American Tradition of Language Rights, Que Viva Texas: The Forgotten Right to Government in a Known Tongue
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: The fears of English-Only proponents threaten the development of multilingual skills among Texans. Consistent with their obligation to uphold the rights protected by the Texas Constitution, the legislative and executive branches should firmly reject attacks on multilingual governmental services. The courts should interpret the Texas Constitution in light of Texas history, and reject limits on access to governmental services for non-English-speaking Texas in a "known tongue." For most of the nineteenth century, Texas excelled in meeting the language needs of its native Tejanos and of its European immigrants. This accomplishment was one of the reasons immigrants developed the kind of \nattachment to their new home that led one German immigrant to exclaim, "Alles fuer Texas und Texas ueber alles."- With the resurrection of the language rights asserted by the framers of the Texas Bill of Rights, all can agree: iQue viva Texas!
Author: Jose Roberto Juarez Jr.
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: St Mary's University
OpenAlex ID: W7008012761