MaSonZ understood what i was saying. I was not putting you down for what you and your family have, I was saying those of us who do not have as much, or who have worked our butts off to raise our kids and pay our bills are theoretically just as intellectual as you are, but we have learned not everything we learned in school is correct.
If the United States had an "official language", as opposed to "the language we all use", can you explain why congress has tried to pass, during multiple sessions, a bill proposing just that? I refer you to just one of many web sites,
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html which basically say, and I quote,
"Many people are surprised to learn that the United States has no official language. As one of the major centers of commerce and trade, and a major English-speaking country, many assume that English is the country's official language. But despite efforts over the years, the United States has no official language.
Almost every session of Congress, an amendment to the Constitution is proposed in Congress to adopt English as the official language of the United States. Other efforts have attempted to take the easier route of changing the U.S. Code to make English the official language. As of this writing, the efforts have not been successful.
Here is the text of a proposed amendment. This particular bill was introduced in the House of Representatives as H.J. Res. 16 (107th Congress):
The English language shall be the official language of the United States. As the official language, the English language shall be used for all public acts including every order, resolution, vote, or election, and for all records and judicial proceedings of the Government of the United States and the governments of the several States.
Also introduced in the 107th Congress was this text from H.R. 3333:
The Government of the United States shall preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the United States of America. Unless specifically stated in applicable law, no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Government of the United States or any of its officials or representatives act, communicate, perform or provide services, or provide materials in any language other than English. If exceptions are made, that does not create a legal entitlement to additional services in that language or any language other than English.
Often these bills are in response to legislation recognizing non-English languages in public discourse of some kind. H.R. 3333, for example, also explicitly repealed the Bilingual Education Act which authorized funds to educate American students if their native tongue as well as to provide specialized training in the learning of English.
The most recent efforts to promote English as the official language has come as more and more immigration from Spanish-speaking and Eastern nations (such as China and Vietnam) has brought an influx of non-English speakers to the United States. According to the 1990 Census, 13.8 percent of U.S. residents speak some non-English language at home. 2.9 percent, or 6.7 million people, did not speak English at all, or could not speak it well."
It goes on about how the ACLU gets their panties all bunched up whenever this comes up, but I have little use for an organization that is basically against everything I believe, and is funded with money I pay in taxes. This forces me to support a group which I do not, in reality, support.
I await your research and response to what your "5th or 6th grade Social Studies book" which you say says, "yes, the U.S. does have two official languages: English and Spanish" taught you. Did either of those books give you a reference as to where one would find that information? In the constitution, the Bill of Rights? One of the ammendments? The ACLU pocket book of How America Should Be?
As I stated, all that is learned in today's class room is not necessarily correct, and that is the other thing I was referring to when I said the years give you wisdom.
