Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 28, 1993 TAG: 9304280052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Hearst Newspapers and The Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The Census Bureau's numbers from the 1990 census mean that one in every seven Americans speak a language other than English.
The statistics include people who speak English plus a foreign languages and people who speak only a foreign language.
The figures showed that of those who speak a second language, 21 percent - or 6.6 million Americans - admit they speak English either not well or not at all.
Christopher Doss of U.S. English, a group that supports legislation making English the official language of American government, says the figures point to an America where those who don't speak English don't have access to jobs or education.
"To the extent that we have growing numbers of people who speak a language other than English and don't speak English, that portends disaster in the future," he said. "That creates linguistic apartheid."
But Sonia Perez, of the National Council of LaRaza, a national Hispanic-rights group, said the figures also show that most Americans - 79 percent - of those who speak a language other than English speak English well or very well.
"There is a proportion that cannot speak well enough and we have to be able to address that," she said. "But we should not view the population as a whole as not being able to function."
Some natives of other countries, like Korean-born James Lee, a community association director in Chicago, vow they'll do all they can to keep their families bilingual.
"What I'm intending to say to my children is, `You're never going to be Americans,' " said Lee. "I mean, even though you live here 100 years or 200 years, you're still Korean."
Lee has lived in the United States for 15 years and has been a citizen for six years. His American-born children, 10-year-old Tommy and 9-year-old Jennifer, speak English fluently, and switch languages easily according to who's listening.
"We expect our children to grow up just like Koreans, and then we also expect them to be Americans," Lee said.
For many immigrants and their children, language is important as a shield against prejudice, said Los Angeles civil rights attorney Kathryn Imahara.
"I grew up in an English-only household," she said. "I was told, `You're not a Japanese. You're American. You're going to be the best American ever.' "
But at school and later on the job, Imahara faced constant reminders that she was different.
"When I finally realized that it doesn't matter that I went to a top law school, that I continue to be judged by the color of my skin, the slant of my eyes and the color of my hair, without that culture I'm left with a shell," she said.
by CNB