Barack Obama’s Lost in Translation Moment? Suggests US Children Learn Spanish

Anyone who is following the Presidential race in the United States is aware that Immigration Reform is going to be one of the most hotly contested topics in the campaign. There’s an ongoing debate as to the quantity of illegal immigrants in the US. As the US slides into what soon may be an acknowledged recession and taxes have nowhere to go but up, health care, educational and other benefits provided to the significant illegal population is increasingly being called into question. Of course one counter-argument is that the US was built on immigration and immigrants (illegal or otherwise) contribute in many ways to the US economy. Whatever your position, on July 8, 2008, during a campaign rally, Barack Obama jumped into the frying pan. It’s unclear whether he did so unintentionally or willingly but his statements are certain to have an impact on the race.

Obama said, in no uncertain terms, “[i]nstead of worrying whether immigrants can learn English, they’ll learn English. You need to make sure your kids can speak Spanish.” Unfortunately for Obama, them fighting words for many Americans.

If you want to give Obama the benefit of the doubt (I do), you simply assume he merely meant that everyone that learns to speaks more than one language will have a competitive advantage when they look for employment in the global workplace; however, he did not make such a narrow statement. Presidential candidates should be held accountable for their words. In this case this statement has caused a significant backlash in the US.

First, many Americans are concerned about a loss of identity. The reality is that, while a melting pot, the US population is not Europe, is not well traveled and has not historically mastered multiple tongues beyond a generation, largely because of the country’s relative isolation. While the country’s connection with the rest of the world is undoubtedly increasing, greater than 70% of the US population do not even have passports. While prejudice associated with racism has been largely eradicated in the US, polls among Hispanics have suggested that a lack of English fluency is their number one perceived source of discrimination, not race, religion or skin color.

Language sentiment runs deep across any society as the French-Canadians established in the last several decades. It’s no surprise that recent polls have found overwhelming support for making English the official language of the United States. A 2007 Zogby poll found that 83 percent of Americans favor making English the official language, including substantial majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents. So, the fact is that US citizens are worried about this. That Obama would suggest “get over it” is surprising and ignores the emotional nature of the issue.

Second, Obama specifically chose “Spanish” as the second language Americans should learn. Is this because it is the most widely spoken second language in the world after Engish? Is this because speaking Spanish will have the highest correlation to finding a job in the United States? While I have been spending much of my life trying to learn Spanish and will most certainly encourage my children to do the same, this has been a personal choice for me when I was a child (still haven’t quite succeeded). In short, while I certainly believe that speaking Spanish in Southern California would make my life easier and that the resources should be there, insisting our children should learn any one langauge seems primarily targeted at gaining the Hispanic vote. This a daring political choice for Obama because if taken literally (whether meant literally or otherwise), it does risk isolating his supporters.

Education has been defined as the great equalizer and the reality is that twice as many students drop out of school in the United States when they do not speak English. Not speaking English unequivocally limits opportunities in the United States. The correlation between increased economic achievement and fluency in the “mother tongue” is material. In “Supporting English Language Acquisition“, Tia Martinez and Ted Wang indicate that “a fluent English speaking immigrant in the US earns nearly double that of a non-English speaking worker.” The inverse is that poverty rates are much higher among US residents that do not speak English. If economic opportunity and success is each of our personal goals, perhaps many of us should endeavor to learn additional languages and encourage our children to do the same; however, within the United States, ensuring our citizenry acquires English fluency and English literacy IS something we should all be worried about and a much more pressing concern. Learning a second langauge after English may follow as a close second. The global nature of the issues in this US election is sure to resonate far beyond the borders of the United States.

Should American children be required to learn Spanish or another second language?

Should one’s language be a personal choice or part of a clear curriculum?

What factors should be used in making the decision as to what languages should be taught and where?

Whatever the case, in the big leagues, the US Presidency, the candidates should be held accountable for their choice of words.

It’s going to be interesting to see whether Obama stands by this position in the coming weeks.

As always, I am curious as to what others think as I am still formulating my own. Please provide your comments.

-jim

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