>> Crowd: Language, culture...
>> Daniel Garcia: I remember
that a lot of people gathered
by the courthouse over there.
I understand,
is not only myself,
is not only Hispanic.
I see Hmong,
I see Russia,
I see a lot
of different cultures.
They was there.
>> David Littig: When it started
no one really thought
that this would gather
national attention,
but it has galvanized
and polarized this community
like no other event
in recent years.
>> Pat Collins: And they spoke
and they had banners.
We had some girls there
with banners,
"My dad's getting sent
back to Mexico if this passes."
I mean what kind of
inflammatory garbage is that?
>> Fernando Campos: It does
offend us, because the only
thing we change is the prices
of the consumer,
because of the cheap labor.
>> Dan Nerad: You know, they're
here to work and they're helping
the community
with it's economic vitality.
On the other hand,
we're sending the message
that we're not quite sure
that you are part of us
here yet.
>> Sao Vue: I was very worried
because I thought Green Bay
was a very safe community
or city to live in,
but when that resolution
was passed,
I felt fearful.
>> Antonio Saldana: It's
somebody else telling us again
"Thank you for trying.
"It's not fast enough.
It's not good enough."
>> Peter Kellogg: I do think
this is a wedge issue.
And because it's an issue
that doesn't cost any money,
doesn't require any commitment
but it energizes people
and upsets people,
it divides people.
>> Yia Thao: The Hmong community
we meet a lot of time.
We feel that
we are not belonging.
>> Bill Clancy: Morally,
I didn't think it was fair
that somebody should be made
to conform to our thinking
when my great grandparents--
When they came over here--
didn't have to do the same.
>> Carol Cornelius: I was rather
shocked and disappointed about it.
Because I really had hoped
that as a nation, we'd come a lot farther.
>> Pat Evans: "We're against this, so you must be a racist."
Well, that just doesn't work anymore, because everybody's
sick of being called a racist because you know what,
especially in this area of the country,
I don't believe there are any racists.
So, you can take your racist term and go home.
I don't want to hear it.
Nancy Nusbaum: Well, I believe the resolution
was a bad thing for our community.
It showed us, not as the world class
diverse, exciting place we really are.
It showed us in a mean, petty light.
And as such, someone had to stand up
and take the opposing side.
The English-only movement has been around this country
since it's very beginning.
After the Louisiana Purchase
English was named the official language of New Orleans.
Which meant, in fact they expected
publications to be written in English.
But, in fact, government publication
continued to be printed in French.
Now some say that that may be only symbolic
but what's important, what we're going to see
is that symbols can carry an important message.
Now the proponents of English-only
argue that it will facilitate and increase
the speed by which immigrants will learn English.
They also oppose bilingual education
which is funded by the federal government.
Now opponents of English-only
believe that it is another form of nativism
prejudice of foreigners
and it's a form of discrimination.
English-only resolutions, as you know
have been passed in over half of the states.
And although they're only symbolic--
a number of resolutions
have been introduced into congress
but they've languished there.
In Wisconsin, 14 of our 72 counties
have passed some form of English-only resolution.
Brown County, which is located in Northeast Wisconsin
was alerted to this resolution by Jackson County
which was typical of other counties--
rural population, sparsely populated.
Jackson County, according to the 2000 census
only had 19,100 people
something like 357 Latinos and only 31 Asians.
The history of the resolution
was that there was a resolution passed in Jackson County.
And any resolutions that get passed in any county
get forwarded to every other county to take a look at.
This came through the legislative subcommittee.
They've looked at all of the resolutions.
This happened to be one of the resolutions.
They thought it would be a good thing to put forward.
And then the reaction began to happen
and then we started realizing
that there was a lot of emotion tied to this resolution.
I believe this motion is very rude
and unconstitutional to the American citizen, like me.
There are no clear and resounding benefits
to the resolution.
So we say,"Why do we have it?" (applause)
If you want to be blunt about it
the chairman looks at a lot of this stuff
and sometimes the screwier things
never get to the county board.
