Ohio English Unity Act

State Representative Courtney Combs introduced an act into the Ohio Revised Code that would require all government documents and meetings to be only in English. Combs wants to unite Ohioans with this new legislation and to encourage Ohioans to learn and speak English. The Hamilton Republican has said the following on the subject:

It makes us, in my opinion, all Americans if we speak the same language.

I do not want to see the U.S. as a bilingual nation; it divides it. The business language of the world is English. If we go down the line and have different pockets of different people speaking different dialogues, it creates a problem.

Arguments for English-only:

1. Unless we accommodate every language are we giving some immigrants an advantage?
2. The state will save tens of thousands of tax payers money.
3. Encourages assimilation into American culture because current social pressures are not high enough.
4. Helps bolster English dominance in America and in world business.

Outside of the possibility of justifying blatant acts of racism arguments against English-only include:

1. Restriction on suffrage as ballots will only be printed in English.
2. Reduction in safety as Columbus now provides smoke-alarm testing information in Spanish.
3. Economic loss due to the loss of future non-English speaking workers.

Are the motives of State Rep. Combs just? What is governments role in social assimilation? Are non-punitive solutions to encouraging unity and the English language possible?

Resources:

• The Ohio English Unity Act
• Columbus Dispatch 10/31/05
• Columbus Dispatch 4/11/06
• U.S. English Inc. Resource Room loaded with interesting information
• ACLU Brief on English Only