I love the show The West Wing; while chronicling the administration of a fictional, liberal Bartlet in the White House, its snappy dialogue and impassioned speeches (courtesy of Aaron Sorkin) always leave me feeling extra patriotic. Although it's been off the air since 2006, the most striking thing I notice when I re-watch episodes is that certain political topics that were hot-button issues in 1999, during the show's first season, are still relevant 13 years later. The same divisive political issues predictably cycle through Congress with startling regularity.
The parallels between the fictional landscape of over a decade ago and our current Congress were especially apparent this past week when the issue of making English the official language of the United States was brought up yet again. H.R. 997, the "English Language Unity Act of 2011," introduced by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) would make English the official language of the United States. This means that all "official functions" of the United States government would have to be performed in English.
Gabe Rottman, ACLU Legislative Counsel observes that this would include, "tax documents, voter guides and probably signage in federal buildings. The language is broad enough it could even cover public broadcasting." Furthermore, anyone seeking U.S. citizenship would have to, "understand generally the English language text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the laws of the United States made in pursuance of the Constitution." This would make the test for a "uniform language testing standard" significantly harder than the test that immigrants have been taking for generations. This unreasonable restriction of language, that targets language minorities, is a clear violation of the First Amendment's right to free speech. Furthermore, it violates the spirit of our country. America has always been a melting pot; we're a country of immigrants.
Our national identity centers around the ideals of freedom and liberty, rather than any one shared ethnic or linguistic background. By making English the official language, we would be sending the message to those for whom English is not their first language that they are less American, and their contribution to our government is less desired. As a country who values the democratic process as one of the most patriotic aspects of being an American, shutting people out should never be a legislative goal.
In The West Wing, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman and the deaf pollster spend an entire episode having a periodic argument about making English the national language. Josh challenges Joey, posing as 19th century French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville, and proclaims, "making English the official language of the United States will safeguard our national identity and help us avoid ethnic strife. What say you to that?"
Joey looks exasperated, and then signs back in response (as her interpreter translates). She begins by stating how politically unwise such a law would be in certain voting blocs, but then continues that, "if you do need a counter argument, Monsieur de Tocqueville over here, then I'd mention that aside from it being bigoted and unconstitutional, it's ludicrous to think that laws need to be created to help protect the language of Shakespeare."
While it's true that we've gone over this already again (and again), there's no doubt that in another handful of years someone will introduce a similar bill to "protect English." Then, as always, we can remind politicians that our language doesn't need protecting. Rather, we're far better served as a democratic nation spending that time including and welcoming traditionally disenfranchised citizens, including language minorities, into our government and national debate.
