel sick to my stomach.
The council member who placed the only no-vote said after the meeting that she is concerned about how this will make Lino Lakes be perceived.
I should say so.
I won’t go into detail about how I perceive people who support this crap, but I imagine you can guess.
I’m going to let my brother have the final word in this post, since he’s far more level-headed and thoughtful than me. This is what he wrote in the comment thread back when I ripped on Tim James for similarly naive, linguacentric priggishness:
“Learn English” is almost completely a nonstarter for me. Immigrant families nearly-inevitably *do* learn English, and the assimilation takes one or two generations after immigration.
To grossly simplify: The older folks may never speak fluent English, their kids–who grow up speaking the family language at home and English at school, etc–are bilingual and may speak with an accent, and their kids in turn are native English speakers.
Here in SW MN, that’s how it worked for Germans and Swedes in 1910, and it’s how it’s working for Mexicans, East Africans, and Burmese now.
This still leaves real, complex, and sometimes costly questions of how much and what kind of accommodations and services to offer during the transition.
But demanding, “Learn English”? That’s purely and only a message of fear for English-speaking constituents. It says nothing to immigrants. They don’t need to be told; they *are* learning English.
* * * * *
Well, to a large extent, it is a race issue. In the same way that poverty is, in many ways, a race issue. Whether the residents of Lino Lakes like it or not, the people being affected by this resolution are not blonde-haired, blue-eyed Swedes who want to speak Swedish. The people this affects will be Hmong, Somalis, Ethiopians, Latinos, and other non-white immigrant groups in the Twin Cities area. Obviously this isn’t overt racism targeted at a specific racial group, a la Jim Crow. No one is saying that it is.
But that’s the problem, we think if it ain’t Jim Crow it doesn’t have anything to do with race. Of course, the “we” I’m referring to is almost exclusively white. I don’t know a single non-white person who thinks we’re “post-racial.”
I agree. Well put.
I’m saying even if it had nothing to do with race, it would be a bad move.
Maybe it’s better to call this a “national identity” issue. One of the many problems with our current immigration, um, policy, is that it focusses (and I use the term loosely) only on the border, instead of the broader isssues like what defines America to immigrants such that they’ll do anything to live here, what will help them and their families succeed, and what, if anything, they should do in return for that help. (BTW, you can practically ask those same questions of Americans who are born and prosper here. But because we don’t even teach serious classes on the meaning of citizenship and civic duty, so good luck with that if you do.)
Is it really a disputable fact that being unable to speak English is a major barrier to being a productive part of American life? Is it in our nation’s best interest to do everything we can to encourage that productivity by helping them learn it? (Hello, driving laws???)
Legal mandates about English are just a form of cultural fascism. But simply sitting back and waiting for the second-generation of an immigrant population to be literate enough to be a productive part of the society that literally birthed and raised them seems to violate some of the most basic principles of being a nation “under God.”
OK – this is why I bristle at the way these types of laws are discussed – the line “In the same way that poverty is, in many ways, a race issue”. I’m not sure exactly what you mean by it, but given the context of the topic in this country, this is how that sounds: “If you are opposed to ever-increasing welfare policies, you are a racist!” I expect you didn’t mean it that way, but that is how that idea (poverty is a race issue) plays out in national politics.
Similarly, this issue – reading through, I find this law has no impact. It fixes a “problem” that doesn’t exist – this town spending money translating city ordinances into other languages when asked to. They have never been requested (there are almost no non-English speakers in Lino Lakes). And it provides so many exeptions, that it’s not clear what it actually changes. All it really does is make a political statement against some of the vocal “La Raza” type groups.
The main offensive part is the quotes from people about how they don’t like other people not speaking English – which is an issue of them not knowing that immigrants DO LEARN English, not just nativism (you should have included the rest of the quote about people speaking other languages at restaraunts. It explains why it bothered him – not just because it isn’t English, but because he extrapolates it means they have decided to NOT learn English or have their children learn it. A wrong conclusion, but helpful in understanding what he is actually saying in the quote you posted.)
So, yes, I think this is a BAD LAW. But the ferocity of the response DOES imply that it is seen as overt racism – and especially when that is tied to other issues where the same thing happens (like poverty or immigration), it makes me defensive, even though I disagree with the law!
