Spanish in US: Link to Spain?

[Grant Barrett]

Linda Colley, professor of history at the European Institute, London
School of Economics, and formerly of Yale, writes in the New Statesman that
the growing presence of Spanish in the United States represents links to
Spain. (The article, however, is largely about Britain's role in Europe and
world culture and history).

I would argue that Spanish in the US says more about Latin America
looking to the US as a prime influencer, rather than an indication of a Spain-US
link. (Very colonial perspective on her part, I would think, and
definitely Euro-centric). In fact, despite the lack of dominant language link,
perhaps the US is more of a Big Country role model for Latin America than
Spain (as if, of course, Latin American countries all behave the same). The
paragraph below seems to ignore 1) past wholesale integration of large
immigrant groups into mainstream English-speaking American culture and 2) that
language does not necessarily behave as a guaranteed unifier.

>From http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/199905030019.htm

"The US is no longer overwhelmingly made up of, or led by, our
English-speaking cousins. I come back to my point that Britain was never the only
European power with an overseas empire. The Dutch had settlements in
America. So did the French. So, above all, did the Spanish. And the rapid growth
of the Hispanic population in the US, as well as its Asian and black
populations, is something that many Britons, I think, still do not fully
appreciate. As anyone resident in the States will tell you, the Spanish language
and culture are increasingly important there, and not just in states with
historic links to the Spanish empire, such as Texas and California. Even
my own former East Coast base, Connecticut, which was once a British
colony, now issues all its public notices in Spanish as well as English. For
many reasons, 21st-century American governing elites will be much less
European in background, outlook and style than earlier generations. And many
will feel closer cultural and emotional ties with Spain than they do with
this country."

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at americandialect.org