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by This Daley has a new bundle of joy on February 12th, 2007

This Daley has a new bundle of joy

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Would you support a Constitutional amendment making English the official language of the United States? Why or why not?

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Answers. 16 helpful answers below.

  • by Anonymous on July 19th, 2009

    Anonymous

    On the surface, I would. A unifying official language makes the country stronger because communication would be more efficient and reliable among the population.

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  • by strongARM on February 12th, 2007

    strongARM

    Yes I'm not ready to speak anyother language yet

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  • by Tamilze on February 12th, 2007

    Tamilze

    Yes. At least we would stop trying to be all helpful with everyone and stop forcing the semi-innocent citizens to learn other languages.

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  • by Midnighttoker on February 12th, 2007

    Midnighttoker

    yes. in any other country you speak thier language. no reason not to here. it's not discrimination. if my great-grand parents hadn't learned english, i'd be speaking italian or french.

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  • by SalientAlien on February 12th, 2007

    SalientAlien

    I would. Anything to help us all communicate would probably be a good thing.

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  • by ColtsFan27 on February 12th, 2007

    ColtsFan27

    it already is the first spoken language, and they tried to change that and it didnt happen

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  • by Sharona Life is a Tale Told by an Idiot on July 19th, 2009

    Sharona Life is a Tale Told by an Idiot

    Sure, can't hurt. We have enough to deal with here as far as education and communication is concerned and the majority of people speak English so we should stick with the majority rule here.

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  • by MegantheNerd on July 19th, 2009

    MegantheNerd

    Yes.
    However, isn't it already the official language?
    Hehe oh well, I just get confused when other people are speaking other languages and I don't understand.
    I don't need to know what someone is saying when the conversation is not directed at me but it kind of interferes with my train of thought, instead of it being background noise.

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  • by dfasfsd on July 19th, 2009

    dfasfsd

    I thought it was already :P

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  • by -Icy- on July 19th, 2009

    -Icy-

    it is our official language the problem is that we as a country are making compromises instead of saying you want to live here learn the darn language.

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  • by Magemartin94 on July 19th, 2009

    Magemartin94

    It is already. I am English but if the founders of the USA came from all different places, not just england, then there would probably be an American Language. So people would not have had to sign for that part. But seeing as the founders were from england, it makes sense just to speak english.

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  • by Old School on July 19th, 2009

    Old School

    No. Because it would only have symbolic value.

    It doesn't matter if English is the 'official' language if Wal-Mart is still willing to hire cleaning contractors based on the lowest bid...and not ask too many (any?) questions about the legal status of the contractors' employees.

    Let's fix the *real* problems facing our society rather than wasting time on this nonsense.

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  • by Factotum on July 19th, 2009

    Factotum

    I would not support such an amendment. Making English the official language seems gratuitous to me somehow as it assumes that the language will outlast the United States which might not be the case. More to the point, it smacks of weakness to try to protect something that shouldn't require protection (I do not support anti-flag desecration amendments for the same reason).
    .
    Making laws that require official voting documents, driver's tests, citizenship documents or public school classes to be written or taught in English is another matter. I do not know that anyone actually benefits from making it easy for people to not learn our de facto official language.

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  • by ChrisDC on July 30th, 2009

    ChrisDC

    Sure -- as long as it also includes Cajun (both because I'm from Louisiana -- catch the crawfish avatar -- and because we never forget our Acadienne cousins up in Maine -- hey, guys!), every single American Indian and Alaskan Native and Native Carribean language (they were here first, after all, it seems only fair), Spanish (because of the territories that were Spanish or Mexican for centuries before we conquered them), Hawaiian (because they were an independent kingdom before we annexed them), Chamorro (which they speak on Guam), Palauan, Tobian, Anguar, Sonsorolese, Carolinian, Japanese, Filipino, Mandarin and Cantonese (the recognized languages of our freely associated commonwealth, the Republic of Palau), (luckily, English, Carolinian and Chamorro are also the languages of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas and those are already covered above), Gullah and all the other Creoles and Afro-American languages from the South and the Carribean, and Samoan.

    We have a de facto official language in the United States and everybody knows that it's English. Everybody knows that's the one that they need to learn to talk to everybody else.

    Any attempt to go from English as the de facto official langauage to a mandated one will inevitably end up including far more languages than just English -- and every other one will be on that list for imminently fair and reasonable historic and cultural reasons.

    My point is that English is the language toward which everyone in this country is drawn. Most of the time, that works; some of the time it doesn't. If you try to establish an official language, there's no way you'd end up with just English on the list.

    People who seek the establishment of English as the official language of the United States often do not realize that they would be, in effect, sacrificing English's pre-eminent position by doing so.

    This is one of those times when the informal reality has a more powerful impact than the reality that would exist if it had to be enforced.

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  • by Rinky Dinky Do on July 30th, 2009

    Rinky Dinky Do

    Only if that Constitutional Amendment also made Navajo, Sioux, Cherokee, et al. official languages of the United States.

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  • by IntotheForge on July 19th, 2009

    IntotheForge

    Hell no! Having no mandatory language, religion or institution is the hallmark of a first-world country, regardless of whether or not English has become a pax lingua and is the predominant language here. I see is as a slippery slope and don't like the idea of any amendment that goes near cultural boundaries that isn't for the purpose of making the Constitution even more neutral.

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