The Official English Movement

The history of the movement to declare English as the official language has been a long and uphill battle. An amendment was proposed to Congress; however, the amendment of the official language never made it out of the committee. Since then, many new immigrants have come to America seeking a new life, but are not learning the English language like their ancestors before them. There are many organizations in pursuit to amend the Constitution. Many organizations include: US English, English First and also American Ethnic Coalition. One of the many benefits that come along with moving to America is the right to vote. Having a sense of power to decide on what candidates are best suited to run the country is thrilling. However, the election …show more content…
Congress. The amendment was about making English official language of the United States. The subject never made it past the House of Immigration Committee. Now, it has been known that America has always been a place of immigrants. A place where people from around the world can come and embrace the “promise land,” (Ricento, n.d., pp. 2). When this country was first inhabited by their ancestors, there was no problem with the diverse culture and language barriers. This is because most of the immigrants at the time spoke the same language. As time went by, more and more immigrants started flooding the United States. The country had since become a country for all kinds of languages; for instance, the languages range from Arabic to even Yiddish. The Americans within the states became uneasy and felt that their way of life was under attack (Ricento, n.d.). Everything that America had including formal documents like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, all written in English, only makes sense to think that English is the official language (Shin, 2012). One example of why people felt that way, occurred in the state of Pennsylvania. Many of the immigrants that came from Germany, made their own little towns/societies, media, and even clubs. Now just mentioning that little bit of information, it is understandable …show more content…
The first was the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 for president of the United States of America. Reagan’s idea was to make the once proud America like new. This had to be a harder task than expected, due to the fact that the people of the United States of America still had lingering effects from the Vietnam War. Many Americans felt threatened by the exponential growth in diversity. The English language is spoken internationally all over the world and many have that language as their own official language. Also, over thirty different states within the United States, has already made the switch and waiting for the rest to join the movement. Many different organizations like the US English, have been trying to provide adults, as well as, children the knowledge required on the English language in order to succeed. However, many new immigrants don’t want to learn and it is making it harder on them as well as the others around them. Many of these people are children, who are hurting the schools image, due to the fact of language barriers. The main reason, is that the United States would save billions of dollars in federal spending. With English as the official language, many businesses, organizations, governments, and even educational facilities would no longer have to spend money on things like bilingual ballots, tests, interpreters, teachers and much