Okay, are you ready for my latest tirade? Well, ready or not, here it comes; and to paraphrase the late and great Bette Davis in All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts; it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

“So,” you ask, “what set you off this time?”

I’ll tell you what set me off, two articles in my newspaper of choice, The Advocate, (one in Monday’s edition, the other in Tuesday’s), both of which deal with the same topic—how school officials in Terrebonne Parish (here in Louisiana, they have parishes instead of counties) are considering adopting a policy that would require all commencement speeches to be delivered in English only.

What prompted this deliberation by school officials was the graduation ceremony at Elander High School, where two cousins, Hue and Cindy Vo, co-valedictorians, delivered part of their commencement address in Vietnamese, which is their native language. And it wasn’t even a large part of their address, either. Cindy, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, simply spoke one sentence in Vietnamese, dedicating it to her parents, who were naturally in attendance. The 18-year-old Vo then promptly translated the sentence for the audience, explaining that it was “a command to always be your own person” (Advocate, 2008, Tuesday, p. 6B).

As for Hue, she spoke a bit longer in her native language and did so without translating for the audience, which naturally left those in attendance, other than her immediate family, wondering what she had said. However, as Hue later explained when asked, she had simply told her parents that she was grateful to them and honored “the hardships they faced moving here from South Vietnam” (Advocate, 2008, Tuesday, p. 8B). She also explained, “It’s important to my parents that I keep my culture. I felt if I expressed myself in Vietnamese, it would be more heartfelt” (Advocate, 2008, Tuesday, p. 8B).

In response to the cousins’ address, however, School Board Member Rickie Pitre said, “I don’t like them addressing in a foreign language. They should be in English” (Advocate, 2008, Tuesday, p. 8B).

Of course, I have to wonder exactly what Pitre meant? Who should be “in English”? Surely not the young ladies, for how could they possibly be “in English”? Then again, perhaps Pitre meant they should wear English clothing or even douse themselves with English Leather cologne.

“Oh, please,” you groan. “Exactly what is your point?”

I think Pitre’s comment succinctly makes my point for me. And that point is how these School Board members, one of whom obviously needs grammar lessons, are complaining about two students briefly speaking in another language during a graduation ceremony when, in reality, the majority of students marching up on that stage to receive their diplomas probably couldn’t speak proper English—and still can’t. In fact, most of those students probably barely passed English.

I constantly hear people saying things like, “This is America. If people are gonna live here then they oughta talk American.” Yeah, right; so in other words, residents of this country should slaughter the Mother Tongue? Well, I contend otherwise.

I contend that it doesn’t matter if someone wants to speak his or her native tongue when in the company of others who speak the same language or, as in the case of these two young ladies, when someone desires to make a special acknowledgement. I also contend that everyone who resides in the United States should learn to speak proper English. In other words, when people converse with one another, subjects should agree with verbs; pronouns should agree with antecedents; sentences should be properly structured and, therefore, clear in meaning; jargon and slang should be abolished (For example, “My mama caught a heart attack.”); nouns should not be used like verbs (For example, “Don’t you dare disrespect me.”); words should not be utilized unless the speaker understands the meaning of those words; and everyone should abide by the rules governing proper sentence structure and syntax. 

In closing, ironically perhaps, tonight I had the rather dubious pleasure of reading a student essay, one in which the student addresses this very topic. Here is an excerpt from that paper:

The United States have now turned around and allowed those of other countries to deluge our culture with their language, creating a huge uprising in the American people. Why do American citizens allow them people from another country, that speaks a different language, decide to inundate us. Learning a foreign language opens up a lot of opportunities; however, being forced to learn one in ones own country is a digrace.

And upon that, I rest my case.

“Policy would limit free speech;” The Associated Press; The Advocate; Monday, June 30, 2008; p. 6B.

“English-only proposed for graduation speeches;” The Associated Press; The Advocate; July 1, 2008; p. 8B.