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I’m not a huge fan of Arnold when it comes to his politics so when I saw this starting to circle the web I was kind of surprised. Arnold has been known for his socially liberal politics as a Republican so it’s not much like him to make any statement like this one.

“You’ve got to turn off the Spanish television set,” Schwarzenegger said Wednesday night at the annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in San Jose, Calif. “You’re just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster.” -Foxnews

So was his statement out of line or was it the fact that the statement doesn’t line up with political correctness? English is a very important part of American life, I can’t imagine how hard it would be for me to live my daily life if I couldn’t speak english. If I was to move to Mexico wouldn’t I want to learn Spanish so I wouldn’t be lost and confused? But maybe that’s not the point, maybe people should be free to be confused? I believe to be an American citizen you should be able to speak some level of English, preferably a decent level that will get you through daily life in America. If you want to speak nothing but Spanish the rest of the time I think that’s fine but you should learn English so it can be used when necessary.

The debate was a hot topic during the last Republican debate. Most candidates agreed that English is the cornerstone of American living but Tancredo was very staunch on the issue claiming that “bilingual countries do not work” but he also said that we need to “stop legal immigration except for family and those escaping persecution”. The Democrats sang a very different tune and weren’t willing to call English the official language. The other side of this all is; how many American’s could even pass the test to become a citizen? I’m not quite sure but the topic is debatable, I don’t feel knowing English makes you anymore American; aren’t we supposed be one large melting pot? Didn’t our ancestors all migrate here at one point in time? That’s taking this one step further but it’s all in the basket, I’m sure we’ll hear a lot more on this topic.

People love their heritage. I am American but my family is from England and I like to learn as much about my families’ past as I can. It is built in us as proud people to hold onto our cherished memories and traditions. I’ve often smirked at how there are some people up here in Pennsylvania who hang the confederate flag. They will remark that it’s about being proud of their heritage and about their past. I laugh because, well, they live in Pennsylvania which is far from the south. There are people who want to hold onto their heritage for good reasons though and that’s just fine. Speaking English is definitely a good thing that benefits you but I don’t feel it makes you any more American. As Americans we can speak Spanish, German, Italian, French and all down the list and it won’t change if we are Americans or not. What makes us American is either being born into America or being declared a citizen by the United States. That’s it, as Americans we live on the facts that we are all different people with different points of views and being able to declare so is what being American is all about.

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