"In the first place we should insist that the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equity 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 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 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 in a letter to the American Defense Society in 1919.
As a primary language, English should certainly be it, and nobody is going to make very much progress in America unless they know English.
But ethnics have spoken Italian, Polish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish as second languages since immigrants have come to this country. Surely Teddy Roosevelt would not have objected to that.
sw