Believe In America.com

butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2271

Adele Northrup doesn't let her Mexican-born cleaning lady speak Spanish on the job. The same goes for her landscaper, who is from Guatemala.

And Northrup's Christmas present to both of them this year is the same: a Spanish-English dictionary.

"I really resent feeling like a stranger in my own land," says Northrup, the owner of the Virginia Highland Bed & Breakfast in Atlanta. "No Spanish on my dime."

Northrup, 64, isn't the only Georgian feeling the need to protect English these days. The Cherokee County Commission passed an ordinance Tuesday declaring English the official language of the growing area 30 miles north of Atlanta.

Two days later, state Rep. Timothy Bearden (R-Villa Rica) filed legislation that would prohibit any Georgia city or county from issuing any official forms or documents in a language other than English.

The English-only measures, part of a nationwide trend, go much deeper than language. They strike a nerve with both the people most upset about illegal immigration and those most fearful of the mounting backlash.

Critics say the rules are designed to scare off immigrants, particularly in communities unaccustomed to seeing so many newcomers from Latin America. But the English protections resonate with residents who believe Americans are increasingly forced to adjust to immigrants — not the other way around. English needs a boost, they say, in an era when using the language requires an extra step at ATM machines also offering Spanish.

continued:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2006/12/10/1211metlanguage.html

Mad

I am fed up with Hispanics who complain about making English the official language. This is America. We speak English. If you don't like it, learn the language, or go somewhere else.