Never forget. Never forgive.
Posted on 08/07/2025 11:52:42 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
When Lama Ali Ahmad became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2021, she was eager to become a voter, too.
In Lebanon, where she’s from, elections were often derailed by crises. But here, she had faith in the process. She registered and voted in a municipal election the same day. That night, she gathered her family at her Dearborn home for a special dinner of steak, chicken, and tabbouleh, and told them how good it felt to finally be heard.
“That was the moment where I really felt that I am an American citizen,” she said.
Last year, she celebrated another civic triumph: Voting on a ballot printed in Arabic, her first language.
The experience wasn’t perfect, said Ali Ahmad, who also speaks English and French. The Arabic translation of instructions and ballot questions was more formal than familiar and even awkward in places. But the impact on her was profound.
“I felt like I was at home when I voted in Arabic,” she said.
The translated ballot was available because of a local measure passed in Dearborn, a Detroit suburb with a high concentration of Arabic speakers. Hamtramck, another Detroit-area city with a large Arab American community, has a similar local law requiring voting materials in Arabic.
But while Arabic is spoken all over Michigan, and is one of the most commonly spoken non-English languages in the U.S., there’s no Michigan or federal law that requires ballot translation into Arabic for people who would benefit from it. Federal voting rights laws do require ballot translations for many other languages, but they emerged at a time when Arabic wasn’t yet widely spoken in the U.S., and they were written restrictively to include only a narrow list of language groups.
That means that in communities across the state and country, Arabic speakers are excluded from the kind of voting access...
(Excerpt) Read more at ktbs.com ...
I’m sure someone will show her hot to read “Democrat” in English.
I am fine if their ballots are in Arabic. That’s if they go back to where they came from.
What an idiotic reason to have a ballot in Arabic.
And how knowledgeable a voter are you if you actually need a ballot in Arabic?
(IMO citizens should know English.)
All they need to know is (D) so they can vote correctly.
So she should learn English. In fact, if she isn't conversational in English, she shouldn't have been naturalized.
Language Borders Culture v Language NO BORDERS culture. Civilization v UNCIVILIZED. Jihad in the republic 2025.
We speak English/American. LEARN IT!
failing local TV and newspaper outlets seem to specialize in this kind of narrative-driven, emotionally-charged, sob-story political journalism
Never forget. Never forgive.
Tradition US citizen to voting desk volunteer:
“I said I need to use a ballot in English.”
Volunteer, in hijab: (looking baffled)
ما زلتُ لا أفهمك. عليكَ
المغادرة وإلا سأتصل بالشرطة
هنا.
“I still do not understand you. You will have to leave or I will call the police officer over here.”
The Balkanization of the United States begins with an attack on English as the national language.
“I felt like I was at home when I voted in Arabic,”
How crazy is it that we’re still operating under the open borders mass 3rd world immigration act designed and passed by insane communists Ted Kennedy and LBJ? And yet even Republicans act like that open border act can never be questioned and in no way can it be repealed. In fact, many ‘conservatives’ will go on about how much they love ‘legal’ immigration (what they really mean is they LOVE Ted Kennedy’s ideas on mass immigration).
This is the single act that destroyed America more than any other. It is robbing our grandchildren of a Christian nation to grow up in and live in. It is stealing our birthright and handing it off to hostile foreigners. It stole our national identity.
You want ballots in Arab talk? Go back to Arab land.
A decent proficiency in English should be a requirement for citizenship.
If they can't handle tine citizenship process in English, they have no business voting
A decent proficiency in English should be a requirement for citizenship.
If they can't handle the citizenship process in English, they have no business voting
Ali Ahmad, who also speaks English and French....
So what's her problem here? I'm not sure it's really a requirement of government to "make her feel more at home". This is home. Speak English.
I thought that reading and writing English was a requirement for US citizenship. Once upon a time.
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