is making English the u.s's official language a racist proposal?

Question

just wondering what your thoughts are. I think everyone here should speak english, but thats just my opinion.

Answer 1

well, i definitely speak english
and no, it isn't racist
it's easier if you speak english here anyway

Answer 2

This is a very difficult question to answer, but it realkly all depends on your particluar viewpoint on the matter. Since the country was founded there was never any law that officially dictated what the official language of the US is. It is generally thought to be English, as that was what the founders of the country spoke when it was founded and it is what most people who are born and raised in this country learn to speak.
However, there are some pretty obvious problems. The first of which is that many non-english speakers, particularly Spanish speakers come into the country every day. And statistics show that currently roughly 12% of the US population speak Spanish as a first or second language, which makes it the fifth largest Spanish speaking country in the world.
But now that I've laid the facts about the situation out, here's where the tricky part comes in. For most people, the language thhat you speak says quite a bit about who you are and where you come from, for obvious reasons, and to tell someone that they have to learn a new language when they go to another country can make people fell marginalized. So forcing another language onto a group of foreign language speakers is a bit harsh.
Next, we need to look at what an official language is. The simple definition of an official language is the language that tends to be the language spoken by the majority of a nation, and the one in which most government buisiness occurs in. As you can see from the definition, this is not necessarily as bad as it may seem. The official language does not mean that schools have to educate in that particular language, nor is it the language that you must speak at home. It is simply the language that the governement uses to conduct its buisiness.
This leaves quite a bit of leeway in what language is spoken where. If you ask me, I don't think it's a racist proposal. Honestly, I don't think that making the official lanugage of the US English is even a necessary measure. It's pretty well known that people in the US speak English. But as I said earlier, forcing someone to speak another language is a pretty horrible thing to do, but there is very little that can be done to force any one group to speak a language.

Answer 3

well, America has always prided itself on being a cultural melting pot. We are the most diverse group of people in the world. Changing the official language to English doesn't mean everyone in the world has to learn English. It means all of the government issued tests and documents will be written in English. For example, right now the DMV issues driving tests in about 13 languages. If the official language was English, the DMV would only be allowed to issue the test in English. Is it racist? I don't think so. I think it would solve the immigration problem though. I don't know where I'm going with this so I'll stop.

Answer 4

Honestly, I think it's silly that there's even talk about making English the "official" language, in the USA. English has been the unofficial "official" language in this country for over 200 years. The idea that the USA should have any other language as its official language (or even a co-official language) when the vast majority of business is transacted in English, the signs are all in English, official government documents are in English, our schools are English-speaking, etc., strikes me as ludicrous.

I think it is very important for Americans to be fluent in other languages (I speak three besides English), but the USA is an English-speaking country. Anyone who wants to live here has to accept that as part of the package.

Answer 5

I think it should be official. Almost every other nation has an official language or languages. For some reason, only when the US talks about making English the official language do liberals here and race baiters from other countries decide that it is racist.

Answer 6

I agree with you. I am Hispanic but I feel we should all speak English. It is the official language of the USA and if you want to live here, you need to take the time to learn English.

I am not being racist. It's just my opinion.

Answer 7

BEING THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE AND BEING THE ONLY LANGUAGE ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT, NOT TOLERATING OTHER LANGUAGES IS DISCRIMINATING!!!
Making english the official language is a fine idea, its all the ignorance that people are trying to tack on with it. Refusing to take somebody's order, who cannot order in english, at a steak sandwich shop IS racist and purly stupid AND SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. There are plenty of AMERICANS whether deaf, mute or mentally disabled that cannot order with out the use of assistance or picture cards, should it be legal to discriminate against them? No, obviously that would not be tolerated. English should be our OFFICIAL language, people should have to speak english to become an american citizen. But, it should NOT be the only language allowed to be spoken. There are millions of people who are only residents or here on visas, or just visiting from another country, why should they have to speak english? We go to countries (ie,, Malaisia, Thailand, Germany, France etc...) and we dont usually speak their languages. We are a country made up of every race and culture, and we should stop trying to take those cultures away from people.
WE NEED TO BE A COUNTRY OF TOLERANCE!!! ANY FORM OF DISCRIMINATION CANNOT BE ALLOWED!!

Answer 8

I agree wholeheartedly with you. What are the official languages of other countries ie: French in France, German in Germany, Spanish in Spain, etc. If I were to live in another country for any length of time I would attempt to learn the official language of that country, so the U.S. should have the language we chose to speak when we first formed our nation, which was English.

Answer 9

No. Language has nothing to do with race, but with culture. There are the liliest-white people who speak no English, and people dark as a Hersey bar who speak it well as a second or even first language. How could it be racist?

Answer 10

First of all english is not a race.Next is England founded this country well help bring things together and everybody spoke english until many immigrants brought their own languages,but c'mon ALMOST everything is english and it used to be the first and ONLY language so why not the offical language.It wouldn't be "racist".

Answer 11

You cannot paint an advertisement sign in France that is not in French. Having a national language is only reasonable. The organization of a country is based upon efficiently realizing common goals based upon common values and relying upon a common language. English is ours. French is the language in France. Arabic is the language in Saudi Arabia. Spanish is the language in numerous countries. When you seek to join another country, it is theoretically because you wish to be a part of that country. I would not think of migrating to Panama without learning Spanish, or Mexico either. I would be useless there. In the same way, if you come to America, it is theoretically because you wish to be American. Our language is English. If you wish to only know Spanish, there are many countries to choose from.

Daniel
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