Thread: Nashville voters reject 'English First' proposal

Nashville voters reject 'English First' proposal

By JUANITA COUSINS , 01.23.09, 12:32 AM EST

Nashville voters rejected a proposal on Thursday that would have made it the largest U.S. city to require that all government business be done in English.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results showed the "English First" proposal losing with about 57 percent of voters against it and 43 percent in favor. Proponents said using one language would have united the city and saved money, but business leaders, academics and the city's mayor worried it could give the city a bad reputation. Similar measures have passed elsewhere.

"The results of this special election reaffirms Nashville's identity as a welcoming and friendly city, and our ability to come together as a community," Mayor Karl Dean said in a news release.

The referendum's leader, city Councilman Eric Crafton, had promoted it as a way to unite Nashville and prevent the kind of extensive translation services - and the associated expenses - provided by cities like New York or Los Angeles. He has pushed for English only since 2006 and got the issue before voters through a petition drive.

"I support the collective wisdom of the voters. I am not going to bring English up again because the people of Nashville have spoken," Crafton said during a phone interview late Thursday.

It wasn't clear exactly how much translation would have been silenced had the measure passed. While it called for all government communication and publications to be printed in English, it would have allowed an exception for public health and safety.

The only documented expenditure is for Monterey, Calif.-based Language Line Services, which provides phone interpretations in 176 languages. Expenses for the service have totaled $522,287 since 2004. By comparison, the special election cost $300,000.

Nearly one in five registered voters cast ballots Thursday, a high turnout for a special election in Nashville. A total of 73,896 people cast ballots, compared with 51,484 people who voted in the last special election in 2005.

Supporter Glenda Paul, 35, said as she exited a voting precinct Thursday that having one language is an important part of keeping government small.

"If I moved to France to start a business, I would be expected to speak French and that doesn't mean that I am not welcome there. It just means I need to respect the language."

But Claire King, 31, who lives in East Nashville, said Thursday that she voted against the amendment because "it sends a message of intolerance."

The debate over establishing a national language is centuries old.

In 1780, John Adams proposed to the Continental Congress an academy be created to "purify, develop, and dictate usage of" English, the American Civil Liberties Union reports. His proposal was rejected as undemocratic.

Thirty states, including Tennessee, and at least a dozen cities have declared English their official language, said K.C. McAlpin, executive director of the Arlington, Va.-based ProEnglish which contributed at least $19,000 to support the referendum. Opponents collected about $300,000.

About 10 percent of Nashville's nearly 600,000 people speak a language other than English in their homes, according to census data. The city is 5 percent Hispanic and home to the nation's largest Kurdish community and refugees from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Associated Press Writer Rose French contributed

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/01/ ... 55400.html

Nearly one in five registered voters cast ballots Thursday, a high turnout for a special election in Nashville. A total of 73,896 people cast ballots, compared with 51,484 people who voted in the last special election in 2005.

Are these immigrants being E-Verified by the voting offices?

wow...the birthplace of country music....and look what they have dumbed themselves down to.

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...
There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1919

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

Nearly one in five registered voters cast ballots Thursday, a high turnout for a special election in Nashville. A total of 73,896 people cast ballots, compared with 51,484 people who voted in the last special election in 2005.

Are these immigrants being E-Verified by the voting offices?

NO. E-VERIFY is for employers to check if their employees are eligible to WORK in the U.S. (The quote you posted doesn't say anything about them being immigrants.)

Please JohnDoe2: Are you in a box? And they will use E-Verify, you just watch. Thank-Goodness, and why worry JohnDoe2. E-Verify...E-verify...E-Verify... some more... It is my understanding that it is FREE to E-Verify an employee, so why shouldn't we, Americans, use it to E-Verify everyone Every American can become an EMPLOYER.

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

Please JohnDoe2: Are you in a box? And they will use E-Verify, you just watch. Thank-Goodness, and why worry JohnDoe2. E-Verify...E-verify...E-Verify... some more... It is my understanding that it is FREE to E-Verify an employee, so why shouldn't we, Americans, use it to E-Verify everyone :?: :!: :idea: :wink: :lol:

E-VERIFY is designed to tell employers if their new employees are eligible to WORK in the U.S. and nothing more.

E-Verify
For Employers

E-Verify (formerly the Basic Pilot/Employment Eligibility Verification Program) is an online system operated jointly by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration (SSA). Participating employers can check the work status of new hires online . . .

You must be an EMPLOYER who has been approved to use E-VERIFY to use the system.

The "Census" issue for representation need to be on our list, too. The more illegals the more representation.

Politics of Illegal Immigration - Census, E-Verify, and I9s: http://tinyurl.com/3ru8w5

Non-citizens and illegal aliens will be counted in the April 2010 United States census which will be the basis for congressional apportionment. The resulting movement of congressional seats will in effect dilute the principle that every citizen voter has an equal voice in this nation's political life. The result of the 2010 congressional apportionment will be yet another unfortunate example of the politics of illegal immigration.

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

Please JohnDoe2: Are you in a box?

What does that mean, Retread?

Why don't you re-read your attack on me continually? Cross those t's and dot those i's.

It is fine with me if the 287g Program is used instead of the E-Verify system to check everyone. ICE drive through and check all car tags and ownership.
(All Americans can become Employers, get registered with E-Verify, and check out everyone that comes in for EMPLOYMENT.)