"Foreign language is an unacceptable mark of foreignness. So Trump plans to take the step of formally rejecting foreign languages in the United States — for whatever good that will do, which is none."
Bump wonders why it is necessary to designate English as the official language at this point. He goes back to the census of 1910 and finds that the percent of foreign born was higher then than in the 2020 census.
"About 4 percent of U.S. residents in 1910 didn’t speak English, according to the Census Bureau. Most of them were categorized as “foreign-born White” — meaning that they were born outside the United States but were not Asian or Black."
People in the United States speak hundreds of different languages, with the most common non-English options being Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese."
"Trump’s executive order isn’t entirely symbolic; the government will presumably cut back on providing information to the public in languages other than English. But it’s mostly symbolic, yet another demonstration from Trump that he will, in whatever ways he can, rise to the defense of Americans who view foreigners, particularly non-White ones, with suspicion and fear."
