Wow. Oklahoma "gets" it about the English only

[Horse with no Name]

http://theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=8eae0110c3508356
>>>snip
"Okla" means red and "homa" means man. If English-only legislation is adopted in Oklahoma as it has been in 28 other states, the name of the state would not pass the English-only standard. Factor in the names of multitudes of Oklahoma cities and towns named with words from tribal languages and the problem gets even greater. While Oklahoma probably would not require names to be changed, the legislation calls for recognition of tribal languages to end. That would be sad.
>>>snip
The English-only crowd argues the legislation is aimed at standardizing government documents and bringing unity for immigrant populations. While we understand the need for standardization, we do not support assimilation that removes the culture of people who make up this nation. Our nation is a quilt in which many cultures make up our fabric. When that is lost, the American culture suffers.

Oklahoma has 37 federally recognized native American tribes, many of which are fighting to keep their native tongue alive due to the importance to their cultures. English-only legislation fosters the decline of native languages and thus the demise of the cultures represented.

We don't object to standardizing government documents and driver's licenses, but failure to recognize native languages is a mistake. Narrow legislation that addresses specific areas would be much more appropriate and foster cultural diversity for people in Oklahoma, Texas and throughout our nation.

[NewJeffCT]

1. It sounds like an opinion piece

but, it was well written and made some good points.

I think CT would fail the test as well, as "Connecticut" is also from the native American name...

[Horse with no Name]

7. It is

but it is nice to see that the nuance isn't lost.

[MADem]

2. Hmmm. To say nothing of the Spanish and French influences, too!

Los Angeles, Colorado, Montana, Fon du Lac, Bayou la Batre, Coeur d'Alene, Havre de Grace....and the beat goes on!!!

So many states, cities and towns, that potentially should be renamed? Will they ALL be called Bushland or Bushville???

[nuxvomica]

3. I prefer my place names to be non-English

The Native American names are beautiful. Compare Adirondack, Ticonderoga, Saratoga with such modern names as "Sugerland, TX" or the somewhat Orwellian "City of Industry, CA".

[TlalocW]

5. Don't forget...

Florida and Texas (Tejas).

Will I one day travel to south Texas to visit the riverwalk in the city of Saint Anthony?

TlalocW

[TlalocW]

4. I am so sick of English-only

An immigrant to the US who doesn't want to learn English is the rarest of breeds. I live in Tulsa, and for various reasons, I deal with the Hispanic community a great deal - most of them immigrants. Most of my dealings involve my entertaining at their kids' birthday parties, twisting balloons and the like, and 99% of the kids speak English as well as Spanish. The adults less so, but they're trying to learn the best that they can while they work to give a better life to their kids. That's the way it's always been - immigrants come over not speaking the language, get what work they can (normally work most people don't want to do), and build a better life for their kids who do speak the language. English-only proponents are just upset that instead of immigrants with acceptable amounts of melanin in their skin, most of the immigrants are darker-skinned that what they would like.

TlalocW

[Horse with no Name]

6. I agree.

I know Hispanics here in Texas too whose immigrant parents speak broken English but INSIST that the children learn "good English".

[blondeatlast]

8. Great piece. Indeed they do get it. nt

[madokie]

9. I agree

I think the immigrants who invaded and continue to occupy this land made a big mistake in killing off the native American's and their customs and cultures and all the knowledge they had about the senses around us. After all they had lived here for hundreds of years with the most important thing to them, surviving and surviving meant they had to not destroy the land they ocuppied nor pollute the water or the air and keeping in tune with nature. They, the europeans, had a lot to learn from the Native Americans and they blew it, imo

I'm not writing this to start a flame war please. just saying

[UTUSN]

10. K&R for double-wow and thanks for this item n/t

[zbdent]

11. Okay, how about an extension on the "english only" movement ...

How about we tell all those people who scream about the "PC movement" to stop whining about how the team names cannot reflect racist themes?

I mean, wouldn't that be a logical extension? Might make them pause for half a millisecond ...

[blondeatlast]

12. Let's start "English Only" by forcing land developers to use English Only

to name their developments. "Window" just doesn't carry the same cachet as "Ventana"--but that's the English translation (and yes, a nearby development is named "Ventana."

[bmbmd]

13. You could always call it

"Indian Territory", but the NCAA would disapprove.