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English Only as Support for Arizona’s SB1070

7:09 pm By Maegan La Mala · Illinois|language

17 Jul 2010

While some cities and states are writing copycat laws to show their support for Arizona’s SB1070, which goes into effect in less than two weeks, some towns are using English first/English only legislation to promote anti-immigrant nativism.

The bustling township of Homer, Illinois, population 30,000, with 12 percent Latinos, passed a resolution last week making English it’s official language. They have never had an issue with immigration and all of the town’s official documents have always been printed in one language, English. The resolution was passed without opposition as a way to show support for Arizona’s SB1070 and like laws.

“We recognize Native Americans had the first language in our Country, followed by Western European dialects, with English eventually becoming dominant,” the resolution reads in part. “The Homer Township Board supports actions to enforce existing Immigration law, enforce residency requirements in our school districts, and acknowledge that English the dominant language of Homer Township.”

4 Responses to English Only as Support for Arizona’s SB1070

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Bryan J.

July 17th, 2010 at 7:51 pm

Duuuuuuuuh. I wonder how much of the U.S.’s English-only crowds is just jealous because they do not speak any other language than English, whereas Immigrants tend to bilingual and beyond.

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Tweets that mention English Only as Support for Arizona’s SB1070 | VivirLatino -- Topsy.com

July 17th, 2010 at 7:57 pm

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vivir Latino, Jerry Northington. Jerry Northington said: RT @VivirLatino: New on VivirLatino: English Only as Support for Arizona's SB1070 http://bit.ly/dfZhHR [...]

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Maegan La Mala

July 17th, 2010 at 10:22 pm

I think that jealousy would imply that they value bilingualism of any sort when really it’s about supremacy.

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Bryan J.

July 18th, 2010 at 9:36 am

the only-English probably depends. I when I am in the company of mostly English speakers, and I speak Spanish, some people have the reaction of: “I wish i spoke more than one language” and others say, “Speak English”. But perhaps the superiority part is correct. In Belgium, for example, multi-lingualism is the norm, but there are still clashes on the lines of language difference.

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