Group Tries To Get English-Only Measure On Ballot

Posted: July 1, 2008 06:16 PM CDT

Updated: July 1, 2008 06:41 PM CDT


NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Taxpayers might have to vote on a measure to make English the only language of Metro government.

A group headed by Metro Councilman Eric Crafton said they have half of the 10,000 signatures needed to put the issue on the November ballot.

"Consider the statue of liberty. ‘Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses.' It doesn't say only English speaking need apply," said Monica O'Malley, an English teacher for a class at the Woodbine Community Center.

O'Malley teaches a class consisting of 20 people from 10 different countries.

"If there were an emergency and the police and authorities could only speak English, it puts them at an incredible disadvantage," she said.

She said a law declaring English the official language of Metro would make her students feel unwelcome.

Armando Martinez came to the United States five years ago from Mexico. She works in a local factory.

"I'm here because I need English to find a better job," Martinez said about the class.

Yasmeen Teya came from Sudan.

"If you don't know English, you don't know anything," she said.

Both struggle to become fluent in English. They believe a law declaring it the official language of Metro will not help them adjust to life here.

But Jose Rodriguez agrees with the measure.

"I think everybody is able to learn the language. That is not an excuse to say no, ‘I don't understand,'" he said.

Rodriguez, who emigrated from Cuba 40 years ago, supports the English-only measure.

"There should be a law. There should be a law," he said, adding "This is America. We speak English."

He points out the reality of what would happen if he went to another country to live.

"If tomorrow I go to France, I'd better be prepared to learn French," he said.

A similar measure passed Metro Council last year, but then-Mayor Bill Purcell vetoed it.

Crafton's group has until Aug. 16 to gather enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot.




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