Language barrier

I've just been reading the post by Carl Weiser over on the Politics Extra blog about Ohio Rep. Bob Mecklenborg's ill-conceived bill to make English the official language of Ohio.

The key to understanding this nonsense is Mecklenborg's quote: "This bill also has an important symbolic function because it sends a clear and concise signal to all those who want to participate in our state as citizens that there are responsibilities, as well as benefits."

The "clear and concise signal" being sent by Mecklenborg, who is facing a Republican primary challenge, is an appeal to people who don't like immigrants. These are people who like to point to such things as "for English press one," telephone messages as sure signs that the American way of life is on the brink. They note that their grandparents learned English when they came to this country and never demanded such communication aids.

Of course when their grandparents arrived we didn't have a telephone in every pocket either. Immigrants tended to group in isolated enclaves where old-country languages were spoken by the first generation while their children went to school and learned English. The "immigrant forefathers" Mecklenborg speaks of didn't need for the state to have an "official" language to understand that their children would benefit by learning English so that they could function in the larger society, doing business, branching out, and in some cases, ending up in the state legislature.

In case you are wondering, Ohio's official business already is conducted in English -- except in the legislature, where members sometimes speak a language all their own.