xmca@weber.ucsd.edu writes:
actually, David wrote:
>Picking up where Bill left off: It's a dreary day here in Massachusetts,
>where those of us who have been fighting the Unz "English for the
>children"
>ballot measure are feeling done in by the 2-to-1 drubbing the polls handed
>us yesterday. My only consolation is that voters in Colorado did what we
>failed to do--overturn the Unz initiative there (with the help of $3m from
>a medical instruments heiress).
>
> It reminds me of an article written back in the 1920's by H.L.
>Mencken about "nativism" in the Midwest
...
>English in our classrooms.
i think it is important, David, to point out that the anti-bilingual
education bill (amendment 31) was voted down precisely due to "nativism"
sentiment.
the political consultants, Welchert & Britz, who ran the television ad
campaign against 31 decided to maintain a very low profile until October
1st., playing up the role of underdog with no money. They did have access
to three million dollars, donated by a medical equipment heiress whose
daughter attended a dual language school, where the goal is that all
children master English and Spanish. At the time, 68% of the voters
supported 31. polling research showed the voters didn't understand what
bilingual or dual language education was - and it is too complicated to
portray in 30 seconds. local activists wanted Hispanic pride accentualed,
but again, polling showed no sensitivity to Latino culture in colorado.
Those in English Plus, against 31, wanted a ad campaign of "happy faces"
demonstrating successes. but, due to interviewing a typical suburban
voter - female, white, republican, parent - adamantly in support of 31,
the consultants discovered that she was horrified at the idea that spanish
speaking kids would be moved out of bilingual classrooms into her kids'
classroom. hence, the key slogan, "chaos in the classroom", which
depicted spanish-speaking kids as disrupting the education of "your kids".
in response to criticism about the ad campaign, the political consultants
were quoted as saying "Do you want to win? Or do you want to be right?"
well, 31 went down in colorado exactly for the same fears that placed it
there in the first place.
phillip
* * * * * * * *
* *
The English noun "identity" comes, ultimately, from the
Latin adverb "identidem", which means "repeatedly."
The Latin has exactly the same rhythm as the English,
buh-BUM-buh-BUM - a simple iamb, repeated; and
"identidem" is, in fact, nothing more than a
reduplication of the word "idem", "the same":
"idem(et)idem". "Same(and) same". The same,
repeated. It is a word that does exactly what
it means.
from "The Elusive Embrace" by Daniel
Mendelsohn.
phillip white
university of colorado at denver
denver, colorado
phillip_white@ceo.cudenver.edu
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