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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: goldworldnet who wrote (196294)	10/26/2001 4:22:24 PM
From: J_F_Shepard	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769669

"Since JF is a doctor, I am surprised he would find a strong stance on English racist." I don't know where you got the idea that I am a doctor, I assume you meant an M.D. which I am not, but you might put me in the category of scientist. I am a chemist by degree and spent my career as a Semiconductor Process Engineering manager and engineer. My stance is not on English but rather why some feel it necessary to declare it our official language. I have never associated it with racism and wish some of you would reach conclusions after you read instead of prejudging. Let me emphasize my opinion....English is already the official language of the US, it does not have to be declared, it has been chosen by the majority of the people. In fact it, above any others, could be considered the official language of the world. Most foreign students are required to or choose to study it and in Europe, I think, they begin in very early grades and continue throughout their school years. Perhaps someone on this thread can confirm this. Small wonder that you can approach almost anyone on the streets of Europe and find that they can communicate in English. Try the reverse in this country. English is the official language of international aviation, ie all international pilots must speak it well enough to talk to and understand flight controllers. As you may know, there have been some accidents as a result of poor understanding. In science, I mentioned earlier that in international conferences held off shore, English is almost always the official language. In sum, I see no necessity to declare an offical language, the language of the country will be what the people want it to be and there will be and are regions of the country and sections of cities where English is only a second language right now; if you want examples visit NYC, SF,Miami and many parts of the SW. I don't think people in this country who don't speak English are conspiring to avoid it but rather have chosen to live in communities with similar cultures just to feel more comfortable and secure. They don't have an aversion to English and many if not most are making an effort to learn English. Surely you have seen all the want ads for ESL teachers and are aware of organizations like the Literacy Volunteers who are primarily teaching ESL. How would an official language law be enforced? I say it couldn't be and experience by other nations trying to ban certain languages has proven that. So, I still don't know what the term means...Neocon tried a definition, what's yours? It still appears to me as though the proponents are trying to send a message to someone; what is that message and to whom is it directed?