English Official Language Speech

The United States of America used to be considered a place that immigrants could travel to in order to find new opportunities, acceptance, and a better life. However, the English Unity Act of 2017-if it becomes a law-will make it much harder for for non-English speakers, especially immigrants, to have a part in American society, including voting, finding jobs, and gaining an education. This act will make English the official language of the U.S.A. Language is a part of everyday life and is much more than a means of communicating with other people; it is part of one's culture and ties people together. The world would not be complete without its many languages, so one language, though dominant in an area, should not be forced on all the other
According to Dr. Rachael Tatman (PhD in Linguistics), America has always been multilingual, from its creation to today, so ignoring the numerous other languages found there is ignoring its history. As early as the 1500s, people spoke Spanish in Florida, and today, there are 37.6 million speakers of Spanish in the U.S.A. During the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 10% of American citizens spoke German with at least 4 other major languages present during the American Revolution. Nowadays, 1.1 million American speak German, 1.1 million speak Korean, 1.3 million speak French, 1.4 million speak Vietnamese, 1.6 million speak Tagalog, and 2.9 million speak Chinese in addition to those that speak Spanish and English. While some may argue that English should clearly become America's official language because it is the language used by the founding fathers to write the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, America's history speaks for itself in that it is a nation built on multilingualism. Another belief favoring English as the official language is that it will create a national identity and build the American culture. However, the American culture has always been a mixture of cultures from other places across the globe with a unique flair added from the citizens
Language is a major part of one's culture and contributes to their ethnic identity, so not being able to speak their own language in the public of America is forcing these citizens, who are just as important as every other citizen, to deny a part of themselves every day. By only allowing English in America, this country, the land of the free', is conveying an attitude of linguistic superiority and belittling the languages of other countries. People commonly believe that making English our official language will reduce language-related discrimination. While the obvious and offensive language-related discrimination will be significantly lowered, the roots behind language discrimination will still be there. Languages are discriminated against because, just as similarities between people connect them, differences between people separate them and breed mistrust and suspicion among the parties. Unsurprisingly, some languages are more discriminated against than others, which are typically the ones connected to different ethnicities and races, the real reasons for discrimination. Seeing as how making English become the official language will not change the ethnicity or race of a person, the real motives for the discrimination of a person are unchanged and it