language, translation and race

[petmoosie]

First, this news story from the NY Times. Another English-only statute. In general, those are enacted because members of the population don't want Spanish translations used.

I would want Spanish recognized as the official second language of the United States. Not like Canada, where everything has to be both in English and French (two official languages). But a requirement to consider Spanish-translation. So in areas with a known percentage of Spanish-native speakers (let's say greater than 10%), a certain percentage of hand-outs would be available in Spanish. A public relations team would have a bilingual member.

Comments

[metageek.livejournal.com]

I agree—except that we don't even have a first official language.

[petmoosie.livejournal.com]

Right now, we CAN'T make English a first official language, because it is interpreted as an attack on Spanish-speakers. So, if a law of this type were to be attempted at a national level, it would be better to have an official role for Spanish in the same law. That way, it is clear that it is not an attack on Spanish-speakers.

I wonder if there are official treaties mandating the use of Native American languages or Hawaiian in certain areas. The law may have to be more complicated to account for those mandates.