The Official "Should the US Have an Official Language" Thread

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Alphagamuga

I think we should have English as the official language.

I also think that we should limit and define what additional languages that government services will be provided in. . . . .

Could whoever mentioned laws and treaties that prohibited the US having an official language please name some?

The one person who mentioned treaties in this thread has previously cited the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo as banning an official language in the US. Suffice it to say, that's a misreading of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo.

As for other laws, I could be quite wrong on this, but if the goal is to eliminate the offering of government services in languages other than English, I wonder if a constitutional amendment would be required. At the least, I would foresee years of litigation on the issue.

[SydneyK]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

It's hard to bring this up (English as the US's official language) without people screaming foul in regards to using this as a tool to discriminate against immigrants.

You're absolutely right. And (this is going to sound horribly crass, but I'm gonna say it anyway), the whole discrimination thing has gone way too far. Anymore, everyone can find something to shout, "Discrimination!" at. Blondes are discriminated against because they're blonde. Overweight people are discriminated against because of their weight. Men are discriminated against because they're men. The list is endless. We (in the national sense) don't look for "tools" to enable us to discriminate. We (in the national sense) just look for a way to communicate with one another. If someone who speaks another language comes here to live, they, assuming they want to communicate effectively with us (nationally), need to learn our language. It's not a ploy, or a trick, or some underhanded scheme... it's a language for crying out loud. Learn it -- or don't. But don't expect us (nationally) to learn your language. After all, you're the one who came here.

(Yikes. Sorry for the rant.)