English's Enduring Value

Thank goodness U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten showed some common sense when he ruled last week that a Wichita, Kan., Catholic school policy requiring students to speak only English did not break any civil rights laws. Three Hispanic families had tried to end this practice at St. Anne's Catholic School on the grounds that Spanish-only students were harassed and ostracized by other students. I remember a time when Hispanic parents insisted that their children speak English. What's happened?

Multilingualism has increased illiteracy and balkanized communities, but that hasn't stopped proponents from trying to make it mandatory. What part of "this doesn't work" don't they understand?

I will be forever grateful that I was given the opportunity to attend Catholic schools in the 1950s, when they were still tuition-free. Every time I look at my eighth-grade graduation picture, I see a sea of Hispanics who went on to high school speaking English.

Unfortunately, children growing up in poverty in the inner cities today are not being offered vouchers to obtain that same level of education. Instead, more and more charter schools that follow the parochial schools' strict protocols are being established at great cost to the taxpayers, while rising costs force Catholic schools to close.

I contacted the secretary of education for the Archdiocese of New York, Dr. Catherine Hickey, to ask about a bilingualism policy in the city. "We do not have a written bilingualism policy in our schools. We operate on a per-needs basis with individual schools," she said. "We do offer" English as a second language, "but we are not federally funded. If we were, then legally we would be bound to have a bilingual policy."

Dr. Hickey is a former public school teacher who taught at P.S. 72 in Spanish Harlem during a time when there was a great influx of Puerto Ricans into New York City. Like me, she recalls Hispanic parents wanting their children to become fluent in English. Dr. Hickey also taught adult literacy classes in the Bronx. These adults were American-born and products of a public school education that had left them illiterate and with poor language skills. She told them: "If you want to stay on the streets, then keep talking that way. But if you want a job, you must learn to speak the king's English."

Those Wichita Hispanics are very misguided if they cannot see that the best way for their children to become part of mainstream society is to speak proper English. As New Yorkers of Puerto Rican heritage, we never had to worry about our citizenship status, as do Hispanics from Central and South America, but immigrants from other countries never had the patronizing language accommodations for Spanish speakers, and the big question is, why is that? Why aren't Hispanics up in arms at the insult behind a bilingual policy?

I attended Cathedral High School for Girls in Manhattan and many of my classmates were first-generation Americans from several different countries. Our common ground was the English language we spoke.

Many academics who promote multiculturalism seem to be antipathetic to our own American culture, which has been responsible for making us the most powerful nation on earth. It is a culture that embraces all humanity under the banner of freedom and our common language. I nearly choked when I heard Senator Obama say, "Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn to speak English, they'll learn. You need to make sure your child speaks Spanish. You need to make sure your child becomes bilingual." He then went on to say that he's embarrassed that Europeans come here speaking English and most Americans speak only one language.

Mr. Obama, other countries teach English in their schools just as elected languages are taught in our schools. I took French in high school and German in college and when I traveled abroad, I spoke that country's language. Immigrants will succeed when they adopt the language and culture of their adopted country, not the other way around. I'm beginning to like the idea of English becoming the official language of America just to drive multiculturalism into the ground.

Mayor Bloomberg signed an executive order that all agencies will be able to conduct business in several different languages so that non-English-speaking residents can take advantage of municipal services. In other words, taxpayers will pay for translating services that family members used to provide for free.

All I can say is, "Ay Caramba."

acolon@nysun.com