I have to admit; it is a lot easier for me to find aggravating circumstances to write about at The Slow Bleed. I don’t want to. I am not a pessimistic person by nature – far from it; it is just a lot harder to find someone making the difficult decisions that are good for our country going forward. This week I found someone and he is under fire for the proposal.
Eric Crafton is a councilman for Nashville, Tenn. In his proposal he hopes to make Nashville the largest city in the United States to prohibit the government from using languages other than English.
Most people may not realize that most cities allow government officials to communicate in any language they choose. Crafton had recently seen the State Legislature meeting in California where several of the state representatives had interpreters at their desks because they couldn’t speak any English.
Think about that for a minute.
There are numerous U.S. government officials that cannot speak any English. In Nashville alone they spend $100,000 on translation related costs.
Of course, some people are complaining at Crafton’s proposal. Mayor Karl Dean and a broad coalition of civil-rights groups have all come forward saying this proposal does not show Nashville as being open to diversity. Really, why don’t you try the Middle East? Or South America? Or Antarctica?
Now I don’t know the qualifications of every government job, but I would have guessed that as a U.S. government official you would have to speak English. I don’t care if it is your primary language or if you even speak it at home, but public meetings, discussing key issues that affect our country?
I just don’t have time to write a rant long enough for this topic.
Fine, I suppose this is where you look for some witty insights to my mind. A "bio" of sorts. Here is the deal... I ride motorcycles, smoke cigars, golf, kayak, fly, race my car through the mountains, write (a lot), and travel extensively. I am almost old enough not to care what other people think about me...almost. ~Godfadr
I’m all for diversity and teaching Spanish to children but I agree with you. To be a U.S. government official, at the very least, you should be required to speak the nation’s official language. That is like me trying to be an Ambassador for China, but not know how to speak Chinese.
Whatever happened to the desire to assimilate into society?
English has been the world’s language for centuries. Thanks to the British Empire. No need to change things mow.
It is pretty sad that the people that are suppose to be representing our country can’t even speak the official language of the country they are representing. Yes, it is becoming more and more important for government officials to understand other languages. like Spanish for example. But, incase they haven’t noticed all of our countries documents ( i.e. Constitution, Bill of Rights, bill passed through Congress…) are written in ENGLISH.
Unfortunatley Mikayla…..soon, you will have to click option 1 to read all those documents in English on the internet…..other wise you will be defaulted to the predominant language in your area!