Proposal Stirs Latino Resentment : ‘English Only’ on Way to Florida Ballot

A proposal to make English the official language of Florida is an attempt to establish “linguistic apartheid” in a culturally diverse state, Latino groups argued Friday in state Supreme Court.

Supporters of the proposal said they did not want to make anyone a second-class citizen. They said the idea is to ensure that the United States remains unified by a common language.

“I don’t accept the premise that any American wants to slap Hispanics in the face. Hispanics are Americans,” said Dexter Douglass, attorney for the Florida English Campaign, a political arm of the U.S. English organization.

“It’s nothing but divisive. Making English the official language will not resolve the problems (proponents) complain about,” said Mark Gallegos, lawyer for the Latino coalition Unidos.

The court was hearing arguments to set the wording of the proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution before it goes on the statewide ballot. There was no indication of when the court would rule on the language.

The Florida English Campaign announced Friday that election officials had certified petitions signed by more than 115,000 voters, and officials predicted the group could easily get the 350,000 signatures needed by Aug. 1 to place the question on the November ballot.

Douglass said: “I think you’ll find that most Hispanics who have been here any length of time say that the way you get ahead in this country is that you learn to speak English. You retain your Spanish, but you learn English.”

“I think you’ll find that most Hispanics who have been here any length of time say that the way you get ahead in this country is that you learn to speak English. You retain your Spanish, but you learn English,” he said.

Thirteen other states already have passed similar amendments or laws, according to the U.S. English organization.

The main purpose of the amendment is “to prevent the second Tower of Babel,” said Mark LaPorta, a Miami doctor who is chairman of the Florida English Campaign.

“The Florida English Campaign that I chair is not racist, is not xenophobic and is not provincial,” said LaPorta, whose father came to the United States from Italy.

LaPorta said his group advocates that people learn other languages and appreciate cultural diversity, but he said a problem has arisen in Miami, where Spanish has become the second--although not officially sanctioned--language in business, government and entertainment.

The Florida English Campaign believes that government services should be delivered in a common language, said LaPorta. He warned that if deeds or any other official documents were printed in languages other than English, chaos could result.

The proposed amendment does not forbid speaking a second language and would not affect bilingual education in public schools, said Douglass and Barnaby Zall, general counsel for U.S. English.

They also said it does not necessarily mean that ballots and driver’s license tests will have to be given only in English if the voters approve the referendum.

The Legislature already has the power to make those changes, Douglass said.

New ‘Apartheid’ Seen

The Unidos group views the proposal as an attack on new immigrants. It would have the effect of creating a “linguistic apartheid” system in which people are actually punished for speaking a foreign language, Gallegos said.

Nearly one-tenth of Florida’s population, about 1.2 million people, are Latinos. Most live in south or central Florida.

Their number took a tremendous jump in 1980, from a previous census figure of 850,000, mainly because of the influx of Cubans in the Mariel “boat lift.”

Many Latinos in South Florida have become tax-paying, patriotic citizens, and that is the reason they are affronted by the official-English campaign, Gallegos said.

“It’s a question of mutual tolerance and respect,” he said, “but I don’t know of any way to legislate tolerance and respect, and that’s what the amendment tries to do.”