Sean – See, that’s the problem though. We’re trying to treat race issues in a vacuum and we just can’t. Example: I live in St. Paul in the Hamline neighborhood near Frog Town. I see non-whites all the time. Tonight I drove out to the suburbs where there’s a lot more money and I didn’t see a single non-white person in the two hours I was out walking.
So even though you disagree with this specific law, I still want to push you a little more. If you’re opposed to all forms of racial injustice, what do you propose we do about the economically-driven injustice we see today? Obviously condemning a bad law like the one described above is a great start, but it’s not enough. If we’re a nation that believes in equality – and according to our founding documents, we are – then we need to answer questions like, “Why do whites have such a disproportionate hold on the nation’s wealth? Are we on a trajectory toward a more just distribution of wealth or less?” Or, “What are we going to do about housing discrimination?” Or, “What are we going to do about public education? NCLB ends up killing inner-city schools, and yet we keep renewing it.”
Just to be clear, I think you’re exactly right that the issue needs lengthier discussion and I’m certainly not trying to be aggressive. I really appreciate your condemnation of the law, I just want to push you a little further because I think one of the big problems in contemporary discussions about race is that we try to treat issues of race in a vacuum disconnected from other hot-button issues. (Oh, and just to lay my cards on the table: I’m a Wendell Berry loving localist who thinks the best way to handle these issues would be to repent of most the changes we made with modernity and industrialization while also renouncing all forms of empire-building. I’ll probably have to just write something unpacking that a little for my blog, would love to have you stop by when I post it!)
peace
I don’t know a single white person who thinks we’re post-racial.” I suspect there are few clear-thinking people of any race or ethnicity who think we are “post-racial”. The term, it seems to me, was manufactured by the media, to describe candidate Barack Obama in the period leading up to the presidential election of 2008. And perhaps in the reflection on the country electing a bi-racial president, it could be assumed that the nation’s sympathies were suddenly “post-racial”. However, even Obama, acting as president is hardly post-racial (Cambridge police dept acted stupidly), and he and his adminstration (Dismissal of voter intimidation case against New Black Panther Party by Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, and the Shirley Sherrod incident, most recently) have stubbed their toes on the matter of race.
Agreed.
. . . but I don’t think ‘Elitist’ is the right word. Maybe ‘Exclutionist’
Question: was there a stipulation that the “Minnesotan” flavor of English be used?
Aha! I’m going to use this in the SLA class I’m teaching this fall. Thanks for the reference!
First off, I think I’m with you on the merits. This does come across as a bit nativist to me. However, I think that what’s probably driving it (aside from the dubious economic considerations) is a sense that local culture, history, and tradition is being demolished. In other words, English-only is really a signal about the larger issue of assimilation. And while there might be a comparison between the Swede and Germans of 1910 and the Somalis and Latinos of 2010, I’m not sure that the parallel holds. I’m no expert on early 20th century immigration history, but I don’t think there was the same sort of “ashamed-to-be-an-American” zeitgeist that exists in certain quarters today. By that, I mean the “Blame-America-first” crowd. Related to this is the rampant cultural relativism that can’t offer criticisms of other cultures and ethnicities without being shouted down as a racist. And finally, there is the sense that some recent immigrants (and they tend to be the vocal ones) are engaged in a bit of cultural conquest rather than cultural assimilation. As an example, I’d point to Cinco-De-Mayo celebrations in the Southwest where Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Texas are reclaimed as part of Mexico.
In short, the nice Swedes of Lino Lakes most likely feel that their culture, tradition, and way of life is under assault by cultural relativists, mass immigration, and a federal government unwilling to perform its duties on the border. They are seeing their communities transformed seemingly overnight and they can’t criticize the new neighbors without being denounced as racists. So they make an economic argument for English as the official language of government.
At least that’s my thought.
Well put.
This is a power grab, purely and simply. In the next hundred years of American history, white America will be forced to either make decisions like this or be humble enough to watch the power shift away from them to the burgeoning brown population.