He kind of filters it out, you know.
And apparently, this time
it didn't get chucked, and somebody thought
"If this other county is doing it, maybe we should, too."
And it just grew. It had legs.
David Littig: At the time
the Brown County Board was totally unaware
that this resolution
would put Green Bay in the national spotlight.
The resolution itself is inconsistent.
The first part praises diversity in languages and in culture.
Then it comes to a conclusion that, therefore
English must be the official language.
Guy Zima: I think if you read it word-for-word
there's nothing in there that should intimidate anyone.
I think that the county board did want to make a statement.
"Yes, this is America and we're going to speak English here."
To increase the number of support
they added an additional paragraph.
This second paragraph reads...
The official language of Brown County
our books, and so on
like I said before, would be in English.
To put that paragraph in there
saying yes, we're all happy.
We love to have everybody learn everything.
We love the flag, apple pie, okay?
Now will you vote for this?
David Littig: It's really ironical that they thought it was so important
to put in a clause to get the federal government
to encourage funding English classes
but they weren't willing to put in one dime to fund classes
for those who really could use it, the adults
working immigrants-- naturalized citizens.
Pat Collins: You will see that it offends no one
and it doesn't cause any problems.
Look around you. We're all here.
(many people talking at once)
Pat Collins: Don't get so damn upset.
We had people that didn't want to be reasoned with.
People who didn't want to listen.
People who didn't want to look at the words on paper
and take them for what they were.
People who wanted to make more out of it
for whatever their motivation was
to make a big issue, to make headlines
to be in front of the camera.
I don't know whatever their motivation was.
Bill Clancy: It was misdirected.
I think that the feeling was
that everything would have to be
translated into different languages
for the different ethnic groups that are in our area now.
And this is why it came up like this.
If we don't do this, you know
it's going to cost us so much more money
which is not the case.
Supporters of the English Resolution
acknowledge that it will change nothing
about the way Brown County conducts its business.
It will not save taxpayers one penny.
Why are we doing something
which supporters say changes nothing
when we know it hurts members of our own community?
After having a veto authority for fourteen and a half years
as both a mayor and a county executive
today I announce the casting of my first veto.
(cheers and applause)
Well, this was kind of surprising because
Ms. Nusbaum had been the county executive for eight years
and she never vetoed anything for all the eight years.
Peter Kellogg: They had plenty of opportunity
to see how intensely people opposed it.
And they still supported it.
And they passed over the county executive's veto.
There's no possible way to argue this was done off-hand
and slipped through the cracks
without people having a sense of what they were doing.
Loretta V. Metoxen: Well, I think that the Brown County Board
with all due respect to them in their positions
were probably uninformed, misinformed or under-informed.
That they did not have enough information
to pass such a resolution.
Because passing English-only
is a very narrow view of things
in this area.
I think it's proper that we send it back
to the Diversity Affairs Council.
And those that vote against it
there will be people who, in my opinion
may be justified in labeling them as prejudiced or racist.
(many people talking in reaction)
When they decided to pass this English-only resolution
everyone involved was a native English speaker.
They didn't ask anybody who wasn't a native English speaker
what the impact and the meaning of it would be.
And they had a diversity council
with Dr. Coats, and Dr. Azaris and many other well-educated
articulate, spirited citizens willing to serve for no pay to help the County
they didn't even consult them.
Patrick Evans: To tell you the truth
I haven't seen anything the Diversity Council has done.
I haven't been impressed with them.
Before anybody had an opportunity to refer it
to the Diversity Affairs Council
they out-of-hand rejected it.
"We oppose this here. We don't want it.
Oppose, oppose, oppose."
And now the county board is going to refer it to them?
They made up their minds before they even saw it.
It would make no sense once their minds were made up
to refer it to them.
There was a discussion about referring it.
They rejected it.
"We don't want to read it, we already made up our minds."
Patrick Evans: On both sides of the issue
the resolution was taken out of context.
A lot a people that supported the resolution
were under the assumption
that, "You're in Brown County now you have to speak English."
