Official English Debate Paper
...any groups dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in Texas, one of which is called U.S. English, Inc. Some want English as the official language as a means to unite all Texans/Americans. And finally a case for is that the government would actually save money by not having to print out so many important documents multiple times for multilingual peoples. It would decrease costs by a lot if there was only one version of every document; an English one. For the people who believe that English should not be the official language, they believe so mainly because they feel it is discrimination. The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, argues the United States has always been a multilingual country. In the United States, Texas may be one of the most multilingual states considering it is so diverse and shares a border with Mexico. This is why Texas has found it so difficult to adopt an official language law. The ACLU suggest that the establishment of official English law violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. In other words, the laws of a state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances. By denying states the ability to discriminate, the equal protection clause of the Constitution is crucial to the protection of civil rights. To essentially take away a race’s language is in violation of this clause. Especially in the circumstances that if English was the official language of Texas, certain important documents would be printed in only English such as voting cards. This takes the people’s voice away. The 1st Amendment protects discrimination of freedom of religion and expression. Is this not discrimination against freedom of expression to make English the official language of your state? Making English the official language disregards all the Americans who have a different native language and culture. Texas is a state of immigrants. Another argument against making English the official language is ...