Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Immigration / Law and Order / Silverman Georgia Worse Than Nashville When It Comes to English Only
Posted by Jack Silverman on Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 6:24 AM
In January 2009, the city of Nashville voted against an English-only referendum because it would send the wrong message about Nashville's hospitality. Obviously, Nashville's elected officials and community leaders wanted to ensure they remain competitive for foreign investment.And the part that will warm the cockles of 57 percent of Nashville voters' hearts (and give Eric Crafton fits):
It is shameful and it is a great disappointment our political leadership hasn't recognized the wisdom Nashville demonstrated. Georgia hypocrisy is always on my mind.Perhaps the buckle of the Bible Belt is a little more progressive than we give it credit for.
Comments (6)
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The buckle of the Bible belt is more progressive than the state of Georgia. I'm from Atlanta but don't confuse Atlanta with the rest of the state. It's like two different planets. But it's certainly sad that the Georgia legislature is choosing to go down this path. There is a huge number of latinos, as well as other ethnic groups (they even have a number of foreign consulates in Atlanta), in Georgia and the signal they are sending is "We don't want you here!"
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Eh, the Tennessee Senate is well on its way to passing the same bill (unsurprisingly sponsored by Sen. Ketron). In 2007, it actually did pass in the Senate and failed in the House. Though I'd love to brag about being less xenophobic than Georgia, I don't think we can claim this one.
http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=10103300
Yes, a better comparison would be if Fulton county (Atlanta) tried to pass something like that.
And JJ Andrews, I think he meant what he typed.
Christy, good point. Ouch. Hopefully it will get killed again before it's law. But isn't it funny that they're making an exception for German for the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga? Gee, it's not targeted at any SPECIFIC non-English speakers now, is it?
JJ, thanks for your articulate and nuanced rebuttal. I have a much clearer perspective of both sides of the issue now.
And Chris, very true. (As Christy's comment makes clear.) It is definitely and apples to oranges comparison. The real gist of my post was the novelty of seeing Nashville held up as a shining example of tolerance and progressive attitudes, and my headline could have reflected that better.
It is OUTRAGEOUS (and scary) that you would compare an "official English" proposal to "Whites only"... Measures like "official English" are BENEFICIAL to immigrants, which is why immigrant parents have been at the forefront of the fight to ensure that people in this country (regardless of what state they're in) have services provided in English; even opponents of these measures have realized that they were wrong.
In India, one thing they have long admired about the United States (along with many other things, though many aspects are also strongly disliked, of course...), is that there is only ONE major language. Other nations know how difficult things can be, and how many problems can arise, when this is not the case.
(Even our neighbors up north, where they have only 2 national languages, have come very close to having their country torn apart, with language differences being a major instigator of the schism.)
We cannot afford to create that type of system in our country.
And I think that those who are immigrants would be the first to agree.
