POSTED BY ARNOLD HAMILTON
OK, call me an elitist if you must, but I think state lawmakers embracing the English-only initiative ought to at least be able to speak proper English.
After all, we already have enough laws the Legislature ignores. The April 1 deadline for funding education? Not once have lawmakers met that requirement. What about the law that state employees who fail to file and pay their taxes can be fired? The last time I checked, Oklahoma legislators draw a state paycheck. Yet, none of the recently identified scofflaws have been canned -- though voters get the chance to play The Donald ["You're Fired!"] in November.
The King's English, as my grandmother used to call it, is mangled early and often in the Legislature.
Many lawmakers have been heard to ask: "Is there a physical impact on this bill?" Not unless someone throws a copy at your head. There may well be a fiscal impact, however.
The presiding officers frequently call upon members to speak by declaring, "You are reck-uh-nized." Alas, there is no recognition the word is being mispronounced.
A silly complaint? About as silly as amending the Oklahoma Constitution to memorialize English as the official language.
English already is the official language. I've been in most of Oklahoma's 77 counties during my lifetime and I don't recall ever seeing bilingual or multilingual government signs, documents or records like I saw on my visit to Quebec.
[Yes, I'm aware of efforts to help Spanish speakers secure driver's licenses ... but perhaps many of them are working hard to develop their English skills. Why would we make it more difficult for them to drive to school and work in the meantime? Will we soon be giving tests to non-English speaking tourists before we allow them to rent cars in the U.S. and drive on our roads?]
The English-only proposition isn't about helping -- or even forcing -- newcomers to participate fully in American society. It's about making a small, but rabid group of nativists feel superior.
They don't get it that strength can be found in this wonderful tapestry of the world's peoples, coalescing to create a magnificent land of opportunity, welcoming those who hunger for a chance to be all their creator made them to be.
The xenophobes offer a glass-is-half-empty view of the American dream. They trace their roots other lands, but are afraid new immigrants will displace them on the socioeconomic pecking order. They want to slam the door shut.
It's an age-old fear, playing itself out again.
Won't we ever learn?
1 comment:
I lived in Oklahoma for a number of years and found the _Observer_ to be a voice of sanity in a sea of pseudo-journalistic drivel. What I found frustrating then, as I do once more through the "English" official language article, was the abysmal lack of critical thinking that seemed to permeate a good portion of the state. I am originally from a state that rivals Oklahoma in its lack of educational funding and love of sports, so I was sadly accustomed to willful avoidance of basic connections between policies and outcomes. I still found, however, the sort of averse "person on the street" reaction to understanding the connections between political posturing, media echo chambers and discussions about "them" to be more than mystifying. After all, if public school officials and teachers who rightly criticize--say--former Governor Keating for his feelings about public school teachers, Eastern Oklahomans and anyone who didn't agree with him turn right around and ask, as was done in a conversation I experienced, "What's NPR?" I began to wonder if these people who claim to cherish "education" were not actually helping to make Governor Keating's case for him. Maybe if Oklahoma valued its educational system by insisting that its leaders both understand the basics of English grammar and the social importance of National Public Radio, it might lead them toward a greater understanding of the beauties of their own "official language" and subsequently be able to teach it correctly to their students of any ethnic background.
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