Issues like this are seldom “pure” or “simple”.
not to sound supportive by any means, but I must say that I’m glad (many qualifiers go into saying that) that it’s not just an Alabama problem. I was ashamed to be an Alabamian perhaps more than ever when Tim James pushed out his poor excuse for marketing several months ago.
The reason I can cautiously say “glad” isn’t because of the fact that it may seemingly get us in Alabama off the proverbial hook so much as my hope that if the problem is on a more national level than state level it will inevitably be more in the fore of people’s ethical, political and religious thought process and as such have a better and more complete resolution (not to mention on a more holistic [national] level).
I can identify with you John. And I’m happy to report that Tim James lost in the Republican primary.
Eww, that one quote made me queasy, too. Our family is solely English speaking, for now. But that’s only because my hubs and I weren’t given an option growing up. Now that we’re parents, though, we’re trying to instill a passion for languages within our own children. And it’s not difficult. Surprisingly, all of them truly enjoy it. We’re starting with Spanish, but plan to add as many as we can master.
Languages are awesome. Reminds me of how diversely the Lord created us.
Do you shout at the TV too, Abraham?
Don’t watch. But if I did, yes I would.
An interesting (or at least interesting to me) observation that I made, living overseas: Generally speaking, Americans even expect folks to learn English in their own country. This is not so much true in the missions community where people generally have cross-cultural and linguistic training. However, in the business and diplomatic community there are very few people who learn even the basics of the language of their host country. At least this is what we’ve found to be true in Mongolia. However, lest we be too hard on ourselves as Americans … the Russians are worse than we are in this area. The Russian community in Ulaanbaatar will generally not even speak to Mongolians who have not learned Russian, and I have never heard a Russian speak Mongolian.
As one who has lived in another country as an “immigrant” of sorts, I will attest to the fact that it is true that no “learn the language” law is required. It does seem like one is always learning language, law or no law.
This is an interesting issue. As was stated in the comments above, there is are cultural issues in the Lino Lakes community which should also be taken into consideration (feelings of insecurity, losing a “way of life”, etc.) However, I think communities like Lino Lakes will only hurt themselves with this kind of narrow thinking in an age which is becoming increasingly global.
I can personally attest your brother’s observation about SW MN. My grandmother often recounted her grandfather who moved to North Iowa from Germany to start a farm. He only spoke German, as did most of his neighbors. His son, my great-grandfather was bilingual. By the time I got to know my grandmother most of the words she knew in German were words best not to be translated into English. Ironically, my sister became bilingual, knowing more German than my grandmother as a foreign exchange student in Germany for a year.
I also grew up near a ghost town in North Iowa named Germantown. During WWI, to avoid persecution, its name was changed. Can you imagine the reaction to small immigrant towns sprouting up in the modern rural Midwest named Mexicanville, Somalitown, or Bosniburg?
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American … There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag … We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language … and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
Theodore Roosevelt – 1907
Sorry, Abraham – but you do not see other countries making concessions for those who speak only English when it comes to signage, or government forms. Even those countries that speak English as a second language do not do multi-language printings – and they do not provide interpretors at their cost. It is what it is. What you may see as elitist, others see as national pride.
My husband and I spend a lot of time in Russia/Belarus with his family, and sadly, they print tons of things in English. And its not translated well. It’s actually compelled me to make a better effort with my Russian, becuase I, and the other Americans who live abroad don’t want to spend time figuring out what they are saying, find it easier. It helps me understand how hard it is to be from another country.
And I know more immigrants than people born in America now. And they are SO proud, to speak English and know more about American History than I do, and I learn about all the immigrants who came to America during the Revolution and helped us out.
And why do we have to suggest that we be more like Europe? Look how well that’s working out for them.
Just saying.
Shades of Hérouxville (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9rouxville,_Quebec)…
I’m in Africa working as a linguist to help people exercise their basic human right to preserve and promote their mother-tongue (and by consequence, their culture) and to overcome the barriers to education and equality presented by over-simplistic language policies. When I read stuff like this about what’s happening not too far from where I call home I feel one thing: shame.
Me too. You do good work.
Having taken ASL in college, I also feel strongly about this kind of issue. Translation of writings isn’t as big an issue with the Deaf community (they read in English), but the attitude of refusing to provide language services is dangerous.