<div dir="ltr">
<h1 class="gmail-title" id="gmail-page-title">It’s a free country, but don't speak your own language</h1>
<div class="gmail-submitted-wrp">
<span class="gmail-submitted-by">
By Jin-Ya Huang, opinion controbutor
—
<span class="gmail-submitted-date">05/25/18 03:30 PM EDT</span>
</span>
<a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/389384-its-a-free-country-but-dont-speak-your-own-language#bottom-story-socials" class="gmail-disqus-comments" style="display:inline"><span></span> 269</a> <div class="gmail-submitted-by">
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill </div>
</div> <div class="gmail-blogs-social-wrp">
<span class="gmail-social-share-count">
22</span>
<div class="gmail-addthis_inline_share_toolbox_ru82" style="clear:both"><div id="gmail-atstbx" class="gmail-at-resp-share-element gmail-at-style-responsive gmail-addthis-smartlayers gmail-addthis-animated gmail-at4-show"><span id="gmail-at-7040b6f4-5174-4796-81c4-1b834e54e8c8" class="gmail-at4-visually-hidden">AddThis Sharing Buttons</span><div class="gmail-at-share-btn-elements"><a tabindex="1" class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper gmail-at-share-btn gmail-at-svc-facebook" style="background-color:rgb(59,89,152);border-radius:0px"><span class="gmail-at4-visually-hidden">Share to Facebook</span><span class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper" style="line-height:32px;height:32px;width:32px"></span></a><a tabindex="1" class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper gmail-at-share-btn gmail-at-svc-twitter" style="background-color:rgb(29,161,242);border-radius:0px"><span class="gmail-at4-visually-hidden">Share to Twitter</span><span class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper" style="line-height:32px;height:32px;width:32px"></span></a><a tabindex="1" class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper gmail-at-share-btn gmail-at-svc-google_plusone_share" style="background-color:rgb(220,78,65);border-radius:0px"><span class="gmail-at4-visually-hidden">Share to Google+</span><span class="gmail-at-icon-wrapper" style="line-height:32px;height:32px;width:32px"></span></a></div></div></div>
<div class="gmail-share-additional">
</div>
<div class="gmail-share">
<a href="mailto:?subject=TheHill.com%3A%20It%E2%80%99s%20a%20free%20country%2C%20but%20don%26%23039%3Bt%20speak%20your%20own%20language&body=From%20TheHill.com%3A%20%0A%0AThis%20outdated%20idea%20of%20%22English%20only%22%20prevents%20immigrants%20from%20being%20able%20to%20contribute%20fully%20to%20s...%0A%0Ahttp%3A//thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/389384-its-a-free-country-but-dont-speak-your-own-language" class="email"> </a> </div></div>
<div id="gmail-content" class="gmail-column">
<article class="gmail-node-389384 gmail-node gmail-node-article gmail-view-mode-full gmail-clearfix">
<header>
</header>
<div class="gmail-content-img-wrp">
<div class="gmail-content-img"><img src="http://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_small_article/public/englishonly.jpg?itok=ve-_D_ad" alt="It’s a free country, but don't speak your own language" width="640" height="360"></div><div class="gmail-credits">© Getty Images</div> </div>
<div class="gmail-content-with-sidebar-wrp">
<div class="gmail-content-wrp">
<div class="gmail-field gmail-field-name-body gmail-field-type-text-with-summary gmail-field-label-hidden"><div class="gmail-field-items"><div class="gmail-field-item even"><p><span style="font-weight:400">America has gone from land of the free to home of the not-so-brave, where some people push for an </span><a href="https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/english-only-movement" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">English-only movement</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">. Last week an irate </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/white-man-rants-spanish-speaking-workers-fresh-kitchen-article-1.3993056" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">white male lawyer threatened to call immigration</span></a><span style="font-weight:400"> officials on employees at a New York restaurant because they were speaking Spanish.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400"> And, recently the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/?utm_term=.ba7474961e8d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">lawsuit against Albertsons</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">
grocery stores, alleging the company subjected its Hispanic workers to
harassment and a hostile work environment by implementing a no-Spanish
policy.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">This form of linguistic paranoia should be banned — not the practice of people speaking their own native language.</span></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-weight:400">When
we moved from Taipei, Taiwan, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, my family lived in a
predominantly white neighborhood, and I attended school with a small
number of students of color. My middle school started an English Second
Language (ESL) class because of me. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">I
hung out with the black kids and the punk rockers at lunch as an
“other.” I longed to live in a more racially diverse area where I might
have the chance to speak Chinese to anyone other than my mom, dad or my
sisters. I thought this would happen once we got to a more metropolitan
city like Dallas, Texas. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">But
one night while dining out, I tried to speak Mandarin to a waitress who
had been speaking Chinese to the kitchen staff behind the counter; she
replied to me in English, completely ignoring my request to acknowledge
our common cultural grounds. I was shocked. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">Only about one in four Americans can hold a conversation in a </span><a href="http://news.gallup.com/poll/1825/about-one-four-americans-can-hold-conversation-second-language.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">second language</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">. Thirty-two </span><a href="https://www.usenglish.org/official-english/research-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">U.S. states have Official English</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">
laws. English is the official language in 51 nations throughout the
world. This low level of inclusion and diversity does not translate to
equity in policy.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">My
ex-husband was mindful of this. He is white and speaks only English.
When we visited with my family, he often thought they were speaking ill
of him in Chinese. This insecurity led to many miscommunications and
misunderstandings that are reflected often in our society. The average
immigrant or refugee living in extreme poverty does not have immediate
access to school or language skill training. Becoming proficient in
English is a challenge. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">On
one hand, this movement could help establish unity by preserving the
English language and assisting new arrivals in learning English. On the
other hand, this movement restricts free speech, increases
discrimination and promotes division. These may be the reasons why the
United States Constitution does not establish an </span><a href="https://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">official language</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">,</span><span style="font-weight:400"> and legislative attempts to do so have not been successful, so far. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">We
need to seek empathy and understanding with those who face language
barriers. Not having language is a disability and it should be
considered in the </span><a href="https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/disability/ada" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight:400">Americans with Disabilities Act</span></a><span style="font-weight:400">. Without access to a language, people are just as debilitated as the blind or the deaf when it comes to access to information. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">The
attitude that people who come to this country must speak English is
antiquated and does nothing to bolster the concept of human centered
design in resolving the world's most difficult problems. This outdated
idea of "English only" prevents immigrants from being able to contribute
fully to society, when all most of us want to do is to become
participating and productive citizens. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">Feeling
too intimidated to speak your native tongue should not be an issue at
work or during your personal time. Our constitution guarantees free
speech, so clearly those on both sides of this debate should be able to
express their opinions; but this should not be a company’s policy or
the law. To be asked to hush in the library when we’re too loud is one
thing, but to silence anyone for simply speaking to his or her fellow
neighbors in their own language is absolutely unacceptable. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight:400">We
have to urge corporations to reexamine their human resources handbook
on what’s appropriate regarding language usage in the workplace.
Otherwise we’re in danger of not having the valuable resources
immigrants and migrants can bring to the workforce simply because they
don’t speak English. That is not the America we signed up for. </span></p><p><em><span style="font-weight:400">Jin-Ya
Huang is the founder of Break Bread, Break Borders, which is a social
entrepreneurship that provides economic empowerment to refugees through
sharing food and culture. She is a Dallas Greenhouse Public Voices
Fellow with The OpEd Project. </span></em></p></div></div></div></div></div></article></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>