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Language is a elementary element of tradition, and the orange dictator within the Oval Workplace has as soon as once more discovered a option to announce a coverage that assaults the tradition of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rican individuals. With a stroke of his Sharpie, Donald Trump on March 1 issued an government order declaring English the “official language” of the US.
The Congressional Tri-Caucus, which represents Latino, Asian, and Black lawmakers on Capitol Hill, issued a press release condemning Trump’s newest xenophobic transfer:
President Trump’s government order is a thinly-veiled try to permit federal companies to discriminate in opposition to immigrants and people with restricted English proficiency. Underneath the brand new order, companies wouldn’t be required to offer language entry for companies that these Individuals have paid for with their taxes.
What occurs when a senior with restricted English proficiency wants assist accessing their earned Social Safety advantages? Or when a non-native English speaker wants assist enrolling in Medicare?
Trump claimed he would struggle for on a regular basis Individuals. He’s accomplished simply the alternative. This government order is reckless and solely serves to make life tougher for working individuals.
Although it was good to see a speedy response from the Tri-Caucus, the assertion doesn’t communicate on to the scenario of Puerto Rico and the 3 million Puerto Ricans on the island. Puerto Ricans will not be immigrants. As inhabitants of the U.S. colony, Puerto Ricans have been authorized U.S. residents since March 2, 1917, with the passage of the Jones-Shafroth Act.
Authorized advocacy group LatinoJustice PRLDEF issued a press release attributed to President Lourdes M. Rosado that slammed Trump’s order as a “Direct Attack on Puerto Rican and Immigrant Communities”:
Trump’s government order is a direct assault on Latino and immigrant communities, notably Puerto Ricans, for whom Spanish is important to tradition, identification, and every day life. This isn’t about unity— it’s about exclusion.
For over 50 years, LatinoJustice has led the struggle to defend our group, beginning with our first case advocating for bilingual training in New York Metropolis, which helped spark a nationwide motion. Now we have fought to safe bilingual ballots and interpreters for Puerto Rican voters, setting a precedent for language entry in elections. We won’t permit this administration to roll again our hard-won rights. Options should middle on integration and inclusion, not discrimination and exclusion.
When this government order made headlines, the reporting in a lot of mainstream media like The New York Occasions didn’t even point out the potential influence on Puerto Rico, or the historical past of the language struggles between the U.S. colonizers and Puerto Ricans.
YouTuber Coqui Report has a wonderful 5-minute video entitled “How the U.S. tried to force (English Only) in Puerto Rico!” detailing that historical past:
From the Coqui Report video’s notes:
Following the acquisition of Puerto Rico, the U.S. authorities ‘s first precedence was to “civilize” Puerto Ricans; and to assimilate the Puerto Rican political and authorized system to the American system. This started a technique of Americanization, which aimed to show Puerto Ricans away from their tradition and identification and extra in direction of the American lifestyle in opposition to their will in their very own nation. With the intention to obtain this purpose, public training was chosen, particularly by way of altering the language used because the medium of instruction within the colleges, from Spanish to English.
The chief order’s influence on Puerto Rico was lined virtually instantly by various media together with “mitú,” which you is probably not accustomed to regardless that the Latino digital media firm’s movies have garnered a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of views.
A mitú article titled “The New Administration Makes English the Official Language—What Does That Mean for Puerto Rico?” explored the problem.
Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory the place Spanish is the dominant language. Nonetheless, the island has lengthy had a posh relationship with its linguistic identification. Whereas each Spanish and English are formally acknowledged languages on the island, Spanish is overwhelmingly the language of presidency, training, and every day life. In line with NBC Information, solely a few quarter of Puerto Ricans are fluent in English.
[…]
The connection between Puerto Rico and the US has all the time been tied to questions of identification, and language is on the middle of that debate. The Puerto Rico Standing Act, debated beneath the Biden administration, sparked issues over whether or not Spanish would stay the island’s dominant language if it grew to become a state. Advocates like Energy 4 Puerto Rico, a coalition advocating for Puerto Ricans on the island, have pushed for specific ensures that Spanish would stay integral to authorities operations.
