And On That English-Only Thing

I had heard about this on NPR a little bit ago and just caught this post down at RaceWire talking about how the initiative was shot down - and that's some great news to hear:

An initiative to establish English as the official language in Nashville was defeated yesterday, bucking a nationwide conservative push for “official English” in response to perceptions about immigrant populations. The city’s “English first” initiative would have basically mandated that all government business be conducted in English—in sharp contrast to immigrant-rich cities like New York, where government agencies are supposed to offer multi-lingual documents and access to translation services.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean hailed the vote as proof of “Nashville’s identity as a welcoming and friendly city, and our ability to come together as a community.” Of course, proponents of the referendum, led by City Councilman Eric Crafton, used similar rhetoric, arguing that “a community is more united, more efficient under one common language.” Crafton even pointed to Latinos who supported the initiative as a means toward assimilation.

It still amazes me that people keep on trying to get these laws passed.

But then again...

Read the article in full down here.

LPGA Gets A Clue And Rescinds English Only Policy

I've been putting up some posts on this and have pretty much exhausted what I've wanted to say on the topic - so now that I got news of the LPGA rescinding the policy on their English Only language rule there's really not much else to talk about except to note that maybe next time they'll think twice before installing a completely xenophobic policy, and at least ask their sponsors what they think about policies which are going to affect how not only the LPGA looks, but how sponsors look as well:

Facing substantial criticism, the LPGA Tour announced Friday that it would rescind a recently-announced policy that would have required players to learn and speak English [...]

"After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every Tour player," said LPGA commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens. "In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse tour players to develop a better alternative." [...]

It had faced considerable backlash from across the sports spectrum and beyond since the impending policy was first reported last week. Among the policy's most vocal critics was California state senator Leland Yee, who called it "unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory."

O.K. - I do have to ask one more question:

Now they talk about their diverse tour players?

I'm glad that all it took was a ton of media attention, sponsors threatening to drop out, a U.S. Senator, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Anti- Defamation League (just to name a few).