Refuting the English Language Argument

Por: Frank Decapio

I will begin this writing by stating that I support statehood for Puerto

Rico. I believe that statehood for Puerto Rico will benefit both Puerto Rico and

the United States, as the people of Puerto Rico will have a greater say with

regards to the affairs of the nation and will expose the people of the other

states to more ideas. Once Puerto Rico is granted statehood, the people of

Puerto Rico will gain a greater sense of unity and be more united with the other

citizens of the United States.

With that being said, I believe that the arguments against statehood for

Puerto Rico must be refuted for Puerto Rican statehood to gain support and

become a reality. One argument against Puerto Rican statehood I've heard is

that doing so would ruin America's status as an English-speaking nation. The

problem I have with that argument is that it does not improve the rate at which

the American citizens of Puerto Rico learn to speak English and that it denies

statehood. Statehood delayed is statehood denied. Wouldn't granting

statehood encourage the people of Puerto Rico to learn English at a faster rate

in order to be more involved in the affairs of the rest of the nation? Denying

statehood due to the language barrier only ensures that people will remain

divided and will only postpone the rate at which they unite.

Why is the lack of English speakers enough of a reason to deny Puerto

Rico statehood? Statehood should not be determined based on the language

spoken by the people of the land. This does not help the Spanish speakers,

and this denies statehood to the English speakers of Puerto Rico who meet this

requirement. With the English argument, cant one argue that the only regions

that can be classified as states are the regions where a majority of the people

speak English? With that reasoning, shouldnt little pieces of Puerto Rico with

English speakers be granted statehood and the other pieces of the

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico get upgraded to the State of Puerto Rico once

more people learn to speak English? What about the counties of states such as

Texas, Arizona and California, where a majority of the people in the counties

speak Spanish? Should those counties be downgraded to commonwealth

status until the people in those regions learn to speak English? Are we to have

the State of Texas for the English-speaking Texans and the Commonwealth of

Texas for the Spanish speakers? Of course not. If such reasoning is not

appropriate for the southern counties of Texas, Arizona and California, why is

it appropriate for all of Puerto Rico?

The English language argument to deny Puerto Rico statehood fails due

to the fact that it only uses a language barrier to maintain the division.

Denying Puerto Rico statehood, like I have mentioned, does not hasten the rate

at which the Puerto Ricans meet the demands of the people who oppose

statehood due to the lack of an English-speaking majority. Puerto Rico

maintains a commonwealth status for the Spanish-speaking majority, yet

counties in American States such as Texas, Arizona and California that have

Spanish-speaking majorities do not have to meet the same demands to remain

in their respective states. If anything, wouldnt granting statehood to Puerto

Rico incentivize learning the English language? In such a scenario, Puerto

Ricans would have more reasons to learn English, such as to be involved in

national politics. Those who oppose Puerto Rican statehood for language

reasons view the Puerto Ricans as Spanish speakers when they should view

them as their fellow Americans. Statehood will remain a dream rather than a

reality until people stop thinking of reasons for statehood to be deemed

undesirable and begin thinking of ways to make statehood plausible and ways

to help our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico.

Jos Celso Barbosa Statehood Library

http://library.statehoodpr.org/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/statehoodlibrary

Email: barbosalibrary@statehoodpr.org Twitter: @BarbosaLibrary