I did find it odd why McCain would make his statement about Spanish being spoken in AZ before English until I did some further investigation. Obviously, both languages were imposed by the European colonialists on the native population. What was the point of the remark other than to pander to the audience? And what made it even more incongruous was the fact that the overwhelming majority of his AZ constituency voted to make English the official language just two years ago. I wonder if McCain agreed with that vote. And now for the rest of the story.
John McCain, Multiculturalist: Immigration is just one problem.
"Take bilingual education. McCain has been an enthusiastic proponent of this divisive and discredited program for years. He was honorary co-host of the 1995 convention of the National Association for Bilingual Education; The New Republic reported that he wrote to convention participants that “[t]o reject a native language as a tool for teaching as well as enriching our national heritage makes learning all the more difficult and makes us a poorer nation.”
In 1998 he said, “I have always supported bilingual education programs to help students learn English. Proposals to restrict the use of languages other than English are always divisive.” That was the year that California voters approved Proposition 227, “English for the Children,” which (sort of) abolished bilingual education there.
In 1999 McCain was given the “Legislative Friendship Award” from LULAC, the League of Latin American Citizens, at which point, in the words of the Human Events report, he “hailed the bilingual education that Californians banned with the successful ‘English for the Children’ initiative last year. Insulting the motives of California voters, McCain told the LULAC banquet, ‘We don’t need laws that cause any American to believe we scorn their contributions to our culture.’” (The Los Angeles Times report noted wryly that “McCain’s remarks were all but indistinguishable from those of the vice president.”)
"Despite the fact that he mentions the long-discredited “transition” rationale for bilingual education, McCain has embraced foreign-language maintenance as the real goal, buying into the “we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us” justification for Hispanic group rights. This is what he means with his frequent references to the historical primacy of Spanish in Arizona.
McCain’s ideological multiculturalism is also apparent from his longstanding opposition to official status for the English language; as he boasted on Hardball in 2000, “I have fought against English-only ballot initiatives.” He started at least as far back as 1988, when he opposed Article 28, an official-English initiative approved by Arizona voters but thrown out by the courts.
So, I think LULAC understood exactly what McCain meant by his remark, but most Americans don't.
Great stuff, Kabar. I didn't know about those positions before (although none surprise me.)