The Official American Language

We show our commitment to the American ideal when we interact with each other with grace and dignity. From 18th-century debates on language to the recent tragedy in Baltimore, we don’t need to speak the same language to respect the rights of others and thank each other for our service.

What’s America’s official language?

On January 9, 1794, a group of German-Americans in Virginia petitioned the 3rd United States Congress to print federal laws in both English and German so that they could better understand them. In January 1795, the House voted against it, and the bill died.

The vote on the House floor was 42-41. For at least two hundred years after the bill’s defeat, a myth persisted that Congress nearly changed the official American language to German. That was never the case.

In fact, the official American language was never in doubt.

America doesn’t have an official language.

November 17, 2000. At 22, fresh out of college and a brand new commissioned officer in the armed forces, I set off on my first cross-country trip across America. Following my officer graduation ceremony, I was orders-in-hand with 10 days to make it to my California coast training base. With a couple of days to spare, I made a detour to go home through rural Missouri to visit my parents and future wife. After the visit, a buddy and I linked up just outside St. Louis to travel the rest of the way together. At that point I hadn’t been outside of rural Missouri many days of my life.

We traveled through Oklahoma, the Texas panhandle, New Mexico, and Arizona without incident. At the California border, the inspection agent took the apple I was going to eat for a snack–no outside fruit allowed. Just outside of Los Angeles, I stopped at a gas station to fill up. I had heard the traffic in LA could be rough and I didn’t want to run out of gas stuck in traffic. The attendant spoke no English, and I spoke no Spanish. No worries, though. We figured out a way for me to pay for the gas and a 可口可乐公司 Coca-Cola.

At the time I thought someone who lived in America should speak English. Now, that’s not important to me.?

Since that day, I served with many Americans who raised their hand to volunteer to serve their nation—and not just in the military. Also at the 美国国务院 , brilliant bilingual members of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) , the Central Intelligence Agency , National Security Agency , Peace Corps , USDA , and on and on.

They all spoke English, but many of their parents did not or spoke it poorly. But their parents had sought out America’s inherent individualism, and their children served our nation as thanks. That man at the gas station outside of LA, and many others like him, raise children who serve our nation with distinction.

My personal experiences highlight that even though Americans don’t share a common language, we can respect the individual liberty of others. This principle is echoed in a series of The Supreme Court of the United States rulings that have addressed language rights in American society.

Several fascinating US Supreme Court cases deal with language and the rights of non-English speakers in America.

In the first, Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) , the high court blocked a Nebraska law that banned teaching languages other than English to schoolchildren. Mr. Meyer, who taught German in a Lutheran school, was convicted under the law. He appealed his conviction. The court took up the case and found the law violated his right to teach German and the individual liberty of parents to control their child’s education, protected by the 14th Amendment .

At the time, the Nebraska law sought to prevent schools from teaching German. The law intended to “promote civic development by inhibiting training and education of the immature in foreign tongues and ideals before they could learn English and acquire American ideals.”

In the majority opinion, Justice James C. McReynolds stated that “mere knowledge of the German language cannot reasonably be regarded as harmful.”

Our summary so far: America has no official language, and it is unconstitutional to prevent teaching even the youngest Americans a language other than English.

November 22, 2008: I was headed into Iraq to link up with a United States Marine Corps unit for several months. Before my trip downrange, I stayed a couple of days at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, 15 miles from the Iraqi southern border. I was at Camp Buerhring for some final training on technical systems used by British and American forces. I couldn’t get the training in the US because we didn’t have expertise with the British equipment.

Our young British instructor spoke with an indecipherable, thick English accent. He kicked off the training session by telling jokes.

At first, none of the Americans in the room understood anything he said. The Brit kept telling jokes.

After a couple of minutes, some of the Americans started to laugh at the jokes. Eventually, everyone in the room was howling! The instructor was really funny!

That’s when the British instructor started the training session. He said he could tell when all of us started to understand his accent because we would laugh at the jokes.

Even speaking the same language doesn’t mean we understand each other.

A second captivating US Supreme Court case involving language was Lau v. Nichols (1974) . In 1971, San Francisco, California, schools integrated and absorbed more than 2,800 Chinese-American children who were not proficient in English. The public school system refused the children supplemental English language education and taught classes only in English. As a result, the children were unable to participate in the educational programs provided by the schools. The students appealed their plight to the high court.

In the unanimous decision, the court ruled that a school district has the duty to provide supplemental language instruction for students who speak a language other than English. The court found the San Francisco school district violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and denied students the opportunity to participate in the public education program. The Court reasoned that simply treating students the same regardless of their language needs did not ensure their equal access to education.

Building on our summary, America has no official language, and it is unconstitutional to prevent teaching even the youngest Americans a language other than English. However, the American people have a duty to teach students English when there is a language barrier preventing equal access to education.

Fast-forward to June 29, 2017. I had the privilege of leading a military squadron as its commanding officer. A full one-third of the squadron members were either first- or second-generation immigrants. All the squadron members spoke English, but some had a strong accent. Many squadron members were bilingual. We operated distributed technical systems and communicated with radios and telephones. The added communication enhancement of body language was often not available.

We had some communication challenges, but we all shared a commitment to each other and our mission. Despite our challenges, we achieved the highest levels of security, safety, and operational readiness compared to any squadron over those two years. No matter our place of birth, we were all Americans, providing combat capability for the nation.

Yes, we had language barriers, but everyone was part of an exceptional team.

A final US Supreme Court case involving language was Plyler v. Doe (1982) . The case challenged a Texas statute that withheld state funds from local school districts needed to educate children who had not been legally admitted to the United States. The statute further authorized school districts to deny enrollment to these children.

Justice William J. Brennan Jr. wrote the majority opinion. He stated, "By denying these children a basic education, we deny them the ability to live within the structure of our civic institutions, and foreclose any realistic possibility that they will contribute in even the smallest way to the progress of our Nation."

Several states have subsequently challenged the ruling , including California in 1994, Illinois in 2006, and Alabama in 2011. Plyler v. Doe is crucial for language rights in that it ensures access to education for non-English-speaking students, many of whom are immigrants.

This access is critical for learning English and fully participating in American society.

Early in the morning on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 , a container vessel crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Eight construction crewmen working to provide national capability through infrastructure support were thrown into the water; only two of the men survived. The Associated Press identified that the men were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore addressed the families in Spanish following the incident, saying, “Estamos contigo, ahora y siempre,” or, “We are with you, now and always.” His choice of language reflects an understanding that our commitment to each other is deeper than a language barrier. His address was a nod to our multilingual heritage, showing that Americans speak many languages.

Being American isn’t about speaking one language. America represents embracing the principles of individual liberty and accepting the personal responsibility to give back to the nation. I thank the workers for their commitment.

We debate our language and what it means to be American. 18th-century legislative debates continue into contemporary challenges and tragedies. We are reminded of the liberty, dignity, and pursuit of unity in diversity that define us.

America doesn’t have an official language. Because we were a British colony, we used English in government and to meet the practical need for a common language.

America is a melting pot of many cultures. Legal immigrants come to America seeking opportunity and individualism. At the same time, many of these immigrants speak poor, or no, English.

Our highest court has repeatedly shown dignity in ensuring Americans have the right to individual liberty, no matter their language.

Echoing the court, we show our commitment to the American ideal when we interact with each other with grace and dignity. We don’t need to speak the same language to respect the rights of others and thank each other for our service.

May God bless the United States of America.