Speaking English

Would we expect someone who works at McDonalds to know how to make a hamburger? Would we expect someone who plays basketball to know a little bit about the rules? Most people would answer yes. Would we expect someone who lives in a country to speak the language? Many people would say, "No." I don't see much difference between the examples. There is a judge in TN who holds a similar opinion:

"Some consider it unorthodox and others say it is unconstitutional, but nevertheless a Tennessee judge has ordered some Hispanic mothers in child abuse and neglect cases to either learn English or risk losing their children.

Despite criticism from some legal corners, Wilson County Judge Barry Tatum, a first-term jurist and former attorney, has defended his decisions, saying he made his rulings because the women need to assimilate American language and culture for the betterment of their children."

I don't know if the decision was a proper one in this case. I do think English ought to be the national language. Diversity is good, but so is unity. We can be a nation of many different personalities and still be unified. Language can be this unifier. I think a multi-lingual community breeds predjudice and disharmony. We need to be able to communicate to understand each other. Some of our "racial" problems could be eliminated with a single national language. But then, I may be wrong.