I was watching CNN last night, and they were having a segment about places trying to get "English only" laws passed; i.e., only English in official government docs, taught in schools, etc.
HEATED arguments ensued between opposing viewpoints. What do you think of this?
I will give you my opinion, and remember, I'm an Anglo living in an area with an 80% Hispanic population.
--first, I really don't think that "English only" is a good, practical, or beneficial idea. It's not a requirement that citizens speak English, and second and third generations always lose most of their old language anyway.
--second, and this is really the kicker-- I don't care how many times they deny it, to me the "English First" stuff is nothing but thinly disguised bigotry and hatred, and I won't have anything to do with that.
I am so tired of institutionalized fear, bigotry, and hatred.
I know this issue is related to the illegal immigration problem, too, but not exclusively. Plenty of legal aliens and citizens in my town speak only Spanish.
ETA: Here's the CNN page covering this stuff:
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/hispanic.heritage/