Intergalactic memo—Language, Borders, Culture

I read an “article” tonight, emailed from a friend, which was talking about English in America. A veteran wrote it in response to the Senate voting against making English our official language. Some of us are going to approve of that vote, believing such a move to be unnecessary, and others of us are dismayed, or at least disappointed, by the Senates failure to enact something which seems so obviously necessary. I thought I might take a moment to throw my two cents worth into the storm.
I am in favor of English as the official language, and not just because it happens to be the (only) language I speak. Nor, I hope, is it out of any chauvinist sentiment, believing America to be superior to all other nations (which I do.)
There is a man in talk radio (who will remain nameless because he is a raving lunatic) who proclaims to anyone who will listen, that it is about “Language, Borders, and Culture.” Despite his lunacy, he is exactly right on this one point. Some who will read this will be angry that I would take a stand so “Selfish” or “Parochial” or even “evil”. Obviously, I don’t agree, as I don’t think of myself as any of those things. Every nation, however, has not only the right, but the absolute imperative, to maintain at least a core of commonality. No nation survives for long if it contains competing cultures and languages. The former Yugoslavia is an example, as is Iraq and even Canada. An argument will be made that people should be free, especially in America, to speak what they want, etc., etc., and I would agree. But the commonality, what my brother in law calls a “common cultural base” is an absolute requisite for a people to remain a people.
It is often said, these days as a slogan for “diversity,” that America is, and always has been, a melting pot. And this is true. But we’ve gotten sloppy with our definitions. People now use the phrase to mean a stew pot. Let me explain.
A stew pot is where we cook a delicious soup with a variety of ingredients, bringing them together with herbs and spices, creating a kind of new thing out of separate parts. But in a stew, the parts remain separate; we can pick them out (which I do with the celery), identify them individually—this is potato, this is carrot, this is Thumper, etc. In other words, while the flavors combine, the raw ingredients never do. They maintain their unique, molecular identities.
A melting pot is different. A melting pot is used to combine metals into an alloy. We might want to put several different metals in, like iron and nickel, chromium and carbon, some metallic salts, etc, depending on what we are making. Each metal has unique characteristics which add specific and important elements to the alloy. But when we melt metals they become an amalgam, they recombine on the molecular level to make a truly new thing. Think of putting three kinds of chewing gum into your mouth and chewing for an hour, then trying to separate them again. Can’t be done. Same with metals in the furnace.
So it is with cultures, nations and people. We are in fact, a melting pot. Unique in history. We bring every tradition, language, religion, ethnicity, culture, and history into this country and make a new thing. We are a crucible, purified in the refiner’s fire until what emerges is better, stronger, more beautiful and useful. The people and their traditions still exist—they are what make the alloy strong and flexible. The religions and languages still exist, so that we might all celebrate one another’s heritage and customs. I am reminded of that very powerful scene in A Walk in the Clouds when all the vintner families in California’s wine country come together to celebrate the harvest, each in the traditional costumes of their native lands, accepting, forming bonds of friendship and respect in the growing commonality, the core-culture, new to them all.
For a people to remain intact, especially when they are as diverse as we are in the U.S., it is absolutely necessary to maintain that core, to accept, even celebrate all good things we share in common. If we don’t do this, we are merely a collection of diverse and suspicious tenants, with no compelling reason to cooperate, to form those bonds so desired by all decent people. So we have our traditions, our rituals and celebrations. We speak a hundred languages in this country, but everyone needs to speak a common one as well. We share one another’s holidays and sacred days, while respecting those which were here from the beginning, brought by the people who colonized the country. And yes, I know the Spanish were here hundreds of years ago. I lived in New Mexico for nearly twenty years and have known people whose ancestors were deeded land by the King of Spain—that’s how long they’ve been here, and we should respect that. I quietly celebrate, Cinco de Mayo, The Day of the Dead, Chanukah, Ramadan, The Corn Festival of the Pueblo Indians, and others, not because they are mine, but out of respect, and because I like the food. We need to keep our diversity while allowing it to be gently subsumed by the core culture. We see signs of our country splintering around us and wonder why it’s happening. This is why; too few of us understand how great societies work. We no longer appreciate the glue which holds us together. We are separating into cabals of pride and isolation, all in the well-intentioned but badly miss-informed name of diversity and tolerance. Both of which are fine values, unless taken to extremes. Is anyone seriously suggesting we tolerate everything? Does anyone not understand the importance of a balance between commonality and diversity?
The veteran mentioned that four people running for President voted against the “English as official language” bill; Senators Dodd, Obama, Clinton and Biden. All Democrats, incidentally. They could not be more wrong. No one (I hope) wants an “English Only” country. I don’t. I want a universal language, under which as many other languages as possible should survive and thrive. Hell, they speak five languages in my sister’s home! (Not all of them—except English—but five different languages.)
Yes, passing such a bill would be a burden on new immigrants from other nations. But that has always been the case, and still is in every country on the planet. People would be at a disadvantage for a while, because they couldn’t read the signs or understand the television, but making one language “official” is the compelling incentive to learn that language. In the long run it is by far the best thing to do—in fact the necessary thing to do. It does not put anyone at an unfair advantage, since all immigrants suffer equally. Remember, those of us who speak only English can’t understand them either. It motivates people to do what it takes to learn the common language. No one is going to be kicked out of the country because they don’t speak English. But it will set a precedence that all people can understand; the American Dream speaks English. Would any of us, if moving to Germany or France or China, expect those countries to bend over backwards and alter their laws and traditions just for us? The idea is absurd. Does it make more sense to print voting ballots in over a hundred languages (with the risk of poor translations) or to let citizens vote as soon as they can read the ballot in English? More incentive.
It had never been necessary, in the past, to worry about this issue, because people learned English when they got here. (Yeah, I know your grandparents didn’t, but we aren’t dealing with anecdotal anomalies). But these days, may people refuse to learn it as a matter of pride. That kind of short-sighted, self-serving attitude will become a socially and financial self-defeating behavior in the end. No one should come here who does not want to become an American. In every sense of the word. And we should be accepting, patient and as helpful as possible, to all the ones who do. But being American does not preclude retaining the traditions and culture of our original home.
Most of us (not all) are Christians, practicing or not. In our tradition Christ accepted the Jew, the Gentile, the Samaritan, the sinner, the rich and poor . . . everyone. But when they came to Him, they found common ground in His teachings and learned to live His commandments, becoming “one mind and heart.” They retained their ethnicity, their status or lack thereof, their various traditions, and adopted new ones as well. They became one people, a new thing, an alloy, made up of diversity. I feel strongly we need to do the same, or we are not long for the world—at least not as a nation. It is a moral imperative that we retain our Language, Borders, and Culture, while celebrating all that is good about all other traditions which come to us in the hearts of those “yearning to be free.”