And that, of course, is not true.
>> Mary Jane Herber, Brown County Library: The percentage of people in Brown County
not speaking English in 1900
is higher than it is today.
It was about four percent
in 1900.
It was about two percent
in the 2000 census.
Well, there's always been
a resistance to immigrants.
You know, there was
a resistance to immigrants
in the 1850s,
in the 1860s,
and the 1870s and the '90's.
And one of the reasons why
Ellis Island was established
in New York Harbor
was to get the immigrant
off the mainland
in terms of Manhattan Island
and to get them out
into the harbor.
And it was an easier way
to control the whole
immigration process by having
Ellis Island established.
>> David Littig: Regardless
of what it says
on the Statue of Liberty,
even English-speaking Irish
were reviled in this country
when they first arrived.
They brought a different religion, Catholicism.
It was also said that they could
only hold the lowest kind
of manual labor.
Their churches were burned and looted.
In fact, a political party
was formed, The Know Nothings
whose platform was to restrict
Irish immigration.
We have also in our history seen
anti-immigrant sentiments
directed against Jews,
against Poles,
against Germans,
against you name it, Africans.
And today, it's particularly
directed against Latinos
and Asians.
>> I think it's been that way
in the past,
it's just that we forget
very quickly.
>> David Littig: The myth that
the early European immigrants
to Northeast Wisconsin
abandoned their old customs
and their own languages
and adopted English ways
is false.
Now there's a very good example
in Green Bay
where we see a variety
of different churches,
where, in fact, the immigrants
worshipped in their own
native languages.
>> Mary Jane Herber: There was
St. Willibroads which was Dutch.
There was St. Francis Xavier
Cathedral which is German;
and St. Peter and Paul
which was Belgian,
the Wahloon Catholic Church;
and St. Mary's the Angels
which is Polish;
and then St. John the Evangelist
which was French Canadian, basically.
They were still using
native language masses
at services into the '20s.
It has kind a come full circle
that we've got St. Willibroads
now doing several Spanish masses
every weekend.
(singing in Spanish)
(giving sermon in Spanish)
>> Sister Melanie Maczka: And we've had people say,
"Probably, if they learn English
and they really work at it
in about three to five years
we won't have to have a Spanish mass anymore."
And I said,
Pardon me, we're talking
about the faith life
of a people.
I may learn another language,
but I will probably always pray
in English, because that's
the language that I speak.
When I'm really struggling with difficult things
and I need to talk to somebody who's going to help me through a tough time,
I'm going to speak English.
And I think that people whose first language is Spanish need to know
that they can explain their fears and frustrations to someone in their own language,
that they know that they can always pray in their own language.
>> We've lost that native language in terms of the Europeans very quickly.
And I think that,
to some degree it may be
a loss of culture.
And people don't want to lose their culture anymore.
(rhythmic drumming and chanting)
>> Carol Cornelius: We've been in a state of emergency for Oneida language.
We've realized it, maybe, for the last 10 or 15 years.
And we know that we have to preserve our language.
When we started we had-- In 1996, we had 11 people,
11 elders who could work with us.
Yesterday, we put to rest one of our elders.
We just have one who can come and work with us now.
So, we are in a state of emergency.
>> Use of the language wasn't shameful until the boarding schools made it that way.
Because they were often punished for utilizing their languages, the native languages,
so that they could learn English much faster
and "be civilized" and "be integrated"
into the larger society
and also, to teach other tribal folks English, as well.
But it did a great, great deal to diminish the Oneida language
because the parents who suffered all of this punishment
did not want their children to go through the same kind of thing,
so they encouraged them to speak English rather than Oneida.
The people need to speak their own language
in order to retain the culture, in order to retain their identities.
It's very--
That is one of the most tragic things that happened in the boarding schools
is because they not only lost their language,
but they may have lost their identity
and so were completely disconnected from their tribe.
It took 200 years to get into this condition.
And I'm hoping that it doesn't take us 200 years,
and I know it won't, to get back what--
a great deal of what we have lost.
