New measure requires all government meetings and documents to only be in English.
Lino Lakes Minnesota can either be seen as small town America or a suburb of the Twin Cities, and it’s difficult to assess whether this is the start of a new trend or just a reflection of a small community with over 90% of its’ population being white.
The measure to require all government public meetings to be held in English and public documents to be only printed in English passed by a 4-1 margin yesterday. This isn’t applicable to medical treatment and other vital services. Presenting this as a cost-saving measure, it has pretty much been the law of the land in this community; however, this topic whatever the motivation should be considered.
A common language shared by every citizen is a unifying tool. Even countries with a common language but different regional dialects have trouble communicating.
Now some may look at this as a racial issue, however, with two grandmother’s, one that spoke only Norwegian until she attended school, and another German-Russian who spoke English, but could not read it, and having college-educated bilinqual children, I do not believe that it is racially motivated. English has been the major language since the pilgrims set foot on this continent, and, in fact , because of the U.S. prominence in the world, it is many countries second language supplanting French.
But As For Me…
It will be curious to see if this move by this small community survives a constitutional test; however, it is a topic worthy of consideration and discussion. The United States has been identified as the great melting pot; however, you can’t melt, if you can’t communicate!
Tagged as:
English Only Movement,
Freedom of Speech,
Immigration,
Lino Lakes English Only,
Reformed Liberal
News from the web:
English Is Mandated In Minnesota Small Town
by admin on July 28, 2010 · 0 comments
in Commentary, Immigration, Reformed Liberal
Lino Lakes Minnesota can either be seen as small town America or a suburb of the Twin Cities, and it’s difficult to assess whether this is the start of a new trend or just a reflection of a small community with over 90% of its’ population being white.
The measure to require all government public meetings to be held in English and public documents to be only printed in English passed by a 4-1 margin yesterday. This isn’t applicable to medical treatment and other vital services. Presenting this as a cost-saving measure, it has pretty much been the law of the land in this community; however, this topic whatever the motivation should be considered.
A common language shared by every citizen is a unifying tool. Even countries with a common language but different regional dialects have trouble communicating.
Now some may look at this as a racial issue, however, with two grandmother’s, one that spoke only Norwegian until she attended school, and another German-Russian who spoke English, but could not read it, and having college-educated bilinqual children, I do not believe that it is racially motivated. English has been the major language since the pilgrims set foot on this continent, and, in fact , because of the U.S. prominence in the world, it is many countries second language supplanting French.
But As For Me…
It will be curious to see if this move by this small community survives a constitutional test; however, it is a topic worthy of consideration and discussion. The United States has been identified as the great melting pot; however, you can’t melt, if you can’t communicate!
Tagged as: English Only Movement, Freedom of Speech, Immigration, Lino Lakes English Only, Reformed Liberal