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24 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 293 (1989)
Declaring English the Official Language: Prejudice Spoken Here

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl24 and id is 301 raw text is: DECLARING ENGLISH THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: PREJUDICE SPOKEN HERE Antonio J. Califa* If English was good enough for Jesus Christ it's good enough for me.' Introduction Two out of three Americans believe that English is the official language of the United States.2 It is not. In the last five years, however, various organizations have orchestrated a well-financed and well-planned effort to declare English the official language.' Despite almost unanimous opposition from political leaders and newspapers,4 the proponents of the English-Only movement have been making extra- ordinary progress in their quest to make English the official language of the United States. In every state where the elec- torate has had an opportunity to vote on an initiative or refer- endum, it has approved the measure making English the of- ficial language.5 The margins of victory are usually over- whelming.6 * Legislative counsel, American Civil Liberties Union, Washington, D.C. B.A. 1970, University of Texas at Austin; J.D. 1973, Yale University. This Article is dedicated to the memory of my father, Manuel Califa. I thank Ed Chen, Jim Crawford, Morton Halperin, Susan Hansen, Wade Henderson, Martha Ji- menez, Jim Lyons and John Trasvina for their help in the preparation of this Article. I am especially thankful to Mary Carol Combs for her generous advice and assistance. I Paul Simon, The Tongue-Tied American 62 (1980) (quoting H.L. Mencken). 2 Carelli, Survey: Most Think English is Official U.S. Language, Assoc. Press, Feb. 14, 1987. 3 J. Crawford, Bilingual Education: History, Politics, Theory and Practice 52-69 (1989) (describing history of English-Only movement). 4 S. Diamond, Proposition 63-English Language Initiative, A Brief History 2 (un- dated) (U.S. English, California English Campaign) (describing media and political opposition to Proposition 63). 5 See, e.g., Chambers, California Braces for Change With English as Official Language, N.Y. Times, Nov. 26, 1986, at A20; Reinhold, 3 State Referendums Give New Impetus to Anti-Abortion Efforts, N.Y. Times, Nov. 10, 1988, at BI (Florida, Colorado and Arizona). See infra note 55 for a list of states with laws recognizing English as the official language. 6 Chambers, supra note 5 (California, 3-1 margin); Reinhold, supra note 5 (Florida- 84%, Colorado-61%, Arizona-51%).