Roland Gutierrez: “despite the red hot rhetoric of those who are trying to score cheap political points, the truth is this. Diversity does…”

“despite the red hot rhetoric of those who are trying to score cheap political points, the truth is this. Diversity does not divide our Nation. Bilingualism does not burden our bureaucracy. Using Spanish or Polish or German to contact a constituent, collect taxes or cast a ballot does not lead to confusion. It enhances communication. It adds color and clarity and dignity to our ideas. That brings us closer together. English-only laws disenfranchise Americans who pay taxes, play by the rules and send their children off to war. Speaker Newt Gingrich often says that words have power. Therefore, by the Speaker's own logic, if you deny specific groups of Americans the ability to use words that are part of their culture, you strip them of their power. Poll taxes and literacy taxes which once stripped African-Americans of their God-given rights have now been reborn, renamed and retargeted to strike at other minority groups. English only is the Jim Crow of the 1990's. Americans of all backgrounds are its victim. Latinos are certainly its primary targets but English-only is also a threat to Polish and Italian Americans, to Chinese and Ukrainian Americans. In fact, Mr. Chairman, English only is a threat to America itself. It represents a rejection of America's past. There was a time when immigrants were once called upon to create a culture, not just to conform to it. English only strips America of its future as well.”