The bilingual system

I was prepping for my Spanish 25 (Advanced Spanish Composition) final for tomorrow and I re-read an article on the bilingual language system in America. America supports a very large Hispanic population especially in the Southern part of the country. I have to write on whether or not the introduction of a bilingual language system in America is beneficial. Here goes:

Statistically, Hispanic immigration to the United States is sourced most highly from Mexico and Cuba. Immigrants from these countries come here for economic prosperity that they can’t get at home. The vast majority does not speak English proficiently enough to read signs or navigate properly. Keeping America only in English makes it known that English is the “official” language of the States, but doesn’t the Constitution declare that there is no official language? How “official” is the English language? Well, it’s very important when it comes to economics. The whole world revolves around money and English is the language of business. This is a debate without a simple solution. All that I can say is that if Anglo Americans don’t make Hispanic immigrants welcome, it’s just perfect example of reverse racism. I think a realistic proposal is the introduction of bilingual signs only in the part of the country that has a large Hispanic immigrant population and then add more signs as the population shifts. This saves taxpayers money and it benefits the immigrants who are helping to run the American economic system. A win-win situation, right? Well, it can get better. Many of these immigrants become citizens but they still can’t speak English. What’s the most important right of a citizen? The ability to vote. Making easy to read ballots in English and Spanish benefits the country because Hispanics strive to achieve economic success.

As a side note, I looked up Elián Gonzalez on Google and found that he still has an official propaganda page! How funny is that? I also enjoyed the cartoon feature Daryl Cagle ran on Elian on Slate.