Nashville City Council Votes to Make English the Official Language

The Nashville City Council voted 23-14 yesterday to make English the official language of Tennessee’s capital city. Sponsored by Councilman Eric Crafton, the measure will require that all government business be conducted in English, with common sense exceptions for public health and public safety. If signed by mayor Bill Purcell, Nashville will join 28 states, and more than 100 counties, cities and towns that have made English the language of government.

“I want to congratulate Councilman Crafton and his colleagues for their efforts to lead people in the direction of assimilation and unity,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. “With 69 languages spoken in the Nashville metro area, there is no shortage of diversity among the residents. This diversity underscores the need for a government policy that upholds our common bond of the English language.”

The Nashville City Council passed official English legislation in September in the first of three required votes on the measure. It passed on the second vote, 21-10, in November, advancing it to the final stage. Recent polls from Rasmussen Reports, Zogby International and the Tarrance Group have found support for official English legislation exceeding 80 percent of the population nationwide, including more than 80 percent of immigrants and nearly two-thirds of Hispanics.

“The English language has never kept immigrants out of America’s successful melting pot, it has brought them in,” continued Mujica. “We must continue to craft policies that encourage and facilitate English language learning instead of turning government into a linguistic crutch. I am pleased to see that Nashville’s City Council has taken this forward-thinking step, and I hope to see other cities and towns follow this growing trend.”

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.