Rebecca Knight
Gallipolis, Ohio
Many citizens of this country support laws making English the U.S.’s official language without understanding exactly what they are supporting. America has been a land of multi-culturalism and diversity since its inception in the 18th Century. Immigrants have slowly been assimilated into mainstream America. When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they did not include an official language clause. Instead, they included many clauses that indirectly guard multilingualism, such as the right to free speech and the equal protection clause.
Advocates of Official English base their arguments on false logic. They argue that lingual diversity causes internal conflict within a nation; however, this is difficult to support with any type of evidence since there are very few monolingual societies in the world. They also argue that a common language holds our nation together. The United States is held together by more than a language, it is held together by the ideals that it embodies, such as freedom and democracy. Another disproved argument that they advocate is that the “new” immigrants are unwilling to adapt to society, when in actuality immigrants are assimilating faster now than they ever have before.
We should be proud of and encourage our multilingual heritage instead of trying to end lingual diversity within our nation. Multilingualism has many benefits for our country. It provides us with a greater political and economic advantage in the multilingual world.
