Thread: Tennessee passes English only bill

Tennessee passes English only bill
June 3, 5:41 PM Knoxville Religion & Politics Examiner Chasity Goddard

Specifically, SB 2753 passed in the Tennessee Senate 6/3/2010 states that it is not an act of discrimination for an employer to require employees to speak English only. The bill will now be sent to the governor for his signature. Separate measures requiring driver's license exams to be offered in English only have failed to pass.

The English only bill allows only certain employers to require employees to speak English. The English requirement must be a "business or safe workplace necessity." These business necessities include communicating with supervisors and customers, which can be expanded and interpreted to include a vast number of employers.

The Tennessee English only bill does not change any current practices. This bill only specifies that the act of Tennessee employers requiring English is not an act of discrimination and states that employers cannot limit the language of an employee during break times or when the employee is conversing with another employee.

The bill is largely unnecessary because Tennessee is a Right to Work state, which means that a Tennessee employer can fire any employee at any time for any or even no reason. The right to fire employees for any reason encompasses the right to hire employees, or not hire as the case may be, for any reason other that race, sex, or religion as required by the federal government. Language is not protected by the Constitution or deemed a discriminatory factor by the federal government.

A prospective employee would obviously give away the fact that he cannot speak the language in an interview, so a non-English speaking individual would not succeed in obtaining a position in which English was necessary. This is not discrimination, and never was discrimination even before this bill was proposed.

Legal immigrants make the effort to assimilate, which includes learning the dominate language. Proponents of the bill hope that this, with the other illegal immigration bills being considered, will make settling in Tennessee a little more difficult for illegal immigrants. Opponents argue that this bill opens the door to other English-only legislation.

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Doesn't sound like much more than a 'feel good' bill to me.

Tennessee passes English only bill

Originally Posted by MW

Doesn't sound like much more than a 'feel good' bill to me.

Tiny steps help move us in the right direction. I'll take it.
We have allowed these corrupt people to control our speech and actions, but maybe courage is beginning to move in our direction.

Opponents argue that this bill opens the door to other English-only legislation.

Indeed it does as indeed it should. You bet we'll take it. Good Job Tennessee. Keep moving it forward. Soon you'll want and have an AZ immigration bill to go with your English-only bill.

GO TENNESSEE! GO STATES!

Good job Tenessee!