Loading ...OPINION: Anti-Arab rhetoric is un-American
My mother immigrated to the United States from Syria more than 40 years ago. When she first arrived, she knew no English. Any English she acquired in those first few years, she did from watching soaps: General Hospital and Days of Our Lives. She continued to speak only Arabic at home.
That, of course, gave me the benefit of growing up bilingual, a benefit that would manifest itself decades later when using Arabic in my professional journalism work. But not everyone can appreciate the nuances of the Arabic language.
Newly released Census data reveal that more than 63 million Americans speak a foreign language other than English at home. The anti-immigration group Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) politicized the information in a report, emphasizing that the largest percent increase is among Arabic speakers.
CIS report author Steve Camarota told Breitbart News, “English as our common language is part of the glue that holds our country together. These numbers suggest that the levels of immigration are so high that it may strain that. … With no pause in immigration levels in sight, the nation is headed into uncharted territory.”
Some news media outlets have echoed the alarmist fear-mongering. Headlines scream, “We’re erasing Western civilization” or “New American Century: Arabic is the fastest growing language in USA.” One “scareticle” claims, “The great U.S. melting pot is quickly becoming the ‘Arabic pot’.”
They all give the impression that the homeland is rapidly being taken away from Americans, one Arab immigrant at a time. Such rhetoric only serves to advance an un-American, bigoted agenda, which fails to acknowledge that our country has always been a pluralistic society of newcomers.
Even so, a closer look at the Census numbers uncovers a different story. There are only 1.1 million Arabic speakers in the USA. That’s less than 0.5 percent of the population — hardly a menacing “New American Century”, considering we’re a nation of 320 million people..
From 2010 to 2014, there was a 29 percent increase in Arabic speakers, the largest rise compared with speakers of all other languages. Previously, there were almost 850,000 Arabic speakers; now there are a little more than a million.
Not exactly an Arabian invasion.
Perhaps fears stem from the changing demographics of the USA. A 2008 Pew survey indicated that the number of non-Hispanic whites, who made up 67 percent of the population in 2005, would decrease to 47 percent by 2050. Such change worries many people, particularly those who believe that white people are more entitled to U.S. citizenship than any other race or ethnicity. (Racially, Arabs are mostly Semitic, Caucasian or African.)
America doesn’t have an official language, yet some politicians want to force English down the throats of citizens. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says anyone living in the USA should speak only English. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio agree that any immigration reform must include a requirement for newcomers to learn English. Former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin wants us all to “speak American.”
Actually, most immigrants do speak “American,” uh, English.
A report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine indicates that 66 percent of immigrants who speak a foreign language at home speak English “well” or “very well.” Clearly, the fear of non-English speaking immigrants tearing our nation apart by not assimilating is false.
For centuries, many immigrants, like my mother, have been productive, model citizens of this great country while speaking in their own languages. America has always been a melting pot of people of diverse ethnicities, religions, races and spoken languages. I hope it stays that way.
Souheila Al-Jadda is the editorial director of The Islamic Monthly magazine.
Source: www.dailyrecord.com