U.S.ENGLISH Chairman Saddened By Out-Of-State Smears Against Official English Supporters

Washington, DC - U.S.ENGLISH Chairman/CEO Mauro E. Mujica reacted today to a Salt Lake Tribune newspaper column that reprinted accusations by a Seattle group that members of the official English movement are racist.

"U.S.ENGLISH has over 10,000 patriotic, dues-paying members in Utah," Mujica explained. "Now, an out-of-state organization with absolutely no ties to the state is circulating a memo accusing U.S.ENGLISH of racist ties, and smearing our members by association. As an immigrant from Chile, I have experienced racism in my life. In my opinion, it is nearly as despicable to make allegations of racism when they are known to be untrue. When I became an American, I thought that I had left the corrupt politics of Latin America. But now I see the gutter attacks that I am all-too-familiar with. I am saddened and disappointed that this kind of politics is now being practiced in Utah, of all places."

The allegations were re-printed in a column by Paul Rolly and JoAnn Jacobsen-Wells in the October 16 edition of the Tribune. Specifically, the allegations concern the ousting of former U.S.ENGLISH head John Tanton after a questionable memo he wrote, as part of a different organization, became public in 1988. Also, the column points to Larry Pratt, who founded an organization called 'English First,' which is completely unaffiliated with U.S.ENGLISH. Pratt has been criticized for his attendance at several meeting in the mid-1990s that included members of militia and white separatist organizations.

"I hate for the people of Utah to be forced to view the seamy underbelly of politics," Mujica continued. "But there are some unsavory people in the business. U.S.ENGLISH is a successful organization founded by an immigrant, Sen. S.I. Hayakawa, and run by an immigrant, myself. We have 1.4 million members. It’s no surprise that people like John Tanton and Larry Pratt have tried to associate themselves with our mission and take credit for our successes. But let me make this clear: we have repudiated John Tanton, Larry Pratt, and people like them. I will not allow any employee of U.S.ENGLISH to be in the same room with people from their organizations. Tanton resigned for his offensive comments twelve years ago, and Pratt runs an insignificant knock-off organization called ‘English First’ that has had nothing to do with our efforts in Utah. I am also disappointed that the Tribune chose to print only a small portion of our response to these allegations. But I pledge to our members in Utah, as well as the 70% of citizens who support Initiative A, that we will stay above the fray and not be detoured by this garbage."

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.