Spanish finance own bilingual program
[Open letter to President Reagan, published in the Holland Sentinel, 12 May 1981]
Mr. President:
On February 2, I heard on television that you had withdrawn the bilingual education rules. I support you completely on this, both on financial grounds and on grounds of principle. The language in America is English and it binds together all the American people, no matter where they come from.
More recently, I heard the outcry of individuals and organizations representing the Spanish-speaking people and I would like to comment on it.
Personally, I am a firm supporter of immigrants who want to preserve the native languages, cultures, and customs of their nations of origin, but only as a home and family affair and not as a government issue.
For over two hundred years, people from all parts of the world have come to America and they have all managed to learn English. There is no reason to give special government-funded privileges to foreign-speaking people, especially in the difficult current economic situation. Initial help to all new immigrants is available all over the country in the form of free or low-cost classes teaching the basics of English, and that is completely enough.
Ricardo Garcia, a representative of the Spanish-speaking people, mentioned that there are about 20 million Spanish speakers in the United States today. If there are that many, why do they not organize and finance some kind of bilingual education for themselves, instead of asking the other 200 million Americans to finance them?
Today, as always, most immigrants, including those who speak Spanish, come to the U.S. to have a better life for themselves and a better future for their children. They must accept America as it is, including the language. If they do not want to take advantage of the many opportunities that America offers, and if they do not want to learn English without government support, they can always go back to their native countries.
One afterthought, with no offense intended: As millions of immigrants could learn English without bilingual programs, are the Spanish-speaking implying that their intelligence is so low that they must be treated with special education like retarded people?