Declaring English as Official Language has an ulterior motive
Wednesday, March 12, 2025. By B. Kumaravadivelu
In an Executive Order, President Trump has declared English as Official Language of the United States.
The reason given in the White House website is fair and simple: “To promote unity, cultivate a shared American culture for all citizens, ensure consistency in government operations, and create a pathway to civic engagement, it is in America’s best interest for the Federal Government to designate one — and only one — official language. Establishing English as the official language will not only streamline communication but also reinforce shared national values and create a more cohesive and efficient society.”
The executive order revokes the one signed by former President Bill Clinton in August 2000 that required federal agencies to provide services to people with limited English proficiency. Trump’s order gives the option for federal agencies to continue or stop providing translation and interpretation services.
The US has never had an official language since it was founded about 250 years ago. There are, however, nearly 30 states which have already declared English as official language.
The U.S. Senate has repeatedly failed to pass a federal legislation to make English the?official?language of the U.S. In 2006, it struck a compromise and voted 63–34 to declare English as a?national?language, directing the federal government to “preserve and enhance” the role of English.
There is nothing wrong in making English official language of the country now.
What then is the ulterior motive?
If we pierce through the veneer of this seemingly symbolic act, we will find that it is a veiled attempt to diminish linguistic diversity in the US.
It could be the first step to make English Plus America into English Only America, as advocated by the proponents of what is called English Only movement, a movement founded in 1983.
Check out what the movement’s website?www.usenglish.org?says:
“Declaring English the official language means that official government business at all levels must be conducted?solely in English. This includes all public documents, records, legislation and regulations, as well as hearings, official ceremonies and public meetings.” (emphasis added).
The organizers of the English Only movement welcomed Trump’s executive order as “a tremendous step in the right direction.”
For decades, a segment of right-wing politicians and pundits have endorsed the goals of the English Only movement and have decried language accommodation to limited English proficiency citizens as a “linguistic welfare” system.
“This is a country where we speak English, not Spanish,” Trump said in a 2015 presidential debate.
During his first term, he removed a Spanish language version of the official White House website maintained by presidents George W. Bush and Barak Obama.
Within hours of Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration took down the Spanish version of the website.
Opposing linguistic accommodation provided for citizens of limited English proficiency, conservative columnist George Will remarked that “by receiving such assistance, they are receiving a disincentive to become proficient in English.”
Tucker Carlson, another conservative commentator and a close aide of President Trump, invoked a bi/multilingual nation at war with itself and asked: “Is there a single country in the world you know of, that’s bilingual or multilingual, that’s not at war with itself?”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk welcomed Trump’s executive order and wrote in an X post: “If you immigrate to the United States, you must assimilate to us, not the other way.” He approvingly reproduced a well-known quote from President Teddy Roosevelt: “We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language.”
Roosevelt’s words are music to the ears of conservative politicians and pundits. They do not realize that he governed a different America, at a different time. What Roosevelt said more than a century ago is irrelevant to the conditions prevailing in our contemporary American society with its plurality of languages and cultures.
Those who directly or indirectly root for English Only America are ignoring the ground reality in our country.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 350 languages that are being spoken in American homes, in addition to English. Millions of Americans are exposed to at least one of these languages on a daily basis.
Just consider the staggering number of languages spoken at homes in large cities: 192 languages in New York, 185 in Los Angeles, 163 in San Francisco, 145 in Houston. Even though many of these languages are not formally taught in public schools, nearly 25 percent of school-going children in America are from immigrant families where a heritage language is spoken.
Just to give an idea of diverse language use: in California, the basic noncommercial Class C driver license written tests are offered in 31 languages, besides English. A leading HMO, Kaiser Permanente, offers interpreter services in 16 languages at its facilities in Santa Clara County. At the federal level, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services under the Department of Health and Human Services offer their services in 16 languages.
Besides, the ongoing processes of economic and cultural globalization have only heightened the need to develop multilingual capacity in our students.
As a 2012 McKinsey Global Institute report showed, nearly 40 percent of new jobs in developed countries around the world go to foreign workers because of the multilingual and multicultural skills they bring with them. In America too, several employers are now seeking bilingual speakers to work for them.
It has been argued that a unifying language is a must for promoting a distinct national identity. It is not a sound argument because, more than a common language, what binds the citizens are America’s creedal identity and its lofty ideals.
No matter what politicians and pundits say and do, America’s linguistic diversity, like its cultural diversity, is here to stay.
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