 Language
Loyalties:
A Source Book on the Official English Controversy
Edited by James Crawford
University of Chicago Press, 1992
532pp.; $31.20 (paperback).
As late as 1987, two-thirds of the Americans who responded
to a national survey believed that English was the official language
of the United States. In fact, the Constitution is silent on the issue.
Since Senator S. I. Hayakawa first proposed an English Language Amendment
in Congress in 1981, Official English legislation has been considered in
forty-eight states and adopted by twenty-one. In 1996, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed a "Language of Government" bill; similar
legislation is pending in the 105th Congress.
Supporters argue that English has always been our common
language – a means of resolving conflicts in a nation of diverse racial,
ethnic, and religious groups? Opponents charge that English Only measures
threaten civil rights, educational opportunities, and free speech, wrapping
racist biases in a cloak of patriotism. This important debate Has been
dominated more often by ignorance and emotions than understanding of the
fundamental issues in the Official English controversy.
Language Loyalties provides
a balanced, comprehensive guide to this complex and often confusing debate.
It is an essential handbook and reference for advocates, educators, policymakers,
jurists, scholars, and citizens who seek to join this debate fully informed.
James Crawford has expertly collected and introduced more than eighty-five
source documents and articles – including fifteen written especially for
this volume.
Reviews
"Truly superb. ... Belongs on the
shelf of every person even mildly interested in the political struggle
over language."
– Sanford Levinson, The Nation "A work of sound and original scholarship
... ranging from the texts of laws, early legislative debates, court opinions,
newspaper commentary, expert testimony, and partisan opinion pieces – all
skillfully woven together."
– Dennis Baron, University of Illinois "An invaluable resource for policymakers,
educators, and all citizens who want to understand the current debate –
and take action to empower all our citizens."
– Keith Geiger, president, National Education Association Contents
Editor's Introduction, James
Crawford
Part I. Historical Roots of U.S. Language
Policy
Part II. The Debate Over Official
English
A Chronology of the Official English Movement (1990)
Jamie B. Draper and Martha Jiménez
The Case for Official English (1985)
Senator S. I. Hayakawa
Official English: Another Americanization Campaign? (1985)
Joseph Leibowicz
Proposed Official English Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
(1981-89)
The Misdirected Policy of Bilingualism (1983)
Senator Walter Huddleston
Viva la Roja, Blanca y Azul (1984)
Delegate Baltasar Corrada
Preserve the Primacy of English (1988)
Representative Norman Shumway
Official English: A Concession to Nativism (1988)
Representative Stephen J. Solarz
U.S. English (1983),
Guy Wright
'Ohio English': A Modest But More Specific and Patriotic
Proposal Than the One Offered Recently U.S. English (1988)
Roger Shuy
Dade County 'Anti-Bilingual' Ordinance (1980)
State Official Language Statutes and Constitutional Amendments
(1920-88)
Prop. 63 Deserves Approval (1986)
San Francisco Examiner
Language Purity (1986)
Bangor Daily News
Legislating Language (1987)
Denver Post
English-Only A Mistake: Amendment Sends Wrong Message
to Tourists (1988)
Palm Beach Post
Vote No on Bigotry (1988)
Tempe Daily News Tribune
Ruling Upholds Need To Respect Free Speech (1990)
San Antonio Light
In Defense of Our Common Language . . . (1984)
U.S. English
Resolution on Language Rights (1987)
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
Resolution Opposing Official English/English Only Measures
(1989)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
The English Plus Alternative (1987)
English Plus Information Clearinghouse
New Mexico English Plus Resolution
(1989)
Native American Languages Act (1990)
Part III. Symbolic Implications of
Language Conflict
'Talk English –You Are in the United States' (1988)
Carlos Alberto Montaner
The Displaced Anxieties of Anglo-Americans (1988)
Joshua Fishman
What's Behind Official English? (1988)
James Crawford
On the Curious Question of Language in Miami (1992)
Max Castro
Language Struggles in a Changing California Community
(1992)
John Horton and José Calderón
What Happens When English Only Comes to Town? A Case Study
of Lowell, Massachusetts (1992)
Camilo Peréz-Bustillo
The English Only Movement: Social Bases of Support and
Opposition among Anglos and Latinos (1992)
Carol Schmid
Language, Power, and Identity in Multiethnic Miami (1992)
Joanne Bretzer
English Plus: Responding to English
Only (1992)
Mary Carol Combs
Part IV. The Question of Minority
Language Rights
Part V. Language Diversity and Education
Spanish Language Shift: Educational Implications (1988)
Siobhan Nicolau and Rafael Valdivieso
Introducing the Bilingual Education Act (1967)
Senator Ralph Yarborough
Teaching in the Mother Tongue (1967)
A. Bruce Gaarder
Aquí No Se Habla Español (1970)
Rubén Salazar
Affirmative Ethnicity (1977)
Noel Epstein
An Educator's Rationale for Native-Language Instruction
(1984)
José A. Cárdenas
The Romantic Trap of Bilingual Education (1985)
Richard Rodríguez
Sink-or-Swim 'Success Stories' and Bilingual Education
(1982)
Stephen D. Krashen
The Bilingual Education Act: A Failed Path (1985)
William J. Bennett
Secretary Bennett versus Equal Educational Opportunity
(1985)
James J. Lyons
Against Our Best Interest: The Attempt to Sabotage Bilingual
Education (1992)
Lily Wong Fillmore
Language: The Psyche of a People (1987)
Robert Bunge
Official English: Implications for Deaf Education (1989)
Ceil Lucas
The Costs of Monolingualism (1988)
Catherine Snow and Kenji Hakuta
Part VI. International Perspectives
on Language Politics
The Curse of Babel (1973)
Einar Haugen
Language Conflicts and Political Community (1967)
Ronald F. Inglehart and Margaret Woodward
Quebec's 'Distinctive Character' and the Question of Minority
Rights (1992)
Jonathan Lemco
Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982)
Quebec's Bill 101: Charter of the French Language (1977)
Economic Perspectives on Language: The Relative Value
of Bilingualism in Canada and the United States (1992)
David E. Bloom and Gilles Grenier
Coping with Language Diversity: Australia and the Soviet
Union (1989)
Gregory Guy
Australia's National Policy on Languages (1988)
Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Employment,
Education and Training
Language As a Factor in Inter-Group Conflict (1975)
Harold R. Isaacs
Afterword: The Official English
Movement: Reimagining America
Geoffrey Nunberg
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index
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