Ever since the English-only movement charged ahead in the early 1980s to stop what many Americans perceived to be a threat to mom, apple pie and the stars and stripes, it has come up against the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections. So, even though Florida passed an English-only law several years ago, the law hasn't made much of a difference. Government agencies use constitutionally mandated health or safety exemptions in the law to translate documents into Spanish or Haitian-Creole or other languages in which significant numbers of minorities would be affected. Cops, school officials and emergency personnel are learning enough Spanish, Portuguese and other languages needed to communicate with newcomers, whether those folks are tourists or new residents. In effect, English-only laws, which 25 states have passed so far, are paper tigers of symbolism meant to appease those who fear inevitable change.
Politicians know that.
That's why presidential front-runners have assigned staff to court Hispanic voters, and both Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush pepper their speeches with Spanish when addressing Hispanic groups. Bush has gone so far as to showcase his Mexican-American nephew, George P. Bush, on the campaign trail. In Utah, backers of the English-only proposal, which will go on the ballot in November, are on a fool's errand. The proposal would allow government translations in court or when the public's health or safety are at stake. Nothing, zilch, nada .