In July 1992 Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) angrily suggested during
floor debate... that the United States should not continue accepting
immigrants mho speak no English. "I pick up the telephone and call the
local garage," Byrd said. "I can't understand the person on the other
side of the line. I'm not sure he can understand me. They're all over
the place, and they don't speak English. We want more of this?" Later
he apologized for the remark, saying, "I regret that in the heat of
the moment I spoke unwisely."Is America in the midst of another
backlash against foreigners? In the wide-ranging controversy over
multiculturalism that has generated much heat in recent years, one of
the most volatile issues is whether the United States should reflect a
dominant English-speaking majority or encourage a multilingual
culture.Tied up with this emotional issue is a growing anxiety
on the part of many Americans about the new wave of non-European
immigrants. "It is not without significance," says S.I. Hayakawa, who
was a founder of U.S. English, "that pressure against English language
legislation does not come from any immigrant group other than the
Hispanic: not from the Chinese or Koreans or Filipinos or Vietnamese;
nor from immigrant Iranians, Turks, Greeks, East Indians, Ghanians,
Ethiopians, Italians, or Swedes."Raymond Tatalovich has
conducted the first detailed, systematic, and empirical study of the
official English movement in the United States, seeking answers to two
crucial questions: What motivations underlie the agitation for
official English? Does the movement originate at the grassroots level
or is it driven by elites?Since 1980, fifteen states have
passed laws establishing English as the official language—Alabama,
Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana,
Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Virginia. Three more laws, in Hawaii, Illinois, and
Nebraska, predate the current agitation. The official language laws in
ten of the states are wholly symbolic, but in the remaining eight they
go beyond symbolism to stipulate some kind of enforcement. Four states
have passed English Plus laws—New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and
Washington. In addition some major cities—Atlanta, Cleveland,
Dallas, San Antonio, Tucson, and Washington,
D.C.—have also adopted English Plus laws or
resolutions.Tatalovich hypothesized five possible motivations
for the official English movement: race (hostility of the majority
toward a minority), ethnicity (conflict between minori-ties), class
(reaction by lower socioeconomic groups), politics (partisan or
ideological backlash), and culture (anti-foreign sentiment).His
analysis is based on an eclectic range of sources, from historical
documents, legal records, and court decisions to news accounts and
interviews. In many southern states where the issue has recently
assumed prominence, he found that support for the initiative is
identified as a residue of nativism. Tatalovich empirically shows
linkage between support today for official English and opposition in
the South to immigration in the 1920s.This study not only is
definitive but also is a dispassionate analysis of an issue that seems
destined to become even more controversial in the next few years. It
makes a notable contribution to the current debate over
multiculturalism and will be of special interest to sociologists,
historians of contemporary social history, linguists, legal scholars,
and political scientists who study public policy, minority politics,
and comparative state politics.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780813156590
Publisert
2015
Utgiver
Vendor
The University Press of Kentucky
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter