National Language

Despite John L. Cobbs' assertion (Op-ed Page, Nov. 22) that he doesn't mean to suggest that those who do not speak English as a first language are morally or spiritually inferior, that is exactly what too many Americans do believe (as described in the Nov. 9 Inquirer article about the increasing number of violent, racist acts). Mr. Cobbs' opinions will do nothing to dissuade them. If anything, his ideas will encourage them, for language clearly is identified by most as a characteristic of a race or culture.

POP QUIZ: What's the official national flower of the United States? The official national tree? The official national sport? Americans don't know the answers to these three questions, but a move is underfoot - yet again - to name English our official national language. Proponents of the move say it is about time all those immigrants (read: "Mexicans") learn to speak English only, and claim that naming an official language will achieve that. Those immigrants did themselves no favors by angering many when they sang the national anthem in Spanish at many of the rallies they held against House Republican legislation on immigration reform.

This push to make English the national language reminds me of my trip long ago to Pilot Knob, Mo. Population 600-something. It's the site of an obscure Civil War battle (obscure at least from the New Jersey perspective) and is known these days for nearby caverns where, tragically, every now and then a spelunker perishes. I had gone there to visit a friend. He happened to run a pharmacy. I had nothing to do, so I helped at the counter. My friend, the registered pharmacist, took care of customers who came in with prescriptions.

The Rev. Ernest A. Spangler bangs his hand on the table and decries that fabled "one vote. " "This country was one vote away from making German the national language," Spangler said, referring to colonial lore that says in 1795, Congress came within one vote of making German the national language. The much-quoted anecdote is not entirely accurate. The vote was actually to translate federal laws into German. But it's probably better for Spangler that Americans did not adopt the language of Deutschland.

A few years ago Donald Trump's octogenarian mother was mugged in a New York shopping mall and rushed to the hospital. Struggling to treat her injuries, her doctors were dismayed by the delirious gibberish she was spouting and feared she might have suffered some permanent damage to the speech center of her brain. As her son tried to come to terms with this possibility, an Irish nurse appeared on the ward, listened a moment to Mrs. Trump's ravings and announced that there was nothing whatever wrong with the old lady's brain.

RE JILL Porter's column on Geno's: In this debate, I have one dangling nerve left, and you and the Human Relations Commission are tap-dancing on it. The man has a constitutional right to put up his signs. The press is the main culprit in making this into a giant complaint. You want people to go to Geno's and order in Spanish. Isn't that entrapment to give the Human Relations Commission ammunition, even while you claim they have no right to stop him as long as he doesn't deny service?

A Maryland legislator last month came up with a way to counterattack "official English" laws. It deserves serious consideration in state legislatures across the country, and in Congress. The resolution that David Valderrama introduced called on the state to "promote linguistic and cultural diversity along with proficiency in English. " It went on to welcome the "use of diverse languages in business, government and private affairs. " And it recognized English as "the predominant language of the state.

Long ago, when giants could be vanquished by young boys bearing slingshots and miracles were commonplace, a group of men decided to build a tower to the heavens. They never fulfilled this lofty goal because, as we are told in the Book of Genesis, God caused each man to speak a language foreign and distinct from all the others. The result was fear, frustration and anger, and the tower was abandoned. Language is the cement of a culture. It binds people together, and forms part of the fabric of their heritage.

Latvians reject Russian language RIGA, Latvia - Latvian voters resoundingly rejected a proposal to give official status to Russian, the mother tongue of their former Soviet occupiers. About one-third of the Baltic country's 2.1 million people consider Russian their first language. Many of them say that according official status to the Russian language in the nation's constitution would reverse what they claim has been 20 years of discrimination. "Society is divided into two classes - one half has full rights, and the other half's rights are violated," said Aleksejs Yevdokimovs, 36. "The Latvian half always employs a presumption of guilt toward the Russian half, so that we have to prove things that shouldn't need to be proven," he said.

