Thread: NC: Learn English, Cabarrus commish insists

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/16447120.htm

Posted on Fri, Jan. 12, 2007

Learn English, Cabarrus commish insists
VICTORIA CHERRIE
vcherrie@charlotteobserver.com

If Hispanic residents want to live and work in Cabarrus County, they should learn English, Commissioner Coy Privette says.

He is pushing for the county board of commissioners to adopt a resolution recognizing English as the county's official language.

The board agreed to discuss it at its next regular meeting Jan. 22.

But the proposal isn't getting a warm response.

"I believe our county residents are smart and intelligent enough to know that English is the primary language of Cabarrus County," Commissioner Joni Juba said.

She's concerned about the kind of message a resolution like Privette's would send to the community, she said.

Privette defended the measure: "It's not discriminatory to these Hispanics at all to ask them to learn English so they can take advantage of the economic opportunities here. It is their civic duty."

The proposed resolution calls for all ordinances, programs and policies adopted by Cabarrus County to be done in English. In addition, it says all documents, regulations, orders, transactions, proceedings, meetings and publications should be in English.

His proposal is similar to those proposed in Mint Hill, a town in southeast Mecklenburg County, and Landis, just across the Rowan County line north of Kannapolis.

I hope this passes, but the secret Judges and members putting the NAU together, could block this even so.

All I know is I live in a state in which English is the official language and it has done nothing to have things in English. There's places that if you don't speak Spanish......good luck. I'm sure many even speak English but they do their business in Spanish. What good is it if they are still going to do whatever it is they want? What good is it if you're still kept from getting a job if you don't speak Spanish? What's going to happen with each new influx of immigrants who continue to use their native language and keep US citizens from employment because of language? How many languages is a US citizen expected to learn in order to work in the public sector?

"I believe our county residents are smart and intelligent enough to know that English is the primary language of Cabarrus County," Commissioner Joni Juba said.

She's concerned about the kind of message a resolution like Privette's would send to the community, she said.

Ahhhhh....the messege is plain and simple....LEARN ENGLISH!!!
Oh wait, illegals can't understand that.

Posted on Sun, Jan. 14, 2007
COUNTY'S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE?
English-only resolution to be debated

Some commissioners worried about message passage would send

VICTORIA CHERRIE
vcherrie@charlotteobserver.com

If Hispanic residents want to live and work in Cabarrus County, they should learn English, Commissioner Coy Privette says.

He is pushing for the county Board of Commissioners to adopt a resolution recognizing English as the county's official language.

The board agreed to discuss it at its next regular meeting Jan. 22.

But the proposal isn't getting a warm response.

"I believe our county residents are smart and intelligent enough to know that English is the primary language of Cabarrus County," Commissioner Joni Juba said.

She's concerned about the kind of message a resolution like Privette's would send to the community, she said.

Privette defended the measure: "It's not discriminatory to these Hispanics at all to ask them to learn English so they can take advantage of the economic opportunities here. It is their civic duty."

The proposed resolution calls for all ordinances, programs and policies adopted by Cabarrus County to be done in English. In addition, it says all documents, regulations, orders, transactions, proceedings, meetings and publications should be in English.

His proposal is similar to those proposed in Mint Hill in southeast Mecklenburg County, and Landis, just across the Rowan County line north of Kannapolis.

The Landis proposal, unanimously approved in October, says all government business, written or spoken, must be in English. Otherwise, people are asked to provide an interpreter.

"It's not exclusionary. It's simply a way to help us all understand each other," said James Furr, a Landis alderman. His resolution was born out of his experience as a pilot working in the French-speaking provinces of Canada, he said.

"People want to bill it as racist, but it is not," Furr said.

In Landis, for example, 15 languages are spoken by families with children in school, including Spanish. It would be impossible for the city to cater to each group, he said.

Privette, who taught English in China for 10 years, said he was expected to know Chinese if he needed to speak to someone in the Chinese government while he was there.

"In theory it's one thing, but in practicality it's another," Commissioner Jay White said.

Cabarrus County Manager John Day sought feedback from department heads to see how Privette's resolution could potentially affect their operations.

According to state law, the county's Board of Elections is required to provide instructions in English and Spanish in cities and counties where the Hispanic population is 6 percent or higher, said Linda Grist, Cabarrus Board of Elections director.

More than 12,000 people in Cabarrus County speak a language other than English as their primary language, according to 2005 census estimates of people age 5 and older. About 7,255 people speak English less than "very well," according to the census data.

If adopted, Privette's resolution would pose problems for the Cabarrus Department of Social Services. DSS must follow federal guidelines that require it to take steps to prevent discrimination against people with limited English proficiency, agency officials said.

The requirements include providing an interpreter. And DSS must print materials in a language spoken by 5 percent or more of the county's population. Currently, Spanish is the only language that falls under that rule in Cabarrus, officials said.

Other department managers have said they, too, are bound by laws requiring them to provide language assistance to their customers. Such a resolution would defy those state and federal rules, which supersede county ordinances, they said.


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Victoria Cherrie: 704-786-2185

"It's not discriminatory to these Hispanics at all to ask them to learn English so they can take advantage of the economic opportunities here.

OMG! What else can they "take advantage" of?