Boos Greet Prop. 63 Debater in Barrio : Santa Ana Audience Critical of English Language Measure

A spokesman for the English-only measure on the November ballot ventured into a Santa Ana barrio Tuesday night to state his case and was greeted with boos, catcalls and opposition arguments.

Proposition 63 would declare English to be the official language of California, and Roger D. Hughes of Fountain Valley, a high school teacher and a spokesman for the proposition, said it would “unify people with a common language.”

But no one in the audience of about 80 Latinos rose to agree.

“There’s a xenophobia becoming a cancer in this state because no one wants to learn two languages,” said Paul Martinez, a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

The meeting, a debate at the Corbin Community Center in one of the city’s western barrios, was organized by the county Human Relations Commission to alleviate confusion and concern about the issue, Commissioner Audrey Yamagata-Noji said. It was the first organized debate on the issue in Orange County.

Arguments of Hughes

Hughes said he came to the Latino neighborhood to find out “why these people would be against the proposition.”

Hughes told the audience that the proposition would not prevent them from speaking their native language inside their homes, their churches or at work.

He said it would not prevent funding for English as a Second Language (ESL) educational programs. “In fact, many of us feel that funding for ESL is going to increase,” he said.

“What makes learning other languages bad?” countered Martinez from the audience.

Latinos and Asians fear that measures such as Proposition 63 are aimed at immigrants, said Linda Wong, an attorney for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund. “The initiative defies this country’s values against discrimination because of a person’s skin color and language.”

Opponents’ Views

Wong had been invited to oppose Hughes in the debate.

She said the California cities of Fillmore and Monterey Park have attempted to declare English their official language, and those efforts have resulted only in racial discord.

Merle C. Rabine, a Santa Ana lawyer, said he feared that in addition to clogging courts with needless lawsuits, the law would allow an English-speaking minority to thwart a Spanish-speaking majority.

“With this, it means that if someone doesn’t like waiting at a public meeting to hear Spanish being interpreted in Santa Ana, he can sue to stop it,” Rabine said.