Will the Salvation Army be allowed to require employees to speak only English at work? On the face of it, this is not such an unusual requirement.
However, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is holding up extremely important legislation with only one goal: blocking an amendment that has been approved by both the House and the Senate that protects charitable organizations and other employers from prosecution for requiring all their employees to speak only English.
The U.S. government has always treated immigrants benevolently. Even so, there have been many different government policies regarding the assimilation of new residents. New U.S. citizens have been required to demonstrate "the ability to read, write and speak elementary English" since 1906. One century later, the pursuit of assimilation remains just as popular. Recent polls show that 85 percent of U.S. citizens believe that English should be spoken in the United States. Four-fifths of immigrants from Latin America polled agree. Seventy-seven percent of those polled think that employers have the right to require their employees to speak only English at work. Only 14 percent of those polled oppose this idea.
Yet some politicians have dug in their heels in the belief that the principle of assimilation belongs on the trash heaps of history. Unfortunately, legislative bodies in many states uphold this point of view. For example, California adopted a resolution to stop offering bilingual education in high schools in 1998. Bilingual education, however, is still flourishing – only 29 percent of Spanish-speaking students could pass English language tests. As a result, seven schools have lodged complaints against the state and are suing to stop testing only in English.
The population as a whole believes that decisive measures are needed to protect sensible assimilation policies. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R-CA) proposal to shut down a cable station broadcasting in Spanish was met with enthusiasm. This is the simplest solution to the problems. Schwarzenegger believes that the only option is to learn English. Journalist Ruben Navarrette agrees: offering classes in Spanish or allowing TV stations to broadcast in Spanish creates the effect of a warm bath where immigrants from Latin America feel cozy and comfortable. What new arrivals really need is a cold shower that will force them to face reality. This will help destroy the cocoon of comfort in which immigrants from Latin America feel so snug.
But the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) seems to feel differently. Last year alone, more than 200 complaints were lodged against employers who required their employees to speak English only. Legal action was taken against the Salvation Army because of accusations of nationality-based discrimination – all because in Framingham, Massachusetts, two employees were warned that they would have to start speaking English at work (but not during breaks) by the following year. When this did not happen, the workers were fired. But four years ago, a federal court in Boston found that the Salvation Army’s decision was an effort to “make the work place harmonious."
In theory, employers can avoid the EEOC's iron grip. But they must prove that the only-English policy at workplace is necessary for security and "pressing operational need." The truth is that most companies would rather resolve the conflict by making payments for emotional damages, rather than to start a grueling legal battle. Chicago-based Syncro Start Products had to pay damages in the amount of $55,000. During legal proceedings the company insisted that employees had to speak English at work since using many languages led to serious mistakes when employees could not understand each other completely.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) believes that the nation can only be united by recognizing the value of a single language – English – not by devaluing it. Alexander, who sponsored an amendment banning the EEOC from appropriating funds for cases concerning the use of English at the workplace – which was suspended – is now amazed by his opponents’ attacks.
Supporters of assimilation are moving in the same direction. Azteca, one of the largest television networks in Mexico, is starting to show a special 60-hour English-language course on all its U.S. stations. The company's management believes that knowledge of English will be an additional advantage for immigrants from Latin America who choose to live in the United States. Azteca believes that people who live in a country must speak that country's language. Immigrants from Latin America can earn from 50 to 60 percent more if they speak both English and Spanish. Azteca believes that immigrants can and must do this for their people.
Azteca is not the only company trying to help U.S. citizens of Latin American descent. In January 2008 a new organization called Our Pledge will begin operation. Its board of directors – it includes Jeb Bush and Henry Cisneros, a former cabinet member in the Clinton administration – believes that the launching of Our Pledge can be compared to the launching of the first satellite. They say that they are asking immigrants to learn English to become independent. They are also asking immigrants to swear allegiance to the United States. The directors want Americans to promise that they will do everything they can to help immigrants understand the American system and American values so that immigrants can become full-fledged U.S. citizens. They are asking both sides to treat each other with respect and goodwill.
Our Pledge likens today’s U.S. immigrant situation to the dawn of the 20th century. At that time, the movement to Americanize refugees was led by the government. Other organizations that helped turn the idea into a reality included large businesses like General Motors and non-profit organizations like the Young Christian Association, as well as churches and regular citizens across the country.
The only alternative to the Americanization of immigrants is the polarization of society. Today, one-tenth of the country either speaks English poorly or does not speak it at all. Almost one-quarter of all students in grades K-12 are the children of immigrants and live in two worlds. If the government spends billions of dollars on Voice of America, why shouldn’t it designate funds for Radio New America, whose main mission is to teach the English language and American customs to recent arrivals?
In 1999, President Clinton announced that one of the most important things for immigrants is to integrate seamlessly into American life. Eight years later, President Clinton advisers Stan Greenberg and James Carville are warning their fellow Democrats that problems caused by immigration and the difficulties that immigrants face in assimilating are throwing the country back to the 1990s, when little attention was paid to social problems.
In 1996, President Clinton joined the Republican-controlled Congress in reforming the social welfare system. Now both parties must unite in their efforts to take decisive measures. The problems of immigration and assimilation are so neglected that it is in the interest of both parties to not let matters take their own course.
