Houston ordered to offer Vietnamese voting material

Why do we even have an "official" language?

 

That's the problem. We don't have an official language in this country. If we did, then there would be NO bilingual materials. That's why making English the official language of this country has been debated from time to time.

 

I didn't think there was an 'official language'.

I think it's not that big of a deal to offer the forms in Vietnamese.

 

Maybe not. The problem is that this is not where it will stop. How many languages will we have to provide the form in? Currently I can think of AT LEAST 3. French and German will be next. How about this...if you become a citizen and want to be a part of this country and a productive citizen, learn the language.

 

well that's what I thought

but if English isn't the Official language, then I have no problem with the Justice dept ruling

 

I agree...that's the law. Declaring an official language would go a long way to cutting governement waste. Translators are expensive. Not to mention bilingual education. We have to have it since the children are under no obligation to learn English.

 

while i was at the social security office yesterday getting my card replaced there were lots of booklets on the wall and they were ALL in spanish.

 

I agree it's to the benefit of everyone who lives in this country to learn English. But if they don't learn it the only ones who suffer are the people who refused to learn the language.

It doesn't hurt me if someone refuses to learn English. If I went to another country to live I would try hard to learn the language. But I wouldn't be hurting anyone else who lived there by only continuing to speak English. I think the same is true for anyone who comes here.

 

Regardless, it promotes laziness. Encourage them to get off their asses. This is the land of opportunity, not the land of free handouts.

English is becoming the world language. How many languages do you know enough to talk to another person and understand them?

Most europeans know english. We are the ones behind.

 

Oh boy...

A few weeks ago I had Jury Duty downtown and they had announcements via a tape in English, Spanish, and I believe Vietnamese. I could just picture some Plain-American getting upset at that moment.

 

Wow.

I understand your concerns. (Bill Clinton-esque hehe.. )

But as a Vietnamese person, I think this is a great idea.

1) It encourages political involvement in a community historically adverse to mainstream American politics due to several reasons.
- The Vietnamese population is a relatively new wave of immigrants, starting rougly in 1975, when the mass exodus from S. Vietnam began due to the fall of Saigon and the subsequent occupation by the Communist regime.
- The Asian community in general tends to be more family based and focused on economic prosperity (i.e. sending sons and daughters to higher education in fields such as engineering, medicine, law, and so on) with little emphasis on politics, which they would consider "outside concerns". Asian communities are usually tight-knit and somewhat distrustful of the overall larger communities. You can see the most obvious external ramifications through Chinatowns, Korea-Towns in most large cities and in Houston and Los Angeles Vietnam-Town. Asian Americans place a high emphasis on retaining the distinct culture of their respective homelands. So you can see that multiple generations of Asians who have lived in the US still retain a high level of attachment to their "Asian-ness". I think this is true for a lot of immigrant groups (Polish, Irish, Italians, etc.), but to a certain extent, it is more ingrained in the Asian culture.

If anyone thinks I'm incorrect in my assumptions, by all means, say otherwise.


2) I think the largest proportion of Vietnamese immigrants who don't have a good grasp of the English language are <ia>older persons</i> who rely on their neighborhood translators, friends and sons and daughters for help. Now, as to the political involvement of younger Asians--that's another issue.


3) To say that having a billingual voting brochure promotes laziness is an affront to all the hard-working immigrants (not just Asians) who come to the US in search of a better life. I think the sentiments that have been expressed creates a sense of "we" versus "them" when it should be "us". ex. <i>"They" should learn "our" language, which is English.</i>
- Do you think it is easy to learn a new language when you are an adult? To understand new concepts that are foreign to you while at the same time trying to provide for your family with little to no marketable skills?
- Most Vietnamese immigrants I know come to the US with nothing. It's a matter of circumstance. First generation immigrants often have struggle to make ends meet, to survive, through menial labor and low paying jobs. They realize that. They also realize that they need to learn a new language to survive. But to equate difficulty with learning English and laziness is a drastic misperception, it's a serious lack of knowledge regarding the situation, and it reflects a judgemental thought process.


4) There are lazy people in all cultures and populations. But there are also many hard-working people who struggle to make a life in a new and strange environment, for themselves and for their children. As an Asian, I'm proud of how our community has grown, politically, artistically and culturally. The English language is a part of my heritage (second-generation), but so is Vietnamese. I find it sad that some would equate citizenship with assimilation when we should appreciate the cultural distinctiveness that defines America.


5) Any method that involve a greater proportion of the public to political involvement is good in my book.

-Joshua

 

I'm with ya freeflowin,

U.S. citizens that are fluent in English couldn't properly punch holes in their ballots.....so whats the big deal if the gov is tryin to help people better understand the process by explaining and presenting it in their native language.

Millions of English speaking U.S. citizens don't even bother voting, maybe the focus should be on them.

I thought the plan was to encourage people to vote not to deter them.

 

There goes that racist Ashcroft again...

 

The irony is that most Americans are too damn lazy to learn a second language themselves, yet we fully expect the rest of the world to learn ours and are shocked when immigrants have a difficult time with a language that is the b*stard child of about 20 different languages in the first place.

I read right after 9/11 a story about an American ambassador to the Middle East who said that Americans are LOSING ground on the rest of the world by not being well-versed in the cultures, languages and customs of other countries. He said we ignore their traditions at our own peril. He's right.

We are so convinced that our way isn't just the best way, but the ONLY way, that we just assume everyone else should exactly feel the same.

And, by the way, God forbid we actually give opportunites to people to vote. It never ceases to amaze me that people who don't speak English are considered lazy and stupid. People leave their home countries to make a better life for themselves and their families, work the most meanial labor possible (work, by the way, most Americans wouldn't touch with a ten foot 401K), deal with the difficulties of poverty, language, no healthcare, no transportation, cultural differences and racism and we still think they are the one's who are lazy.

Does anyone here actually KNOW any immigrants or is this just all conjecture?

 

In my experience, the immigrants I've been around have been some of the most hard-working people I've ever seen.

Also, for whatever it's worth, my great-great grandparents immigrated to the Hill Country from Prussia over 120 years ago. From what I've been told, they never learned English but somehow managed to become extremely successful members of their community. It's sad that the same invectives used against the non-English speaking European immigrants of the last 2 centuries (German, Polish, Czech, Italian etc...), despite being proven wrong, are still used today.

 

freeflowin' : Just wanted to point out that was a tremendous post.

 

Something about calling Vietnamese people lazy just makes me laugh... kinda like calling ice hot or something... dunno. "Lazy" is definitely not the word you're looking for. This is the land of opportunity and quite frankly Southeast Asians do damn well with that opportunity! Think about if they knew how to speak English... damn, they'd take the country over and I'd be posting in Vietnamese while your lazy ass would be begging for ballots in English!

Sorry... I'm in a humorous mood. In all seriousness, I don't see the necessity to impose learning English in this country. I mean if they suffer because they didn't learn it, then that's their problem. If they succeed without having to learn much of it, why chastise or criticise them?

I'm sure the British, South Africans and Australians think we all don't know English either.

 

Ooh, that hurt.

 

Great posts Freeflowin', Jeff and DOD. I have several Vietnamese friends and know that their families were torn apart in their journey to the United States. One of my best friends lost his mom who was traveling on a separate boat.

BTW, my Vietnamese friend's parents speak English with thick Vietnamese accents, and my friends speak perfect English.