It's like when the elders pass on, and myself being an elder,
is that we don't have time to waste, at all.
We have to make the most of every minute, of every day that we have.
(Carol Cornelius speaking Oneida)
That's how I would introduce myself...
(speaking Oneida)
That's my name.
That's what I'm called in our people.
I'm Turtle Clan of the Oneida Nation
which is a member nation of the Iroquois Confederacy.
I'm also Mahicanoo, known today as the Stockbridge Munsee
and also Montoc, which was one of the-- a little nation from Long Island
which became part of the Brotherton.
So, I know exactly who I am.
That's why it's so very important to have our language.
(speaking Oneida)
Dr. Abbott's been here, like I said, a number of years.
And he's helped a lot with preserving the language.
>> Clifford Abbott: The number of people who have become fluent speakers,
I think is extraordinarily limited.
I can think of maybe two people that might have approached that
in the last couple of decades that I've been working there.
So, it's an uphill battle.
>> Right now, we're at the point where we've got to do the oral.
We've got to bring it back full circle to the oral.
And it's fine to write to preserve, but it has to be oral.
We have to have a speaking community.
To get the language throughout our community,
one of the things that we've done is the interactive CD.
And that's one of the things that they wanted, was to get this to reach quite a number of people.
So, we came up with the idea of a language Web site.
We have also gone into homes and worked with families,
which is a very awe inspiring thing.
So, we're looking at a very holistic approach.
So, a person should be able to get language either where they're going to school,
or if they're very young, at their child care,
or at work
or at an activity they go to within the community.
>> The the loss of the world's minority languages,
the small languages of the world,
is something that is alarming a lot a people.
We may lose hundreds and hundreds of languages in the next generation alone.
And when you realize that in each language
there is often a special connection,
a special history of the way that that language has understood it's environment
and the world as a whole becomes a little bit more impoverished.
It's a threat to all of us.
>> Carol Cornelius: We need to be able to understand the language
and to speak it and to participate in the ceremonies.
And are songs are all in our language.
So there there's a purpose there for our language.
So we we've turned a corner here
from gramma-- my great--
my gramma, who thought there was something wrong with teaching--with speaking Oneida,
that I'd only make it in the world if I spoke English
to this gramma who's teaching these little ones that speaking Oneida is fantastic.
>> Steve Fewell: It was a resolution that was trying to tell people that they needed to learn English quicker
than maybe they possibly even could learn it.
And I really had a problem with the kind of message
we were sending to people who were not proficient in this community with English
and could not speak English very well,
but were trying desperately to speak English,
and knew that they needed to speak English.
>> Guy Zima: Well, I think the thing that was underlined more than anything
was of that they wanted to send a message that
"Hey, we're not going to put taxpayers to great expense to accommodate people
who aren't trying to accommodate themselves in our country."
>> Nina Alieva: It is not true that we did not want to learn the language.
We really want to learn it badly.
This is not how we feel.
(speaking Russian)
We believe that when you live in a country,
you need to be able to speak the language of that country.
And we are trying really hard.
>> Daniel Garcia: I think they did it because they don't understand
how difficult it is to express themselves with a different language.
Ten years.
Ten years of trying to, little by little
start getting better and better. It's not easy.
>> Sao Vue: When we came to this country, my mother spoke three different languages already.
Learning English will be her fourth language.
When we moved to Green Bay, she had a volunteer from the Literacy Council come to our house each week
to help her with English, with the basic how to read and write in English.
She was very excited that she was learning English.
But she continues to struggle with the English language to this day.
I really feel hurt when people say to me that Hmong people and Hispanic people
in my mothers generation should learn English when they are already trying very hard.
English is a very difficult language to learn.
>> Antonio Saldana: And I think that I understand where the Hmong
and other Asian groups are feeling like that,
because I think that they felt inferior,
because as we're trying to learn English, we can't learn it fast enough.
And the little bit that we're trying to do is not good enough.
