tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post6450226476906697652..comments2024-03-18T22:21:33.261-07:00Comments on The Debate Link: Civil Rights Review: 07/03/08David Schraubhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04946653376744012423noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7321349.post-72394691842577270082008-07-03T11:43:00.000-07:002008-07-03T11:43:00.000-07:00When it comes to the treatment of immigrants, the ...<I>When it comes to the treatment of immigrants, the Bradley team sees a real threat in such things as multilingual ballots and bilingual classes. Such accommodations to the growing diversity of the population could lead to "many Americas, or even no America at all," they maintain.</I><BR/><BR/>What a gloriously revealing excerpt. If the Bradley team genuinely believed that America coheres around a shared set of ideas, rather than a shared ethnicity, they would not be fearful of multilingual ballots and bilingual education. Concepts such as referenda, write-in votes, free speech and civil rights are eminently translatable into other languages. Having citizens fail to learn English is problematic because it retards their ability to advance in and contribute to our society, but it does not in any way prevent them from understanding what the United States is about. Once again, conservatives show that their real fear is of diversity of race, religion, language and culture -- not of disloyalty to the Constitution.PGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09381347581328622706noreply@blogger.com