Thread: English-only testing will further isolate Hispanics

As far as I'm concerned, they can isolate themselves right back across the border.

How about this then, learn to speak English before you come here. Learn to speak English while you are here. Assimilate into our society and you won't isolate yourselves at all.

The source article is from a college newspaper written by a college senior and my guess would be she has little if any life experiences and pretty much goes along with anything "our" Education System feeds her as her point of reference. Most likely she has heard only one side of the ILLEGALS invasion story. Of course she has read all of the SOB stories and she did point out "The chambers of commerce in Tennessee’s four biggest cities – Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Memphis – sent a letter to lawmakers in opposition of a bill that would require citizens take the written portion of drivers’ exams in English.". We do know that the C of C does not have a self serving agenda!

Originally Posted by NoBueno

English-only testing will further isolate Hispanics

I didn't know hispanics were isolated to begin with. I guess Krissy Mallory has never been to California.

Oh...they're not living in the shadows either Krissy, just in case you wanted to use that cliche for your next headline...

So true. In California these people isolate themselves as far as language. They have no intention of learning English. They are now in the public like never before. We need to force them back to the shadows.

They should not be able to drive any way. Illegal aliens should not be catered to. My brother recently went to the DMV to get his permit and was unable to because he did not have his actual birth certificate. He only had a copy. Yet these illegals come here without any documentation and still get licenses.

Thank you for posting comments on this article. I am posting comments at sites too. The Tennessean news outlet has quite a few articles recently on the English legislation that Rep. Eric Watson wants passed for the protection of Tennesseans. The Tennessean is a mouthpiece for open borders and local ethnocentric groups. Rep. Watson is under all out assault from business and special interests for attempting to get this through.

Please call or email Eric Watson to offer support. 350 million dollars goes to illegal immigration in Tennessee. Translations for driving and ballots cost taxpayers in every state. Each state needs to know that people out there want this. When the noises are so loud from open borders, special interests, it can seem lonely. But we do need good men to step forward, and to stand strong.


Rep. Eric Watson

nashville address

301 6th Avenue North
Suite 205 War Memorial Building
Nashville, TN 37243

Phone (615) 741-7799
Fax (615) 253-0252

rep.eric.watson@capitol.tn.gov

http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/hous ... s/h22.html

Iccat, and others who may not see their comment, please try again.

2 Chronicles 7:14

It is written,... if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

(quote)

Guest editorial: Driver bill faulty, motives dishonest

By Stephen Fotopulos • March 28, 2010

The "English-only" driving exam bill is exactly the
type of legislation that makes Tennesseans cynical
of government.

The sponsors of the bill would have us believe that
they are eliminating translations of the driving test
because they care about safety. As it turns out, the
bill being considered doesn't actually eliminate
translations, and it has never had anything to do
with safety. Before our representatives vote for a bill
that harms the reputation of our state, let's be sure
to ask them why.

Let's first dispense with the notion that drivers who
take translated tests are less safe than anyone else.
The state Department of Safety has testified year after
year that there are no statistics to back up this
claim. Road signs are international by design, which
is why Americans can travel to foreign countries and
rent a car without speaking the local language.
Furthermore, no matter in which language an
applicant takes the test, they must demonstrate
knowledge of road signs in English and pass the
hands-on portion in English. That is why all but a
handful of Midwest states offer translated tests, and
Georgia and Alabama offer the test in over 10
languages.

Please ask your representatives: If safety is the
issue, shouldn't we also prevent foreign tourists
from renting cars at the Nashville airport?

Once the safety argument falls apart, some
supporters actually suggest the bill is designed to
help immigrants. As state Sen. Delores Gresham

asserted last week to the astonishment of immigrant
leaders, "This bill embraces everyone. It says,
'Come, be like us. Speak English.'"

English classes are overflowing

But immigrants don't need government bureaucrats
to tell them that learning English is important. That
is why English classes across the state are filled
beyond capacity, with long waiting lists of eager
immigrant students. What immigrants need is a little
time to learn, and a way to get to work, feed their
families and drive their kids to school in the
meantime. This "English-only" bill promises instead
to isolate immigrants, making it far less likely that
they will learn English quickly. Please ask your
representatives: If a newly settled refugee cannot get
a driver's license, how is she going to drive to her
English classes?


These questions presume that the bill actually does
what it says. The truth is, House and Senate
sponsors have amended the bill to allow most
translations to continue. The amended bill says that
translations are perfectly fine for foreign visitors
who are "investing ... or providing needed services
to companies or businesses." Translations are OK if
a foreign national is deemed valuable for "economic
and community development." In other words,
German carmakers can take a translated test, but
Kurdish refugees are on their own. The spouse of a
Japanese executive can take a translated test, but the
Korean wife of a U.S. serviceman now has to walk to
the grocery store. Please ask your representatives: If
it's unsafe for someone not fluent in English to
drive, why does it matter if he's rich?