Latvians reject Russian language RIGA, Latvia - Latvian voters resoundingly rejected a proposal to give official status to Russian, the mother tongue of their former Soviet occupiers. About one-third of the Baltic country's 2.1 million people consider Russian their first language. Many of them say that according official status to the Russian language in the nation's constitution would reverse what they claim has been 20 years of discrimination. "Society is divided into two classes - one half has full rights, and the other half's rights are violated," said Aleksejs Yevdokimovs, 36. "The Latvian half always employs a presumption of guilt toward the Russian half, so that we have to prove things that shouldn't need to be proven," he said.

ESPN Deportes Radio, the national Spanish-language sports radio network, has secured a local affiliate, effective 6 a.m. Monday. It's WWDB-AM (860), whose stock in trade has been money-talk shows. 'DB owner Beasley Broadcast also added ESPN Deportes on stations in Atlanta and Boston in a package deal that shut out ESPN's English-language partner in Philadelphia, Greater Media, which broadcasts sports talk at 950 AM and 97.5 FM. Natalie Conner , who heads Beasley's Philly operations, says she will use the network feed but plans live and local programming, as well as tie-ins to the Latino community and local sports teams.

RE JILL Porter's column on Geno's: In this debate, I have one dangling nerve left, and you and the Human Relations Commission are tap-dancing on it. The man has a constitutional right to put up his signs. The press is the main culprit in making this into a giant complaint. You want people to go to Geno's and order in Spanish. Isn't that entrapment to give the Human Relations Commission ammunition, even while you claim they have no right to stop him as long as he doesn't deny service?

This push to make English the national language reminds me of my trip long ago to Pilot Knob, Mo. Population 600-something. It's the site of an obscure Civil War battle (obscure at least from the Pennsylvania perspective) and is known these days for nearby caverns where, tragically, every now and then a spelunker perishes. I had gone there to visit a friend. He happened to run a pharmacy. I had nothing to do, so I helped at the counter. My friend, the registered pharmacist, took care of customers who came in with prescriptions.

DEBORAH LEAVY (op-ed, May 5, "At Geno's, No English, No Service") calls Geno's Steaks owner Joe Vento "small-minded and provincial," and then all but accuses him of anti-Mexican racism for his sign requiring orders in English. She then gibes at Italian South Philly for pronouncing "with" as "wid. " Americans are composed of hundreds of ethnic groups and dozens of faiths. About the only common denominator we have is the English language. It's fine for the Mexicans to speak Spanish, but if you choose to come to America, you ought to learn enough English to order a cheesesteak.

Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a columnist for the New York Observer; his latest book is What Would the Founders Do? Our Questions, Their Answers (www.founderblogs.com) They're on our money, and on Mount Rushmore. They were first in war, first in peace, and first in politics. What would the Founders do about the hot-button issues that vex us today? Top of the list for us their heirs is immigration, chiefly illegal. Immigrants came to 18th-century America, especially late in the 1790s when thousands of French and Irish fleeing turmoil and repression in their homelands landed here.

POP QUIZ: What's the official national flower of the United States? The official national tree? The official national sport? Americans don't know the answers to these three questions, but a move is underfoot - yet again - to name English our official national language. Proponents of the move say it is about time all those immigrants (read: "Mexicans") learn to speak English only, and claim that naming an official language will achieve that. Those immigrants did themselves no favors by angering many when they sang the national anthem in Spanish at many of the rallies they held against House Republican legislation on immigration reform.

The Rev. Ernest A. Spangler bangs his hand on the table and decries that fabled "one vote. " "This country was one vote away from making German the national language," Spangler said, referring to colonial lore that says in 1795, Congress came within one vote of making German the national language. The much-quoted anecdote is not entirely accurate. The vote was actually to translate federal laws into German. But it's probably better for Spangler that Americans did not adopt the language of Deutschland.

Whatever your view of Pat Buchanan's politics, you can't help appreciating his candor. He takes the stage at Lehigh University in Bethlehem and is about to give his wife, Shelley, a standard campaign introduction as "The next first. . . " But he stops himself before he gets there. He chuckles at the absurdity of how the words would have sounded, given the current state of his candidacy. So he introduces her instead as "still a longshot to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton. " This is Buchanan's third presidential campaign, his first in the general election and his most ineffectual.