84% Say English Should Be America’s Official Language

Rasumussen Reports ^ | May 14, 2009

[reaganaut1]

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Americans say English should be the official language of the United States. Only nine percent (9%) disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Seven percent (7%) are not sure.

The support for English as the country’s official language remains steady from three years ago.

Eighty-one percent (81%) say a U.S. company should be allowed to require employees to speak English on the job, up four points from November 2007. Thirteen percent (13%) disagree.

Eighty-two percent (82%) also reject the idea that requiring people to speak English is a form of racism or bigotry, up three points from 2007. Just 10% think such a requirement is racist or bigoted.

[...]

Support for making English the nation’s official language is strong across partisan lines. The concept is supported by 96% of Republicans, 74% of Democrats and 85% of adults not affiliated with either major party.

Similarly, while 90% of Republicans believe companies should be permitted to require employees to speak English on the job, that view is also shared by 80% of unaffiliateds and 74% of Democrats.

[WakeUpAndVote]

THAT'S RACIST!

[ssaftler]

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Americans say English should be the official language of the United States. Only nine percent (9%) disagree, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Seven percent (7%) are not sure didn't speak English.

Gotta keep those stories accurate. :D

[Jaded]

Ya think? It would certainly simplify things.

[A_Former_Democrat]

And I wonder how much of that 10 percent was comprised of non-English speaking respondents?

[fieldmarshaldj]

I say the official language should be Swedish.

[Levante]

And our elected whores, the politicians, could care less what we think.

[Corin Stormhands]

So....Obama becomes President and the majority of Americans are now 1) pro-life and 2) pro-English.

That’s change I can believe in.

[12Gauge687]

That would be great as long as that 84% knows how to use the language and can differentiate the following:

“to” and “too”

“there” (location) and “their” (possesssive) and “they’re” (contraction)

“your” (possesssive) and “you’re” (contraction)

“its” (possessive) and “it’s” (ontraction)

[wk4bush2004]

AMEN, English should be our ONE AND ONLY Official Language! I have no problem with learning more languages, (I have studied French and Mandarin), but, in this country, the official language of government, communication and instruction should be ENGLISH!

It offends me greatly when I walk into Lowe’s and I see EVERYTHING in English and Spanish. It reminds me that we are being invaded by illegal immigrants and that companies are kowtowing to criminals.

If people want to live here, LEARN OUR LANGUAGE!!!!!!!!

I never thought I’d say this, but, maybe we should be more like the French and emphasize our language in our country. From what I observed when I was in France, I noticed that the people are very proud of their language and prefer not to speak anything else. And why should they? IT’S THEIR COUNTRY!!!!!!

Same goes for us!

[GOP_Party_Animal]

I was reading an obituary of a woman who died here in North Dakota at the age of 100. When she went to school for the first time she could only speak Norwegian. Her teacher took her home and told her parents that she must speak English at school and that they should speak English at home to help the child.

What a different world.

[devistate one four]

No matter what I do I’m a racist, bigot or homophobe.

[cranked]

The following Senators voted against making English the official language of America: Akaka (D-HI) Bayh (D-IN) Biden (D-DE) (wants to be President) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Cantwell (D-WA) Clinton (D-NY) (wants to be President) Dayton (D-MN) Dodd (D- MN) (wants to be President) Domenici (R-NM)(coward, protecting his senate seat) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) (not unusual for him) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-Hi) Jeffords (I-VT) (jumping Jim) Kennedy - (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) (tried to be President) Kohl (D-WI) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT)Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (I-CT) (how disappointing) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Obama (D-IL) (wants to be President) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) (Senate Majority Leader) Salazar (D-CO) Sarbanes (D-MD) Schumer (D-NY)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1963564/posts

[central_va]

Ebonics.

[FReepaholic]

The whole foundation of this country is “E Pluribus Unum”: Out of Many, One.

[farlander]

Why stop there ? Perhaps we should all adopt Klingon. And, maybe the Bath-let duels.

[yldstrk]

an employer’s requirements for employees should be sacrosanct. After all, he is the one providing the mooolah

[drubyfive]

Actually, we speak American English—quite different from the Brits, about whom Alan Jay Lerner said it well.

"Why can't the English teach their children how to speak/ Norwegians learn Norwegian and the Greeks are taught their Greek."

On the other hand, here is an interesting item from a linguistics blog:

"But the interesting thing about the line "Norwegians learn Norwegian; the Greeks are taught their Greek" is that in 1956, when the musical of My Fair Lady was made, and in 1964, when the film came out, it was not true. At least, not completely. Both Greece (at the time) and Norway are classic examples of countries in a state of diglossia, where there were actually two versions of the official language. Anyone learning Norwegian even today must choose between Bokmål and Nynorsk (Bokmål is a bit like Danish; Nynorsk is a bit like Bokmål). And until 1974, anyone learning modern Greek had to choose between the nineteenth-century Καθαρεύουσα and the (literally) demotic δημοτική (which is now the only standard). It is ironic that the two languages Lerner and Lowe chose for Professor Higgins' line are the two European languages of which the statement was least accurate at the time they were writing."

[chuck_the_tv_out]

they’ll hold the vote when it’s 40%.

then they’ll hold it again when it’s 60% for spanish.

[BlueStateBlues]

Si