If the bill did nothing at all, our representatives
would merely be wasting time and taxpayer dollars.
Unfortunately, the bill's genuine accomplishment is
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to hang a big sign on the door of our state saying
that people from other countries make us
uncomfortable. It says that we'll tolerate those same
foreigners if they bring us enough money, but not if
they're here to escape religious persecution or to
build a new life for their families. It says we are less
welcoming than Alabama and Georgia.

That is why ProEnglish, the same anti-immigration
group that funded Eric Crafton's English-only
campaign in Nashville, has testified twice in
committee in favor of this legislation. If these are the
reasons we are passing an "English-only" bill, if this
is what we really mean to say about our state, we
should at least be honest about it.

(quote)

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100 ... 01/3280342

I work for an insurance company, and I can tell you honestly that about 7 out of 10 times a Hispanic gets into an accident, they come into our office and say "I could not read the road signs, I do not read English." WTF???!!! So when they see a sign that says "Icy conditions ahead" or "Children at Play" they don't understand to slow down?

We are losing our country to people who refuse to obey the laws of our land. If you can't pass the written portion of the driver's test, you get no license. Whether you can read English or not. If an American citizen fails the written portion, the fail. If a Spanish-speaking person who does not understand English fails the written portion, well they fail too. Simple as that.

(quote)


Editorial: English-only goes
statewide

Narrow agenda risks diversity, economy

March 28, 2010

Our View

Whether driven by election-year politics or by
sincere personal resentments, the latest statewide
efforts to limit driver's license exams and workplace
discourse to English are unfair and harmful to
Tennessee's economy.

One bill before the General Assembly states that
private businesses may require only English be
spoken in their workplace; the other would require
written driver's license exams be in English.
Currently in Tennessee, the exams also are available
in Spanish, Korean and Japanese.

The former is unnecessary, the latter potentially
harmful.

Sponsors of the workplace bill say they worry that,
for example, operating-room personnel working
with a language barrier will lead to a dangerous
medical error. However, there already is a federal
law that allows businesses to set language
requirements, which suggests this simply is a
maneuver to ingratiate the bill's backers to their
voting base.

And if that is the example that illustrates the need
for this bill, it's hard to imagine any hospital staff
that would enter an operating room without
knowing whether everyone could understand each
other.


This bill appears similar to the "English First''
proposal that Nashville voters rejected in January
2009. In its attempt to forbid any language but
English be spoken in Metro government, the
measure was discriminatory and shortsighted.

The failed Metro proposal also was funded almost
entirely by an out-of-state organization, ProEnglish,
that is anti-immigrant and whose founder, John
Tanton, has been criticized for expounding racist
principles. ProEnglish, not content to accept that
repudiation, is backing the driver's license exam
legislation.

Rep. Eric Watson, R-Cleveland, one of the sponsors
of the bill, has said it is to ensure that all Tennessee
drivers can read road signs. He did not cite any
statistics showing that road mishaps are being
caused by non-English speakers. He also did not
explain why so many Tennesseans who speak
English and have lived here all their lives apparently
can't read road signs, either.


One result seems likely, however, if this bill
becomes law: The number of people driving without
a license will increase, because people who must
drive in order to make a living will feel they cannot
wait until they master English. Now, that is
dangerous.

This bill has a major disconnect in that people who
cannot comprehend full sentences in English can s
till understand place names and directional
symbols, such as are found on road signs. So what
would be the real reason for this legislation, unless
it is to discourage immigrants from coming to or
staying in Tennessee?

And it would do just that — legal and illegal
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immigrants. And they would be joined by the many
companies and public institutions whose policy it is
to do business where diversity is valued. Those
companies and institutions will take their business
to other states.

Consider, for example, Volkswagen AG, which has
committed to a major assembly plant near
Chattanooga that is bringing thousands of jobs to
Tennessee. The automaker opposes this driver's
license bill. If it becomes law, VW still will have a
plant here; but will it continue to invest as much or
be willing to encourage other business partners to
join it?

Why does ProEnglish, comfortable in its Virginia
headquarters, care if Tennessee's image as a
welcoming destination is destroyed? Answer: It
doesn't. If you do care, tell your state legislator to
stop these bills.


http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100 ... 01/3280338

The Tennessean is at war with Representative Eric Watson. Here are more articles, editorials, guest writers that this liberal media outlet has allowed to be printed. Where is the other side? Where are the voices of support?

Related

* Guest editorial: Driver bill faulty, motives dishonest
* Other countries' policies could inform state approach on English
* Reader views on English-only
* Guest editorial: English-only is the law
* English-only push resurfaces
* TN business groups oppose English-only driver's testing
* English-only driver's license bill advances
* Guest editorial: English-only is the law
* Guest editorial: Driver bill faulty, motives dishonest
* Reader views on English-only
* English-only push resurfaces

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100 ... 01/3280338

2 Chronicles 7:14

It is written,... if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.