Malcom Lagauche
December 16, 2007

When I returned to my home country, the U.S., in 1983, after living in Europe for eight years a friend told me there were all kinds of jobs in the San Diego area. He was wrong. Southern California, and most of the U.S., was going through hard times for employment. This was the period when "Reaganomics" had taken a foothold.

For three months, I took a job as a car salesman at a Renault dealership. The business was as slimy as any one could be without being shut down. And, this was one of San Diego’s cleanest car dealers.

After three months of selling cars, I found another job in a retail sports outlet. On the day of my resignation, I had to attend the daily meeting before I gave my notice.

The owner of the business began the meeting with an accolade for one of the salesman. The prior day, he had set the company record for the largest gross profit on a car sale. As the salesman stood up, the owner announced the historical transaction sale asked, "Why did you get such a gross profit on the sale, Chuck?" After straightening out his false teeth and his wig, Chuck told the assemblage, "Cuz the dumb fucks don’t speak no English." (Translation: The unwitting dupes did not have a comprehensive knowledge of the English language.)

I went home and made a few phone calls. Then, in the early afternoon, I returned to the dealership to announce my resignation. Gone was the mirthful atmosphere that permeated the business only a few hours earlier.

Chuck was sitting in a chair and his hairpiece was about 30 degrees off. "What’s wrong?" I asked. He replied, "When they went to the bank to get a loan on the difference between the down payment and the sale, the bank denied them the loan. We charged too much." I grinned and asked, "Who’s the dumb fuck now?" Chuck opened his mouth a couple of times, yet said nothing. He scratched his head while he tried to understand what I had just asked him.

The car in question had a sales tag of $7,000. Chuck threw a bunch of figures together and upped the price to $14,000. In those days, a factory-recommended price did not have to appear on the car.

The "dumb fucks" were two Polish businessmen who came to San Diego to work with an international marketing firm. They gave a $7,000 down payment (the actual full price for the car) and went to get a loan on the remaining $7,000. The bank looked at its book of car values (the Kelly Blue Book) and saw they were conned.

The dealership had to sell the car to the Poles for $5,800 (slightly less than the dealer had to pay) so the bank would not press fraud charges. The Poles left the dealership with a new Renault Alliance and a $1,200 refund.

I bring up this story because of the attitude of many U.S. citizens is that if one does not speak English, he/she is dim-witted. For some reason, many Americans equate the lack of knowledge of the English language to stupidity.

We have seen ridiculous measures taken by U.S. politicians in attempting to cleanse the U.S. of non-English speakers:

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced legislation that the U.S. national anthem be sung only in English. Alexander alleged that there have been 389 versions of the U.S. national anthem in differing musical styles, but a recent Spanish-language version was the first not to be in English. (I wonder how he came up with the figure of 389.)

The U.S. Senate passed two resolutions advocating the exclusivity of the English language in the U.S. It voted 63-34 to make English the national U.S. language. Later, it voted 58-39 to make English the country’s "common and unifying language."

The legislature of the State of Michigan voted 73-32 to make English the official language of the state. Currently, in Michigan, the state driver’s exam is offered in 20 languages. The new legislation, if passed by the state senate, would enable Michigan to offer it only in English.
This recent surge in "English only" is nothing more than a bigoted response to immigrants living in the U.S. It has absolutely no merit and its results could be devastating as the millions of immigrants in the U.S. fall further behind in assimilating to U.S. culture.

Nationwide, the cuts in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs have been deep. And, who champions taking money away from the ESL programs? The same politicians who are strong supporters of "English only" in the U.S.

Before the Senate passed the two preposterous measures, maybe its members should have researched the matter. Currently, in the U.S. there are two official bilingual states and three bilingual territories: Louisiana (English and French); Hawaii (Hawaiian English and Hawaiian); Puerto Rico (Spanish and English); Guam (Chamorro and English); and American Samoa (Samoan and English).

In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau printed its questionnaires in six languages: English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese (in traditional characters), Vietnamese and Tagalog. The "English only" movement seeks to establish English as the only official language of the entire nation.

In Maine, there are thousands of French speakers who can trace their U.S. roots back to the 18th century. In my home state of Rhode Island, once you cross the city line into Woonsocket, French speakers outnumber "English only" speakers. Pennsylvania has many German speaking inhabitants. The list goes on and on. In fact, about 25% of U.S. households speak a language other than English as a first choice. These households consist of recent immigrants as well as citizens who can track their U.S. heritage back for generations.

There are hundreds of Native American languages spoken in the U.S. Unfortunately, many are close to extinction. Only recently have real efforts been made to revive them. For instance, the Jamul Band of Mission Indians is located about five miles from my house. The band consists of about 55 members. A few decades ago, there were more members of the tribe and all spoke the Jamul dialect of the Kumeyaay language. Today, there are seven speakers of the Jamul dialect left and only one is capable of teaching the language to others. He is 87 years old. Fortunately, in the early 1990s, a colleague of mine who is currently the head of the language section of the University of Florida, spent a few years chronicling the language and putting it in writing. It had been a spoken language previously and no one had ever written it.

According to language expert Edward Sapir:

Few people realize that within the confines of the United States there is spoken today a far greater variety of languages … than in the whole of Europe. We may go further. We may say, quite literally and safely, that in the state of California alone there are greater and more numerous linguistic extremes that can be illustrated in all the length and breadth of Europe.

In 1978, I and my wife traveled to Cornwall. We were enchanted. Upon returning to London, I went to several libraries and gathered as much information as I could about the southwestern portion of Great Britain that we just visited.

I discovered that the Cornish language at one time flourished (about 40,000 speakers), but it eventually became less-and-less utilized. In 1978, there were only 120 Cornish-speaking people left in the world. Today, after concerted efforts to revive the language, there are about 5,000. The success was, in part, due to the British government bringing attention to the fact that the language was dying. The government, and various other groups, put money and time into reviving the Cornish language.

In today’s U.S., just the opposite is occurring. The government is hell-bent on wiping out any diversity of language. If this program (and attitude) is prevalent for a decade or more, Native American languages will be dropping like flies. The American public will be deprived of the beauty and diversity of varying languages.

One thing really puzzles me. If people like Chuck think foreigners are stupid, why do they speak English so miserably? About a decade or so ago, the "English only" bandwagon began to roll. Today, it is moving ahead at full steam. During the same period, the U.S. public’s use and knowledge of the English language have plummeted. The English used by mainstream America today is horrible. Sentences end with !!!?! instead of a period. "It’s" is commonly used as the word to designate the possessive of the word "it." The words "then" and "than" are used interchangeably. "Where’s it at?" is the most brutal and ignorant form of redundancy, yet it is common. And, when is the last time someone has asked for your "social security number?" Probably not for a few years. The question today is "what’s your social?" When asked this, I reply, "Social what? Social status? Meager."

Overall, the U.S. citizenry butchers the English language into a derelict form that is almost impossible to understand. Yet, these same people who fracture the language are now calling for everybody to speak English only. If they have such an affinity for English, they should lead by example. Fat chance.

The current "English only" attitude in the U.S. reflects the government’s, and, unfortunately, the U.S. culture’s, desire to rule the planet. It can accurately be described as inguistic terrorism.