Crafton on English Only issue: ‘No mas’

There is a saying that is befitting to the majority of Nashville voters that rejected “English First” proposal: “Stupid is what Stupid does”.I had lived most of my life in Los Angeles County where early on in my youth English was the expected and dominant language. Today the situation is an absolute mess there where as an American I feel like a stranger in my own country where many billboards and business signs are in different languages that I can’t read or understand, and moreover, in public places numerous languages are freely spoken that are foreign to me. In that western part of the USA, it’s a Babylonian Tower of Babel gone wild.This situation brings to mind the haunting admonition and sage advice of Senator S.I. Hayakawa (1906 – 1992) that decades later still clearly rings so true. However before relating it, here’s an insightful brief bio of this highly perceptive and brilliant man who clearly understood the necessity and importance of ‘one country – one language’.Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa was born in Vancouver, Canada. After completing high school in Winnipeg, in 1927 he received a B.A. in English from the University of Manitoba and year later a M.A. in English from McGill University in Montreal. In 1930, he became a graduate assistant at the University of Wisconsin, where in 1935 he received a Ph.D. in English and American Literature.However, the mid-point of the 1950s was a watershed year for Dr. Hayakawa where he became naturalized U.S. citizen. It was also in 1955 that he became a professor of English at San Francisco State College, where he would rise to the rank of President of the College in 1968. During his tenure, he was revered for his dedication to academics and maintaining business as usual during those tumultuous social times. In 1973, Hayakawa was given the title President Emeritus of the then renamed San Francisco State University. Throughout Senator Hayakawa's long academic career he was best known as a semanticist, studying the history of language patterns and habits of thought. He wrote several internationally acclaimed books on semantics, including “Language in Thought and Action”.In 1976 Dr. Hayakawa was elected to the U.S. Senate. Because of his early years growing up in Canada where two designated official languages (English and French) compete and often socially divide that country, raised in an Asian sub-culture where Japanese language was privately spoken, and because of his extensive linguistics background and expertise, he was one of the first in Twentieth century America to clearly see the emergent need for and introduce the English Language Amendment. Concerned about the growing problems caused by the language barrier developing within America, Hayakawa founded the organization “U.S. ENGLISH” upon leaving the Senate in 1983. His intellectual stance then and till his death was, "Bilingualism for the individual is fine, but not for a country". Hayakawa always maintained that America should have a common and compulsory official language binding upon its citizens regardless where they had originated from. Smart man – smart advice!

If I recall properly, the predominant language in this continental landmass in 1492 was NOT English.

Good job, Nashville, now all you have to do is figure out who to tax to pay for it.

If id says it so, then you can bank on it not being so.

At least the people decided. Now, whatever happens for good or ill, they can credit or blame only themselves.So let it be written, so let it be done.

First of all,Congradulations to everyone who voted !I hear you eggars, although I don't thinkanyone else does.Thank you Eric for trying. 56% to 44% isnot much of a spread, it was pretty close.Considering that we spent 1/6 of what the opposition spent, and that we didn't have near the resources, I think this would passon a general election...Which is why they fought so hard to keep it off the general election.In the end, we got a chance to vote on it,and that's the good part.

Now can we get started on recalling this clown? Any ideas? Is anyone else worried about what his cronies will come up with next? I am.

Fundit:There are the Extra Terrestrials. They have been illegally living and working in the country for years.

That will give me enough to sell my house.

Yesterday the proponents were guarenteeing victory, today the say they lost by a close vot. What was close about it? Now their mantra is "at least we got to vote" why? so the Nashville taxpayers can bear the burden of your stupidity! Wake up and smell the coffe, this is a Republic and that means you DO NOT get to vote on every pet project that comes up. The VAST majority did not want this and the polls proved that so quit wasting our time and money. The framework of our government is set up in a way that facilitates elected representatives doing most of our bidding. If your candidate did not win then too bad. MAJORITY RULES and once again it has played out that way in the voting booth. No excuses, no it was not close.

Crafton’s future? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Producer2,The point is, the people got to decide...you're right, Majority rules...WHEN they get to decide. So why are you so irritated? Your opinion won the day.BTW, 56% to 44% actually is pretty close you know.

Because Chief, the "people" who decided did not need to have this on any ballot. It was clearly defeated meaning there was NO REASON for the vote to begin with. The "people" who started this campaign were unhappy with the elected officials for not seeing things "their way" so they drummed up this little ammendment (actually it was paid for by outside influences but that is for another day)to change things. Only problem is that the vast majority of people who voted and elected those officials still agree with them and defeated this bill. So what did we learn? Do we need a civics lesson here? The people already decided when they elected their officials and they agree with that so much that they defeated the second bill by an even wider margain to keep this kind of thing form happening more often. That is what we learned.

Fundit, I don't think the Mexican politicians, do such a terrific job governing Mexico, but maybe Obama will teach them the ropes. If not, they can keep sending their unemployed north until they find work in Canada. Eh....

i doubt hispanic politicians here in the U.S. would conduct business in the same manner as the Mexican gov't. how absurd!

nazi, you are a good, kindhearted person, that wants the best for everyone. I like and respect you for that.BUT, the future politicians 30 yrs. from now , governing the southwest, will consider it to belong to Mexico, not the US.

We spend $350,000 of taxpayer money on an election for a law that is already in place. Please read below... Conservatives & Liberals should be furious at this waste of money at a time of significant budget cuts. Nashville has spoken so lets put this issue to rest and move on! TENNESSEE CODE ANNOTATED, THROUGH 1993 SUPPLEMENT Section 4-1-404 –English and Legal Language (1984)English is hereby established as the official and legal language of Tennessee. All communications and publications, including ballots, produced by governmental entities in Tennessee shall be in English, and instruction in public schools and colleges of Tennessee shall be conducted in English unless the nature of the course would require otherwise.________________________________________Source: Charles V. Dale and Mark Gurevitz, Legal Analysis of Proposals to Make English the Official Language of the United States, Oct. 17, 1995, Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service.

Blanketnazi2,Of course hispanic politicians in the U.S. would conduct business in the US same manner.However, if the majority of their constituents speak Spanish, why would they bother making speeches in English? Just a thought.

Spanish was spoken in the southwest befor English. Just a thought.cheif your still funny.

By: ptotaximom7 on 1/23/09 We spend $350,000 of taxpayer money on an election for a law that is already in place. Please read below... Conservatives & Liberals should be furious at this waste of money at a time of significant budget cuts. Nashville has spoken so lets put this issue to rest and move on! *********************************************Crafton should be investigated.

remember when Bush made some speeches in Spanish during his tenure?

I guess it will depend on how strong the La Raza movement is.

ptotaximom,Looking at the law you supplied, it says that all communications and publications will be in English...but it doesn't say ONLY in English. Thus, if put in English, Spanish, Japanese, and other languages, the letter of the law is still enforced.

LOL

Chief... you keep confusing the right to do something with whether we should do something. Clearly we should not have had this vote. It is a demonstrable waste of about a half million dollars for a special election that would have resulted in nothing even if it passed… plus about 73,896 wasted man-hours tied up in the wasted time of the voters. I'm happy to see it backfired on Crapton though. I really thought it would pass.