To: jgbustam@clark.net

Subject: Hispanics and English: A winning combo. My name is Christopher J. Maerling. I was born in Bogota, Colombia in 1975 but was adopted my American parents shortly after. I really do not know too much Spanish. I was raised to speak english and that is what I know best. I have observed this debate from both sides and I have come to the following conclusions...

American English is the dominant language in both public and private sectors in America. There is no dening that. I feel that the United State Government or any Government could not impose English as the offical lauguage without crossing that fine line of what is a human rights violation and what is not. In order to fully enforce such a declaration, one would have to resort to tyranical measures. Clearly this is not the vast majority of those who support an Offical English Language Policy want to do or intend to do.

This debate that we are having amoung ourselves did not start with us orginaly. It started from the moument of our country's conception. America has been, is and always will be a nation of immigrants and a global melting pot. There has not been a more dominant melting pot republic since the Roman Republic. We have always had new people immigrate to here from Ireland, Italy, Africa or anywhere else. They faced the same struggles of being a foreign people with a foreign tounge in a land that guarranteed oppertunity but not results. How people dealt with it back then was plainly to " do what the romans do". They , with the exception of most slaves, kept their heritage but intergrated in American Society which demanded that they speak English. Because of that there was no "english only rules", therefore we truly do not need an amendment to the Constitution stating such.

What is different and troubling to me is that not all of todays debate mirrors the past debates of yester-year. It saddens me that there are Leaders in the Latin community that are willing to lower the expectations and the standards of our community in order to prove their points and fullfill their personal agendas. I feel that we as a people in this great nation could rise up to the challenges of the english language and racism without lowering standards on ourselves or with the assistance of the government.

If there is anythng we know about government it is that government does not know anything about us. Government can not set an offical language for a nation born from a melting pot without resorting to tyranny. Government can not establish a system of quotas and Affirmative Action without lowering the expectations, standards and at the same time destroying the will of our people. Could we trust a governmet that turns certain slang in to the "dialect of Ebonics", uses that "dialect" as an excuse to hold young blacks down while at the same time avoiding the educational and moral obligation to raise the standards of our teachers and to keep our schools strong?

My final point is that we do not need an "English Only" amendment or laws. What we must do to counter such a movement is to not hide behind the evils of racism and race-bating or the false promises of quotas and affrimative action. We have to be the strong independent people that we are and let loose all the potential and the promise that springs eternal from al of us and to combat racism, discrimination and the language barrier from a possitive prospective thats proudly shows or inner-strength. If we fail to be truly proud of who we are and where we come from, then we have surrendered to the stereotypes of those who condem us. By doing that, we have become our worst enemy....

From Christopher Maerling
(a proud Colombian born American who has begun to learn espanol 21 years too late)