Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
yes, I know. but it's the refusal of American culture to not recognize Spanish as the unofficial language. If there is no "official" language including English then we can include all the commentary as well.
The Tenth Amendment prohibits the Federal government from declaring an official language.
States however have the power to declare official languages, not that it means much. California's official language is English, which certainly doesn't match up with the reality of official materials appearing in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, Vietnamese, Farsi, Armenian, Arabic, Russian, and probably several others.
The Tenth Amendment prohibits the Federal government from declaring an official language.
States however have the power to declare official languages, not that it means much. California's official language is English, which certainly doesn't match up with the reality of official materials appearing in English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, Vietnamese, Farsi, Armenian, Arabic, Russian, and probably several others.
Link to the part of tenth amendment that prohibits the federal government from declaring an official language, please.
Link to the part of tenth amendment that prohibits the federal government from declaring an official language, please.
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
There is no power delegated to the federal government in the Constitution to declare an official language.
That power is reserved for the states.
Granted, the overexpansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause ever since Wickard has gutted the Tenth Amendment at the expense of state's rights, but that is hardly something to be celebrated.
That said, many states have English as their official language ; some have English and Spanish as co-official languages ; and there are a couple of states that have English and French as co-official languages. Other states have no official languages.
There is no "specific language" in the Constitution that denies the federal government the right to declare an official "national" language. You are grasping at straws here.
There is no "specific language" in the Constitution that denies the federal government the right to declare an official "national" language. You are grasping at straws here.
"The Tenth Amendment, which makes explicit the idea that the federal government is limited only to the powers granted in the Constitution, is generally recognized to be a truism. In United States v. Sprague (1931) the Supreme Court noted that the amendment "added nothing to the [Constitution] as originally ratified.'"
There is no power granted to the federal government to declare an official language. It was an issue at the time ; large numbers of German-speakers in PA and NJ back then. The NJ legislature barely defeated a proposal to make German a co-official language with English ; this is the basis for the silly urban legend about Congress debating as to whether to make German the official language of the US (which never happened, nor could it have happened).
OTOH the feds have gotten around the Tenth Amendment via the Commerce Clause (since Wickard v. Fillburn) and the denial of federal funds to states who don't comply with federal mandates (since South Dakota v. Dole, one of the WORST SCOTUS decisions of the last quarter century).
We will see what the future holds for making English our official national language and changing birthright citizenship. I think you and yours will be on the losing end.
Certainly you are not suggesting that the French are somebody we should be generally trying to emulate?
Let no irony go unsmelted.
I'm suggesting that if someone dared to refuse to serve someone in the United States because they didn't speak English as their first language there would be heads rolling and lawsuits for discrimination.
Also French in some cases. Wonder why people don't complain about that.
Probably because it is rare. On the other hand it is only Spanish that is being shoved in our faces everywhere we go nowadays.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