In response to Trump’s government order, the coalition reiterated its stance, posting on X (previously Twitter):
“As we have said many times, any legislation around #PuertoRico’s status must make crystal clear whether a statehood scenario will continue to allow -OR NOT- Puerto Ricans to fully operate our govt, schools, courts—our way of life—in Spanish.”
Don’t confuse Puerto Ricans residing on the mainland with island residents in relation to English fluency. Pew Analysis studies:
Most Puerto Ricans on the island—89%—say they communicate Spanish at house. However 20% of island Puerto Ricans say they’re extremely proficient in English—that’s, they both communicate solely English at house or communicate English very effectively. That compares with 83% of mainland Puerto Ricans who say they’re proficient in English.
The Dialog’s Martin LaMonica addressed the influence of the chief order, although not on Puerto Rico particularly. He wrote:
Throughout its almost 250-year historical past, the US has by no means had an official language. On March 1, U.S. President Donald Trump modified that when he signed an government order designating English because the nation’s sole official language. The order marks a elementary rupture from the American authorities’s long-standing strategy to languages.
“From the founding of our Republic, English has been used as our national language,” Trump’s order states. “It is in America’s best interest for the federal government to designate one — and only one — official language.”
This new order additionally revokes a language-access provision contained in an earlier government order from 2000 that aimed to enhance entry to companies for individuals with restricted English. Federal companies now appear to have no obligation to offer very important data in different languages.
Diving into the YouTube archives, try this humorous and disturbing piece from comic Matt Lieb exploring the “English-Only” motion and its white nationalist/Nazi implications, founding, and funding.
The Southern Poverty Regulation Middle references the motion’s troubling historical past within the video.
ProEnglish is the mission of white nationalist and eugenicist John Tanton, the architect of the modern-day anti-immigrant motion. The group pushes for divisive and pointless measures to designate English because the official language of the US.
ProEnglish opposes bilingual training and the interpretation of presidency paperwork, like voters’ ballots, into any language apart from English, making life tougher for immigrants and other people for whom English just isn’t a primary language. ProEnglish often derides multiculturalism and has a historical past of embracing white nationalists. Tanton hoped to protect America’s white hegemony by severely limiting – if not outright halting – immigration, particularly by individuals of colour.
In the meantime, a Puerto Rican simply occurs to boast one of many highest numbers of social media followers on the earth: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio. Recognized worldwide as Unhealthy Bunny, the musician, who I’ve lined right here previously, continues to carry out in his native Puerto Rican Spanish. His performances and movies embody clear-cut references to the historical past of Puerto Rico and its present standing as a U.S. colony.
Irene Escudero wrote concerning the celebrity for Spain’s information company EFE in an article titled “Bad Bunny defends Spanish on US stage amid rising political tensions over language”:
World music star Unhealthy Bunny as soon as once more affirmed his dedication to the Spanish language throughout a efficiency for NPR’s Tiny Desk live performance sequence, recorded in Washington D.C.
Talking virtually totally in Spanish, the Puerto Rican artist made a playful however pointed reference to the White Home, simply blocks from the place the efficiency happened, in a transfer that underscored his continued refusal to change to English even when performing within the US.
For over 18 minutes, Unhealthy Bunny (born Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) sang and spoke solely in Spanish earlier than joking: “Oh, was I supposed to be speaking English?”
This assertion, delivered throughout a second of elevated language-related political pressure, comes as United States President Donald Trump, who’s operating once more for the presidency, signed an government order on Mar. 1 formally designating English because the nationwide language.
The coverage permits federal companies to restrict companies to English solely and removes obligations to help non-English audio system, disproportionately affecting almost 20% of the US inhabitants that identifies as Latino.
[…]
Within the US, the place Spanish is the second-most spoken language, Unhealthy Bunny’s voice resonates past music.
For a lot of within the diaspora, his success, and refusal to assimilate linguistically, provide a strong affirmation of identification. As he proudly proclaims in one among his songs: “Yo soy de P ‘fokin’ R” — “I’m from Puerto Rico, f**king right.”
Let’s shut this story with that Tiny Desk live performance:
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