Bush Enters Anthem Fight on Language

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the NYTimes, April 29, 2006

Bush Enters Anthem Fight on Language

By JIM RUTENBERG

WASHINGTON, April 28President Bush has never been shy about speaking
Spanish in public, and he is known to love all kinds of music: country,
folk and even Tex-Mex style rock. But one thing you will not find on his
iPod: "Nuestro Himno," the new Spanish version of the national anthem that
was released on Friday as part of the growing immigrants' rights movement.
Asked at a news briefing in the Rose Garden on Friday whether he believed
the anthem would have the same value in Spanish as it did in English, Mr.
Bush said flatly, "No, I don't." "And I think people who want to be a
citizen of this country ought to learn English," Mr. Bush said. "And they
ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."

Mr. Bush has tried to occupy a middle ground in the raging debate over
immigration, supporting legislation that would grant immigrant workers
temporary legal status and perhaps a path to citizenship, while pushing
for immigrants to learn English also pressing for more steps to stop the
flow of newcomers over the border. But his statement about the anthem was
taken by members of both parties as a clear signal to conservatives that
he stood with them on what many of them see as a clash between national
identity and multiculturalism. His remarks touched directly on the divide
over the impact of immigrants on the nation's culture, crystallized this
time by the release of the Spanish version of the anthem, loosely
translated and featuring Spanish-language stars like Gloria Trevi and
Carlos Ponce.

Adam Kidron, chief executive of the label that released the new version of
the anthem, Urban Box Office Records, said in a statement that the song
helped those who did not speak English "to fully understand the character
of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' the American flag and the ideals of freedom
that they represent." The song, which includes some departures from the
original lyrics, was distributed to Spanish-language radio stations, many
of which have been encouraging huge numbers of protesters to take to the
streets in recent weeks. Another large action is scheduled for many cities
on Monday, when some immigrant rights groups are calling for a nationwide
economic boycott.

The anthem has fed into a backlash on talk radio, the Internet, cable
television and Capitol Hill, with conservatives complaining that it was
encouraging the very cultural balkanization that they have feared all
along. Mr. Bush's comments were striking for a president who has embraced
Spanish in his political life. Mr. Bush grew up in Midland, Tex.,
alongside Spanish-speaking children. As a politician who became governor
and ran for president aiming to build a broader Republican coalition, he
seized every chance to win over the fast-growing Hispanic population.

"He recognized that Texas was rapidly becoming a state that would have
more Hispanics and more African-Americans than it would Anglos," said
Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, who plans to introduce a
resolution on Monday "to remind the country" why the national anthem
should be always sung in English. Mr. Bush took aim at Hispanics as an
important voting bloc during the last two president campaigns. Mr. Bush
has starred in his own Spanish-language advertising, and he was the first
president to give his weekly radio address in Spanish. (The Spanish wire
service Agencia EFE once said he spoke the language poorly, "but with
great confidence.") Mr. Bush ventured into a little Spanish on Friday,
using the Spanish pronunciation for the smugglers known as "coyotes" while
outlining the need for stricter border enforcement.

Democrats and Republicans alike said Mr. Bush seemed to be making clear to
conservatives for the grassroots and for those in Congress opposing guest
worker and citizenship provisions in the immigration legislation that
there were limits to his support for the pro-immigration agenda. Should
the Senate pass immigration legislation this year that creates a guest
worker program and a path to citizenship for some workers in the United
States illegally provisions that most conservatives oppose Mr. Bush would
play a main role in working on a deal with the House, which has passed a
bill that addresses just border security. "The president is working hard
to try to pass the bill, and he's thrown a bone to the right here," said
Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, a centrist group
that focuses on Hispanic issues.

White House officials said Mr. Bush was not being politically calculating
and has always believed that new immigrants should embrace the national
language and culture. Mr. Bush made his comments in a wide-ranging session
with reporters in which he also said he opposed calls for a
windfall-profits tax on oil companies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/29/washington/29bush.html?hp&ex=1146369600&en=de88be2e28ed3412&ei=5094&partner=homepage