THE REPUBLICANS in the Kansas House want to make English the official language of the state.
That’s good news for anyone who’s had much contact with government agencies, which have for too long published regulations, forms and other official documents in another language — gibberish.
Gibberish has also been the lingua franca of the Legislature, spiced up occasionally by excursions into gobbledygook.
So the establishment of English as the official language would be welcome, if it required government to communicate with the people in a clear, understandable common tongue.
Of course, that’s not what the lawmakers are talking about. Their intent is not to make government more transparent to the people, but to punish people whose English skills are not up to the native-born standard. The bill would make it illegal for a government agency to publish materials in any language besides English, with a few exceptions.
Viewed one way, the bill says that agencies may clearly communicate information to some taxpayers, but not to others. It does not defend English so much as it attacks any other language.
That makes sense, because English needs no defense. It has been the language of Kansas since the territory was established. Is that official? Look at the law books, the road signs and the primary language is almost all of the state’s classrooms. Public business in Kansas is conducted in English.
Does that make it wrong — or a crime — to make accommodations for people who cannot speak or read English? No.
If the House Republicans want to do something to strengthen the role of English in Kansas government, we would suggest comprehensive English exams — and perhaps weekly pop quizzes in grammar and spelling — for all members of the Legislature.
It might not win the legislators any votes, but it could help defend the state against a rising tide of gibberish.
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Posted by Phil_Dillon (anonymous) on January 17, 2007 at 7:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This is one of those times that you and I are in accord.
In late October my wife and I moved her mother and developmentally disabled brother here to Emporia. The move itself wasn't bad at all. We got her mom settled, painted the house up, added a deck and French doors, etc. We got her brother transferred from a workshop in Overland Park to Hetlinger down here. He absolutely loves his job. He loves his supervisors, co-workers, and the staff at Hetlinger. He comes home from work each day beaming. He's gotten two monthly paychecks, about a hundred and seventy bucks each.
You'd think that with the dignity he brings to the job and his life and the wonderful way the folks at Hetlinger treat him, that the state which provides services for him would do the same. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
In one instance we got a letter from James' case worker in Overland Park. It was filled with the type of English you wrote about, gibberish, accompanied by threatening language about the penalties for failure to comply with the request. I have a graduate degree and theology and an undergraduate degree in communications/linguistics, but I couldn't make sense of what they wanted. So, I called. What I got was classic beauracrateeze. It took three days of weaving my way through fuzzy language to find out nothing needed to be done.
A couple of weeks ago James got notice that his social security was going to increase by 3.3%. A few days after that SRS advised that his draw down on social security for their contribution to James support at Hetlinger, Medicaid, etc was going to also increase in proportion to increase. They sent the new numbers and I calculated them. The draw down was going to increase by 8.8%. I called the case worker again and was told it was all based on a “formula.” I saw that I was going to get nowhere. The reason that the state can take 8.8% is because they are the state. No other reason was needed. That was about the only thing we agreed on in the two weeks of correspondence we had.
You're absolutely right, Mr. Kelley, something needs to be done to stem this tide of gibberish. We need to because it's not harmless or cute. It allows the people who should be serving James to give the rest of us the illusion of service while exerting beaurocratic control of him and others here in Kansas.
About the only thing I can add is that in addition to remedial English and pop quizzes, the state also needs some training in grace and service. That would go a long way toward changing the use and tone of the language they all too often use as a weapon.
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