(speaking Hmong)
>> (translated): It's different for the Hmong. Very different.
A lot different, that's why it's hard to learn English.
>> Her Yer (translated): The language is hard.
It's hard for me to understand--
It's easy for me to understand when they speak English,
but it's very hard for me to speak the language,
so I have to take a child to translate for me.
>> (translated): The hardest challenge for me now is,
first one, I can't speak English.
Second, I cannot read or write. That's the hardest.
(speaking Russian)
(translated): In Russia, I was a University Professor and I was teaching mathematics.
>> Rustem Aliev: In Moscow, I worked in University at aviation technology.
>> (translated): We're able to attend the tutoring. And we go twice a week.
And I get to-- We split the hour between my husband and myself.
>> Do you have any children?
>> Yes, I have a boy and a girl.
(translated): What happens is that we're learning the basics so we could just take care of very basic needs
in our communication.
But you can't really have any meaningful conversation with anybody on the level of, you know,
of all your experience and your education. It's just not possible.
And all of a sudden, you just kind of go back to their elementary school.
That's a shocking experience.
I was so very happy when I passed my driver's test.
It was such a long road for me.
And to get it done, it was just such a huge achievement.
I lucked out with instructor as well, because I had experience before when
the instructor would keep saying that, "You need to learn English," and kept repeating that.
That really made me freeze and I wasn't even able to
follow instructions because I could tell that he wasn't happy with me.
>> Start your car.
(engine starts)
Turn on your lights and left turn signal, please.
>> I was lucky that this instructor was understanding and talking slowly.
>> Alex Zacarias: There was mixed reaction in the Latino community.
There were some that were confused by that, what it meant, what it entailed.
And there were others who felt like, "Oh, this is a good idea.
This would probably help us learn our language quicker."
You have two different camps.
>> Maria Garcia: One day, my friend--
One day, she ask me, "Maria, you're here in the United States.
You need to speak only English."
I say, "What?"
No, no, no.
It's my language, Spanish.
One day, I'm going to speak English, but I never forgot my language.
If somebody ask me something in English,
if you ask me now, you ask me in English the question,
I no speak Spanish to you. I need to try to speak English, right?
So, I think we need to respect too, the language.
You respect my language. I respect your language, you know?
(speaking Portuguese)
And What I said is,
My Portuguese is pretty good and I don't have any problem conversing when I go to Brazil.
>> I value other languages.
I speak, as you know, Spanish.
And I do okay with Portuguese and Italian as well.
This resolution in no way is telling anybody that they cannot speak their language.
If it was that way, I would not have supported it.
>> I mean, we can allow people to maintain their culture, their language,
and learn a new language.
And my point is that I think it's a natural instinct for people to want to do that.
So, why do we need legislation like that,
especially when it leaves people feeling that they're not part of the community?
Well, I think, first of all,
in terms of the percentage of our total district that is now a racial/ethnic minority population,
it's rapidly increasing.
(reciting Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish)
Danz has a unique approach.
It has, you know, what I'll call traditional ESL programming, but also there
we have implemented what we call a two-way bilingual program.
And basically, what that means an it's been implemented with a group a kids in
Kindergarten through third grade. This year, up to third grade.
And what we have is we have a defined group of students working with two different teachers.
And half the kids are English speakers and half of them are Spanish-speaking kids.
Other than reading, every other day all the other subjects are in the opposite language.
What that means is one day, other than reading,
math, science, social studies, is taught in Spanish,
the next day is taught in English.
And what we're experimenting there, is with the idea
of all children in that setting becoming bilingual.
Because that's part of the future of differences where we'll be multilingual.
We'll be multicultural.
We'll be multiethnic.
And when children have given that gift
of multiple languages, it just allows them to interact with each other that much better.
>> Peter Kellogg: It strengthens all of us by getting us more citizens who are bilingual.
And it puts those kids all on equal footing.
The English-speaking kids can be the mentors
and the people in the know helping the Spanish-speaking kids learn English.
