English Only - Re: Proposal 1 (Memphis: sales, lawyer, neighborhoods)

[qwe123safi]

Who voted? What are your thoughts? I voted against it. I personally have nothing against different cultures and races settling in and making communities here in Nashville. Just look at the Kurdish population. most people who could be considered racist do not even notice them.

[akm4]

IMO, it was an embarrassing operation from the start.

For one thing, English is already our official language.

Second, IF passed, it would put the city at risk should a health crisis arise. After all, we wouldn't be allowed to communicate with non-English speakers to quarantine, immunize or track any potential Hepatitis outbreaks, food poisoning, etc.

Third, IF passed, it would surely have been challenged and overturned.

It all adds up to a truckload of taxpayers' money wasted.

Ridiculous!

[alleycat]

Just for the record, this is the actual language used for Proposal 1:

“English is the official language of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee. Official actions which bind or commit the government shall be taken only in the English language, and all official government communications and publications shall be in English. No person shall have a right to government services in any other language. All meetings of the Metro Council, Boards, and Commissions of the Metropolitan Government shall be conducted in English. The Metro Council may make specific exceptions to protect public health and safety. Nothing in this measure shall be interpreted to conflict with federal or state law.”

[akm4]

May make special exceptions....hmmmm. Thx Alleycat.

[rossc]

The law states that Metro government will not be REQUIRED to provide services in any language but English....EXCEPT in regards to health care and public safety, which encompasses quite a bit. That doesn't mean that a Spanish speaking employee will be prohibited from speaking Spanish. It simply means that Metro will not be REQUIRED to hire Spanish speaking employees or provide translation services. The law is a cost saving measure only. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with discouraging illegals.

I voted for it just because anyone who can only speak Spanish and no English at all is probably illegal and I don't think tax dollars should be used to accommodate them.

[Beretta]

The title of the thread was edited and "Re: Proposal 1" was added so that readers can understand the content of the thread.

Please keep this thread on the topic of the English only proposal as it relates to Nashville. Thanks for understanding

[Pimpy]

Originally Posted by rossc

The law states that Metro government will not be REQUIRED to provide services in any language but English....EXCEPT in regards to health care and public safety, which encompasses quite a bit. That doesn't mean that a Spanish speaking employee will be prohibited from speaking Spanish. It simply means that Metro will not be REQUIRED to hire Spanish speaking employees or provide translation services. The law is a cost saving measure only. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with discouraging illegals.

I voted for it just because anyone who can only speak Spanish and no English at all is probably illegal and I don't think tax dollars should be used to accommodate them.

I agree 100%. A working knowledge of the English language is required to become a United States citizen. Anyone who says this bill unfairly discriminates against LEGAL immigrants is spouting nonsense.

[kpellatiro]

Against.

I'd love to rid our neighborhoods of any deteriorating factors -- the fear that this measure seems to prey on -- but the groups behind this come too close to veiled racism. The financial support for this is galvanizing, exclusive, and shipped in. Many of our strongest small business owners here in Nashville (an entrepreneurial locale by any measure) are from somewhere else. Even speak other languages. AND pay more taxes than most of us.

Can we find a more inclusive way of aiming for "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." ?

[mad fiddler]

Originally Posted by Pimpy

I agree 100%. A working knowledge of the English language is required to become a United States citizen. Anyone who says this bill unfairly discriminates against LEGAL immigrants is spouting nonsense.

It takes several years for a LEGAL immigrant to become an American citizen, and if they don't speak English already, they're learning it during those years in order to become a citizen.

In Nashville, those LEGAL immigrants are paying the same state and local taxes as the rest of us, yet Proposal 1 would deny them the services their sales and property taxes are paying for.

[Mike in TN]

It is absolutely not an enforced requirement to have a working knowledge of English to become a US citizen. My wife became a citizen in 2006 so I remember her going through the entire process.

In Memphis, probably 1/3 of the people going through the interviews had to have a lawyer that translated everything for them. The questions asked during the interview were very arbitrary as well.