Me No Speaka Da English
Apparently, you need to speak the Queen’s English in order to run for office in Arizona. At least that’s what some county judge ruled in Yuma today.
Lawyers for Alejandrina Cabrera, a candidate for the City Council in the border community of San Luis, Ariz., said Thursday that they might appeal to the Arizona Supreme Court a lower-court ruling that Ms. Cabrera be removed from the ballot because she did not speak English proficiently.
Judge John Nelson of the Yuma County Superior Court ruled late Wednesday night that Ms. Cabrera be struck from the ballot because she did not know enough English to do the job. In removing Ms. Cabrera, Judge Nelson agreed with the recommendation of a linguist who had conducted tests of Ms. Cabrera and found her English skills lacking.
So let’s see. First, Gov. Terrance Stamp, I mean Jan Brewer (they look so much alike) signs into law a “papers please” law that has been ruled unconstitutional. And Jeff Christopher’s idol, Joe Arpaio, is under investigation by the Department of Justice for discrimination and illegal searches and seizures. And now this.
My question is – who spiked the water supply with LSD? That’s the only thing I can think of that’s making these officials act like complete idiots.
Tags: Arizona, Latino vote
You can teach them English in elmentary school, on the job, at night classes as a second language, etc; AND ALL AT THE TAXPAYER’S EXPENSE! But you can’t make them want to learn English. And sooner or later you have to draw a line on English Proficiency for certain jobs. And a government administrator/councilperson, elected or not, is one of those jobs.
@walt – well when the cops in this town live in Mexico, and Sapnaish was spoken there long before English was…what is your point?? The folks she would represent dont speak English – there is no need to – its not about not wanting to speak English – maybe its because the guy that administered her the proficiency test was from AUSTRALIA! – did you even bother to read the article??
nope – looking for Cliff’s notes I suppose……..
the taxpayer’s expense thing – well thats a 47 year old Federal mandate……
sorry for your luck
Says who, Walt? It’s not a requirement for running for office in that town or in the state. Is this one of your new teahadist laws?
no speaka da common sense Walt. In your frame of mind Lafayette never would have made the thirteen colonies independent. Long live the king
With all due respect, having learned British (Queen’s) English first, I came to America having to relearn English to American. It’s a different dialect, pronunciation, and vernacular. British English is also taught differently then American English with the former focusing on mechanics of english with the later focusing on relational structuring.
Then you get to regional dialects and all he/ll breaks loose! The speed/tempo, punctuation/pauses, abbreviations, slang, and the rest, start to mold the language to something other then English.
I think I sort of, kinda, understand why they pass these laws. But having lived through the Pat’s Steaks nonsense of a few years back, I find it amusing when people that do not actually speak, nor have they ever spoke, the Queen’s English try to write laws that they themselves have no possibility in adhering to. The spirit of the law, never gets communicated in the language of the law, only in open interpretation, which warps the law, and inherently creates a bias and panders to bigots.
I think residents should vote for someone who speaks English well enough to represent them effectively. If they don’t, we’ll, that’s democracy. Short of a felony, the choice of the people should be respected.