And in the next class, the Spanish-speaking kids are the ones in the know,
and the English-speaking kids are the ones who need their help.
So, each one needs the other.
They have to work together.
What a wonderful way to show respect for different cultures
through the languages and to put those youngsters
on equal footing so they grow up valuing each other.
>> Yia Thao: The Hmong language, we want it to be
put in the curriculum, into the public school.
We want the Hmong language to be part of the foreign language like other language.
I hope that not just the Hmong kids, but also other kids will be learning,
and that will help bring the language back to this society.
The Hmong class will be one class that will help the Hmong kids,
or other kids,or other people to understand who are the Hmong,
and why are the Hmong here, and why it's so important to learn the Hmong language,
the culture, that kind of thing.
>> Her Yer (translated): I'm able to read and write in Hmong
because when we came to the camp in Thailand before coming to the United States.
I learned how to write Hmong and read Hmong.
I can write Hmong and read Hmong, and to send paper to Laos and Thailand.
But the reason I go to the class was taking my children and my daughters
and my daughter-in-laws to learn how to read and write Hmong.
>> Yia Thao: We will continue to teach our kids at home, especially my kids.
When they go to school, they speak English.
But when they come home, I told them, please to speak your language as much as you can.
>> (translated): I hope that in the future, they will be able to read and write.
We're hoping that they will be able to support themselves
with the education that they get.
(Nina Alieva speaking Russian)
(translated): I'm very happy that my granddaughter is bilingual.
She speaks and can read and write in both languages because it's very important.
(speaking Russian) I keep, besides studying math, we also read the history of Russia and in Russia language.
>> Daniel Garcia: I have see families that they, husband an wife are Hispanic, they speak Spanish.
And their kids, they don't speak Spanish.
So, how that, you now, how that happen?
They they lost their natural language.
For Amanda and my son Victor, they probably--
Right now, they don't think how important is to have two languages,
but when they grow up, they will find out.
>> I don't think that the county board in any shape, form or manner
was trying to tell people they're not welcome here.
Because I think we welcome all people who are willing
to come and work and support their families.
>> Patrick Evans: Now, as far as the racism goes for these groups of people,
if you ever noticed, one item is that the people
who say they're the so-called leaders of these groups who do not speak English,
well they speak English.
And could it be that they don't want to give up the power that they have ver this group of people?
I really believe these people who say they're the leaders
that speak English and then go back to these groups
are the ones that, really, they want segregation.
Because they have the power. They speak the English.
So, all this mass of people have to go through them to get information.
So, if they understand English, they're not going to need this person anymore.
This person, or these people who are, you know, being the so-called leaders
are really putting their own kind in a subservient role in the community.
They're keeping them as the gardeners.
They're keeping them as the meat packers.
They're keeping them as the brick layers.
And you know, they need to be saying, "You know what,
we all need to work on learning English."
>> Fernando Campos: To learn English, it is very hard
because once we determine that we come over here to work,
we don't focus to prepare ourselves to go to school,
study English and work, because it's very easy just to work for a few months,
go back to Mexico and come back whenever we need to come back.
>> Daniel Garcia: If you have good education, you get good pay.
I know. I'm Hispanic, too. And I know that when you don't have any--
If you go to apply a job, they ask you for your skills.
And of course, in the meat industry, they don't ask you for high levels education.
That's why so many people there.
And right now, I need to take first my GED,
so I can get the skills to get into a career.
That's what I'm doing right now.
>> Maria Garcia: This is why I study English, this is why.
I remember when I younger, I say one day I have a nice job.
Now, this is a good job. I have a good, good job.
The children, sometime they look at me and they call me,
"Oh, Maria, sometime you don't speak English very well."
I know, I say, I know!
For me, it's good opportunity too, for practice my English.
Oh, I know it's not good, my English.
I'm trying to practice and practice, you know.
We need to study more, and more, and more.
Yeah, I don't know. It's hard for explain everything, you know?
>> (translated): I want to work at American Food, so that I get the money to come and support my family,
so my children can go to school and to get a good education,
so in the future time, they will be able to
speak English, read and write like American people, to help better their lives.
