Barton: Shame on state lawmakers
Tom Barton | Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 12:30 am

Contextual linking provided by Topix Watching the Georgia Legislature is like watching Barnum & Bailey under the big top.

You never know what will come next - a brave, high-wire act or a bunch of clowns cleaning up after the elephants.

Such was the case as the clock ticked down to midnight Friday, bringing this year's circus to a blessed end. One of the bills that thankfully bit the dust, courtesy of a rare 22-22 tie vote in the Georgia Senate, was a measure that would have apparently made Georgia the only state in the country that offers English-only driver's license tests.

Talk about putting out the unwelcome mat and yanking it back at the last minute.

This shameful measure should have been dubbed the "We Don't Want Your Kind Around Here" bill.

It stood in stark contrast to ongoing efforts to bring needed international investment and paychecks to Georgia, such as Savannah's thriving port and the Kia Motors plant that is expected to bring 2,500 jobs to West Point.

This ugliness played to one the basest fears in a down economy - too many foreigners are here illegally, and they're sucking up public benefits and taking away work from honest, taxpaying Americans. So let's show them we're mad as hell and not going to take it any more by taking away their ability to get a driver's license.

Are legislators kidding?

News flash: Illegal immigrants can't get a license. Existing state rules prevent it.

For those who argue that Georgia's roads are jammed with licensed drivers who can't read English and are causing multiple-car pileups from Rabun Gap to Tybee Light, please slow down, stop and back the xenophobia up.

Certainly, there are plenty of motorists here and probably elsewhere in Georgia who don't speak English. Just talk to traffic cops in Savannah and Garden City. Many have radioed for an interpreter after pulling someone over.

Some of these non-English-speaking motorists may have valid driver's licenses. But many more probably don't.

A spokeswoman for Savannah-Chatham metro police said she was unaware of any dangerous trends involving licensed, non-English-reading or -speaking motorists. A traffic court judge told me essentially the same thing. "The vast majority of non-English-speaking drivers I see are unlicensed."

So if there's a problem with non-English-speaking motorists in Georgia, it's not with licensed drivers who have taken and passed the state's road rules test, which is available in Spanish, French, German, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Polish, Bosnian, Arabic and Laotian. Instead, it's with unlicensed drivers who can't read or speak English. (I would add English-speaking, unlicensed drivers to that list, too.)

And one more thing.

Licensed, non-English reading drivers have passed a road sign test and a driving test, which are in English-only. It's a no-coddling zone. "All drivers must demonstrate the ability to read and understand simple English such as is used in highway traffic and directional signs," according to information on the state's Department of Driver Services Web site.

Obviously, it's better to speak and read the language used where you live, if only for self-preservation. If I move to Guadalajara, I'm learning Spanish. If I move to East L.A., same thing.

So why the sudden stampede to pass a law that punishes legal immigrants in Georgia? Here's why - fear and ignorance. And politics.

Many Georgians are afraid about losing their jobs to people from other countries. Some believe, ignorantly, that targeting immigrants will fix the problem.

Politicians have always exploited fear and ignorance for power. But that doesn't make it any less shameful.

Bravo to State Rep. Craig Gordon and State Sen. Lester Jackson of Savannah. They were the only members of the Chatham County delegation who refused to grandstand in their respective chambers. They had the courage to vote "no" on the English-only bill.

Thank goodness the measure came up short and Georgia avoided an embarrassing black eye.

But for lawmakers who voted "yes," there's one more task now that the circus has ended: Start shoveling.


Tom Barton is the editorial page editor of the Savannah Morning News.

tom.barton@savannahnow.com

http://savannahnow.com/node/701117