Some of my earliest Lab memories are from community sings in Earl Shapiro Hall. Each month, we sang in English, Spanish, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and Russian. From a young age, we were encouraged to appreciate other languages in a way that felt unforced and collaborative. Language learning is woven into the curriculum early at Lab, where many speak a language other than English at home.
I was reminded of this on March 1, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order making English the official language of the United States, the first time the country has designated an official language. This elevation of English to “official” status might seem little more than political grandstanding, but it’s much more sinister. It signals the administration’s hostility toward those it considers less than fully American by weaponizing the English language and further ostracizing immigrant communities.
Although the move reflects a desire to “return” to a unified linguistic past, America has never been monolingual. One in five U.S. residents speaks another language, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Instead of demonizing non-English speakers, we should celebrate language acquisition and diversity as an American value.
Language diversity shouldn’t be a divisive issue. The advantages of being bilingual or multilingual are well documented. Studies consistently reinforce that learning another language boosts brain function, improves memory and deepens empathy.
English was not even America’s original language. Long before Europeans arrived, hundreds of Native American languages thrived. More than 160 Native languages survive, despite deliberate attempts to suppress and erase them, such as in boarding schools for Native American children, where their original languages were forbidden and speaking English was mandatory.
Our multiplicity of languages proved a strength during both world wars, when “code talkers” used their Native languages to create unbreakable codes for transmitting secret messages. The fact that Native languages could not be recognized by the enemy transformed Navajo and other idioms into a patriotic defense of American values.
English is not under attack. English language acquisition rates have increased over the past 100 years: 91% of immigrants surveyed between 1980 and 2010 spoke English, compared with 86% in 1900-1930.
The Trump administration’s move made me wonder if something as simple as community sings are viewed by some as threatening, given the politicization of language?
There’s a Yiddish proverb: Di gantse velt shteyt af der shpits tsung — “The entire world rests on the tip of the tongue.” We should be opening up our world, not limiting our knowledge by trying to impose a vision of America that has never actually existed, except in the minds of those who fear difference.
