Almost 250 years (249 to be exact) have gone since USA declared independence. But until now there is no official language for the USA. Trump, with one Executive Order, made English as the official language of the USA. I do not like many things that Trump is doing but this one I have to give him credit. Plus, I do not see any “protest”.
Members of Congress and Senators in the past (and present) were afraid to bring this subject. They don’t want to antagonize the voters. I have seen voting pamphlets and voting ballots are now issued in several languages depending on the population of that area. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are large number of Indians, voting materials are in several Indian languages including Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil. And, of course, Spanish and Arabic.
There are street signs in English and Spanish. Also, in pharmacies and hospitals.
After English, Spanish is the second largest language spoken in USA. The population of Spanish speaking people are growing leaps and bounds.
Majority of the high school students take Spanish as their second language.
Some politicians tried to make English as the official language. Notable among them was Late Republican Senator from California Mr. Hayakawa. He was a U.S. Senator from 1968 to 1973. He did not get enough support at that time. However, during the recently concluded elections (in November 2024), 30 States have voted to make English as their official language.
I have been advocating to make English as the official language of the United States for a long time. I know the increase in the population and popularity of Spanish speaking people and I thought someday there would be an agitation to make Spanish as the official language of the USA.
Epilogue. (Is this the right word to use? I don’t know. I never went to Harvard). I have seen and personally experienced the Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu when I was a student. Many people died. My thoughts are if Hindi OR English had been declared as the official language of India on August 15, 1947, then everything would have been OK in India.
Surprising that English was not the official language in the US until now!
ReplyDeleteEven if Hindi had been declared the official language of India in 1947, there would have been agitations. I guess they would have tried back then, but gotten stiff opposition.
Thanks for your comments Rajesh. I was under the impression people were "mellow" in 1947 and not combative.
DeleteThis is a welcome step by US government.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Kirtivasan. Yes Sir.
DeleteTill I read this blog, I too was under the impression, English was USA's official language. As you said in your epilogue, had Hindi or English been made official language of India, in 1947, this Dravidian fellows would not have come to power in our state 😂
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Gowri.
DeleteI am not surprised by Trump's move.
ReplyDeleteThe US, the UK, etc never had to think of making English the official language. Because that was the only language being spoken there.
The problem now is people who speak other languages are populating the US.
That has grown into an identity issue. Something similar to religion we are seeing in many parts of the world.
The issue in Tamil Nadu that is hogging headlines now is completely different, though it is related to language and identity.
India does not have a national language. Only 22 languages that are official; and states have the liberty to make them the official language in their state.
Generally, in India, all these are quite complicated because of rich traditions of each small region. A small state like Kerala itself is so diverse!
Thanks for your comments Pradeep
ReplyDelete