English-Only Vetoed in Nashville

By TChris, Section Social Justice
Posted on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 06:08:31 PM EST
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Kudos to Bill Purcell, Nashville's mayor, for his veto of a mean-spirited and unnecessary ordinance that would have made English the "official language" of Nashville. The ordinance would have required nearly all governmental communications to be in English -- as if the official business of Nashville's government is transacted in any other language.

The mayor said there was the potential for litigation against the city, noting that such cases have reached the U.S. Supreme Court dating back to the 1920s. He also expressed a concern that Metro employees would be put in fear of wondering whether they would get reprimanded if they did communicate in another language with someone in need of services.

Do the residents of Nashville truly believe that city employees should be prohibited from giving directions to a tourist in French?

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English-Only Vetoed in Nashville | 13 comments (13 topical)

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official language (none / 0) (#1)
by diogenes on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 06:24:10 PM EST

Of course, if English is the sole "official" language, then no one will be able to claim a constitutional right to have traffic tickets, road signs, subpoenas, legal notices, etc to be also written in Spanish.
Maybe if the official business of Nashville is so obviously conducted in English, and will always be conducted in English, then an ordinance can be constructed in a narrow way to reflect only the obvious ways that English is used.

Or.... (none / 0) (#2)
by kdog on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 07:07:28 PM EST

If it ain't broke don't fix it. These types of laws just scream hate and lack of understanding to me.

Don't we have enough unnecessary laws and ordinances, btw?


: There should be a law (none / 0) (#3)
by Jen M on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:33:19 PM EST

against tethering one's giraffe to a streetlight

I want what Jens smokin (none / 0) (#4)
by bx58 on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 09:25:03 PM EST

Good one....

These are small-time demogogues who want their names in the Murfreesboro Gazette. Local politics can be the lowest.

a solution in search of a problem (none / 0) (#5)
by cpinva on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 12:29:59 AM EST

having spent a fair amount of time in nashville (and enjoyed it immensely), there didn't seem to be a huge language problem. yes, there is a hispanic population, many of whom don't speak english. somehow, they manage to get along. as for foreign tourists, they somehow manage to find their way around as well.

to be blunt, we aren't talking new york, LA, chicago or san fran here, nashville proper just isn't all that damn big. downtown is laid out in a standard grid, for the most part, with street names and numbers. practically any idiot with a map can find their way around.

granted, there's going to be that 5% of idiots that can't, but language is not the issue.:)

Who are you? (none / 0) (#6)
by jimakaPPJ on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 06:47:13 AM EST

That's a strawman.

The real issue is that the mayor doesn't want to spend the money in an expected lawsuit.

Reminds me of the guy who asks the lady if she will have sex with him for a million dollars.... when she agrees he offers her a $100..... She then rejects his offer, saying, "Who do you think I am?"

He replies, "Madam, we know what you are, we are now merely negotiating the price."

se habla espanol (none / 0) (#7)
by ownthepress on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 09:04:15 AM EST

There's a reason why the founders did not include an official language in the Constitution, because it discriminates.

: Huh?? (none / 0) (#10)
by jimakaPPJ on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 01:44:28 PM EST

Got proof??

You call that English? (none / 0) (#8)
by eric on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 10:14:18 AM EST

The real problem is that, as a Northerner, I can barely understand the English that they do speak in Tennessee.

eric, a little help (none / 0) (#9)
by jimakaPPJ on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 01:43:41 PM EST

No, the real problem is that we can't understand you.

But just remember four things and you will probably survive a trip to the South.

American by birth, Southerner by the Grace of God.
Damnyankee is one word.
Volunteering to fight the enemy is considered the right thing to do.
Al Gore was raised in a hotel in Washington and is not considerd a native son by all right thinking people.

How many? (none / 0) (#11)
by mtnbiker on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 02:20:02 PM EST

What would be a reasonable number of languages that a city government should work with? Should there be a translators for all city offices incase a person speaking a different language requires assistance? If not only english which languages will be recognized as offical? For further debate visit debatepolicy.com.

It depends on what people speak in your city. (none / 0) (#12)
by eric on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 04:43:05 PM EST

Here in Minneapolis, everything is done in English, Spanish, Hmong, and Somali, at a minimum.

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/languages/

Here, for example, is a pic of a recycling sign:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Minneapolis_languages.jpg


: Wow.... (none / 0) (#13)
by kdog on Tue Feb 13, 2007 at 05:17:11 PM EST

Imagine that...recycling and learning something at the same time. How un-american..lol.
Let me know when the sky falls or the locusts show up, will ya eric?