Trump grilled for allegedly favoring ‘white Americans’ amid English language executive order
Perhaps it’s time we made Donald Trump retake a U.S. History course.
It has been announced that Trump will sign an executive order to make English the official U.S. language. In case you weren’t aware, the original inhabitants of this country (Native Americans) did not speak English, and the first outsiders to reach the United States (Vikings) also did not speak English. Currently, English is our recognized language. However, the United States is one of the few countries that has never declared an official language due to its vast and varied population. So of course, now Trump wants to introduce English as the official language of the United States.
People on X (formerly Twitter) have not taken kindly to the news, and rightfully so. Under the Tweet on Pop Base’s account, one user said “why is everything he’s done since becoming president just to solidify white americans spot as the main colonizers.”
I suppose this will be one of those instances where people who support that will deliberately look away from facts that don’t fit their narrative. Even when John Adams wanted to make English an official language, his proposal was rejected. In 2006, the Senate passed an amendment to the Immigration Law that would make English the national language, but a national language is different from an official language.
Official language vs national languages, explained
So, what is the difference? A national language is simply the most common language spoken in a country, whereas an official language is established by law. As America houses a vast array of cultures and languages, it is understandable that Trump’s English language order would be detrimental for many reasons.
To some, the official language decree is a matter of racism and lack of education, or at least a willingness to look past that education. In school, we were taught that the United States has been a melting pot since the 13 colonies. Alongside the British, there were Native Americans, Germans, and French and Spanish. Because of such diversity, English was not the standard back then.
Times can change, that is true. Trump’s English language order change comes from a place of alleged hatred and misplaced idolatry. English is not what makes America great–it is only a part of what is, or at least used to be, one of the most colorful and diverse countries.
But diversity is not what Trump or his MAGA supporters want, as evidenced by their earlier DEI rollbacks. If it is not white, male, or English-speaking, they don’t want it. That includes you, nonwhite Trump supporters.
America has never been wholly great. There is a lot in our history that we should not be proud of, and even that is downplaying it. Before, at least, we welcomed people in. We did not force them to learn English. My great-grandma, for example, exclusively spoke Italian. The lack of official language was one of the components that made the United States so appealing to potential immigrants.
Like most of what this administration is believed to be doing, Trump’s order is just another instance of Republicans grabbing at air to try to reclaim some idealized version of the United States that did not–and will never–exist.
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