If You Don’t Speak English, Forget about Running for Office
James Dugan
Ken LundWhenever I think of making people speak English and the state of Arizona, I remember good old Joey Vento, deceased owner of Geno’s. His passion against immigrants taking advantage of the good will of Americans and Arizona’s crazy law to stop anyone who remotely looks like a immigrant are two extremes of patriotism gone awry. Though Joey Vento has gone to the great Italian American Club in the sky, Arizona is back with more political nonsense.
Alejandrina Cabrera, a United States citizen, from San Luis, Arizona is Banned from Running for City Council Because of Poor English. She is appealing the ruling instigated by the mayor of the town who does have a history of discord with the emerging politician. She has been found grossly under proficient in her English skills and the mayor believes she could not serve her 87% Hispanic electorate with due diligence if elected. She of course believes differently and believes the system is discriminating against her.
Should someone be banned from elected office because they do not speak English? According to a 2006 law, English is the official language of Arizona and a much older law says that not understanding the language is reason to deny office. It should be settled. Alejandrina Cabrera should go back to her Yuma high school, a bi-lingual school, and gain control of the official language, thus making her capable of performing her council duties.
Then why does it feel so wrong?
How can we deny a United States citizen access from being on the ballot because of language deficiencies? No one wants to go down the road that this is just flat out racism, but being Hispanic in Arizona seems to be a huge handicap when it comes to the law. This is an attack against the woman’s intelligence, based on her lack of English skills, by the city and state, which both refuse to change their policies as the electorate and culture changes.
Government should reflect the people. If Spanish is the language of the town and her ward, then it is with good faith that city council should take into account the changing demographics to better serve its people. If they do not, then it plain racism and using a language proficiency law from the early 1900s is an insidious way to keep Hispanic American citizens, who speak Spanish, from taking part in our democracy.
If it has teeth like a rat, it probably is going to bite us or spread disease.
The attack against Hispanic representation is happening in Texas with its redistricting. Though the population of Hispanics has boomed in the lone star state, the new state redistricting map has not gained any more political power for the group. This is just another example of overt discrimination using a system meant to keep incumbents and their power in charge.
The ability to speak English is not a sign of intelligence or stupidity. The ability to communicate in English is not a sign you are American. The sign you are an American is that you take your voting power and the great gift of democracy to change the country for the better. We should not deny political office because of developing English skills, because that is what Jim Crow tried to do to prevent Americans from voting with literacy tests.
The Hispanic population will continue to grow and change America unlike any non-English immigrant and citizen population before. To deny them their rights to participate in American democracy is unconstitutional and inherently racist. Sorry Joey, I do like Geno’s steaks though.
You can follow James Dugan on Facebook and on Twitter @jamesduganlb
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Reader Comments (7)
Aside from that, why is it so wrong for her to learn English? And if her constituents are interested in being successful in a country where English is the primary language, then what is the harm in learning it? Especially when in any public school at any time, along with libraries and other FREE institutions the learning of this language is readily available, and most of the time, for FREE! Not to mention almost all products are written with instructions in Spanish as well as almost every phone operator, who gives options to hear Spanish instead. If she's not trying, shame on her. She wants more from her life, good for her. She now has to work for what she wants and learn English. No one is asking her to let go of her culture, but to assimilate into this one. And if she is in politics, it shouldn't have come to a surprise for her to know this would be an issue. She should've been preparing for a long time if this is her eventual goal. Perhaps if she only spoke Spanish, the other constituents who do NOT speak Spanish and for whom she is also responsible, wouldn't have been able to understand her. How fair would that be?
I've visited other countries, where English was not the primary language; namely Italy. And I tried in vain to LEARN Italian. I did NOT expect Italians to speak another language for ME. I found it necessary to assimilate in the 6+ weeks I lived there and the best and most vital way to do so was to learn the language. Had I decided to stay longer and/or live there, then I would have absolutely become fluent. It's a no brainer. If you want to live someplace where they don't speak what YOU do, YOU learn what they speak. Period.
Now if you're purpose was to suggest that English should no longer be the primary language, that's another issue. But for now, it is. And I applaud those who are bilingual. It makes their lives easier and much more fulfilling.
How many languages do you speak Mr. Dugan?
We have to encourage active participation in politics by Hispanics in this nation. Voting and paying taxes go hand and hand. I think being a bilingual nation is something to be proud about.
Feelings aside, I do not think judges and mayors should decide who is on the ballot. This is the real issue. Let the people decide who they want and then after the election, they can start dirty politics.Let the election process and democracy work, especially on the local level where decisions are so important to people's lives.
I love English. I think it is a great language. But I practice my Spanish every chance I get, because I know in the next thirty years, it will be everywhere -- especially if I move south or west. I also realize that my children will need to know Madarin as well to be successful and live a life style English has provided us. Times are changing and language will not get in its way.
Adios amigo.
I see both sides of this isses. Dugan is correct that this is "dirty politics" because if this went to a general election, she would win in a landslide. They are looking for a loophole to keep her off. However, while her constituency is mainly spanish, the people she will be dealing with on the gov't side of things is probbaly entirely english speaking so she will not be able to be as effective as she needs to be when she will struggle to convey her message to them. The good news for her is that, as Godiva said, it is very cheap to learn English and she should be able to get up to speed relatively quickly. However, if she refuses...then I think she is being stubborn and arrogant for not trying to. It is an old arguement but still rings true...when most of our ancestors came to this country at the turn of the 10th century, they did not expect Americans to understand their language. They worked and studied to learn english while still keeping their old school traditions and culture. I do not know why that needs to be changed now.
Personally, I don't see how racism is so carelessly intertwined with rationality.
Interesting read and thanks for the informative lunch!
The merits of representative government make for a good argument, but so does the commonsense rule of law. Laws mean something, whether they were passed in 2006 or in 1900. Having an official language for government and business transaction certainly provides some undeniable benefits to the community. If that official language is the law of the land, then it should be followed until overturned in court or amended by the legislature. Otherwise the racism argument can be too easily used to undermine the effective enforcement of any law if a member of the minority breaks it. So I have to side with the law here, but like Dugan agree that democratically the people should have the right to change the law. I guess they'll just have to improve their English before they can elect Spanish speakers.
On another note, this post is reminding me that in my new home of Hawaii, the Spanish language is virtually non-existent, or at least much less prevalent than what it was in Philadelphia. Instead of Spanish being the second option at the ATM, Japanese takes that place here and Spanish isn't even a choice. Although the guy who sold me my last car was from Ecuador, he was an exception and spoke perfect English. Spanish isn't even a consideration for most transactions in Hawaii, but we have restaurants with menus in nothing but Japanese and Japanese-speaking salespeople hawking their wares at tourists as they walk by. Just a reminder that the world is a wide place, and nothing stays the same for very long even native tongues.