>> (translated) I'm grateful that Council on Aging, the program that helps seniors who are looking for employment
was able to provide me with this part-time position at the University,
because it's 20 hours I'm able to work a week.
And I'm happy that I found at least this.
[speaking Russian]
(translated): I hope, but I also keep working on my language,
because I know without it, it's just not going to happen.
So, I keep working on my language, and hope that I could learn better in the future.
>> Steve Fewell: You know, has it changed anything in Brown County?
Talking with all of the department heads and different people,
it's not saved us any money.
It's not cost us any money.
It's not changed any procedures for us.
It's not changed the way we do business on any given day in Brown County.
We're still doing the same thing.
All it did was really serve to send messages to people that, really, were not healthy.
And it polarized the community to say things about one another that really were not helpful.
>> Pat Collins: It just boggled my mind why they would be so upset.
Why aren't they upset at the Press Gazette?
Why don't they have a Spanish version of their paper?
A Hmong version of their paper?
I mean, they preach diversity all the time.
Where is their diversity?
I mean, at least in Brown County, like I said with the health department, the police,
and we reach out to other cultures in different languages where we have to.
>> Alex Zacarias: You know, if it's English only, then why provide translators?
Because they do know that they have to serve the community.
So, I don't know if it was--
I don't know what the rationale is behind it, and that's--
I guess that's the question. What is the rationale behind it?
>> David Littig: Passing an English-only resolution
does not absolve a local unit of government from providing language assistance.
Under federal law, Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,
any agency that receives federal assistance must provide language assistance
to those who are not proficient in English.
>> Patrick Evans: It is my understanding that in the social services area,
we do have written and verbal Hmong and Spanish, and I believe, also Laotian.
>> A couple months ago, there is a Hmong family went to one of the agencies.
And they tell the Hmong person, do you have any translator with you?
And he say no.
And one of the lady say if you don't have the translator with you, then we cannot help you.
>> Peter Kellogg: What we're finding so far is the record is very mixed.
Some things are happening, but there's a lot of places
where services are needed and they're not being provided.
People are being asked to bring their own translators.
The federal government specifically warns against relying on children as translators.
Yet, often, children are being used as translators.
Well, if it's a domestic dispute and the husband and wife are fighting,
and one speaks English and the other doesn't and the police come
Do they ask the children to become involved in this and provide the translation?
What does that do to the family?
What does it do to privacy?
What did it do to individual dignity?
>> Sao Vue: When you have a child translating,
many of the important informations are missed.
And with the generation gap, many children are not able to
translate in the Hmong language anymore to their parents.
So you have a lot of information that's left out.
>> If they don't understand the Hmong language really well, when the parents or the elder
talk to them, and they translate to the other person, they translate wrong.
>> I translated for not only my parents but my grandmother, grandfather, aunts and uncles, extended relatives.
I've been translating ever since I was, I believe, eight years old.
And it's scary.
Now that I think about it, it was very scary.
At that time I was young, and they knew that I knew English, so I just went along.
And at that time, I did the best that I could.
But thinking about-- thinking back to that time,
I think I missed out on a lot of important information.
I translated at doctor's offices, at schools and many different places
when I did not understand the vocabulary or the terminologies used at those institutions, and I'm translating.
>> Steve Fewell: What bothered me the most was the comments
that were made by people not understanding the resolution at all
and were just assuming what the resolution was really saying.
And so, then there were comments that were racist.
For me, I got a letter in the mail from a constituent of mine
telling me that I was worse than the terrorist who flew into the buildings
because of my vote on the English language resolution,
which I found was kind of surprising to think that that would be at that level.
And that concerned me.
And then, there were people who made calls to me saying that,
why was I trying to save all the minorities in this community?
>> Guy Zima: There were some black people that had come to that meeting.
And I asked one, I said, "Why are you here? You speak English."
And he said, "Well, it's a racist thing."
And I thought, you know, I was really taken back by that
because I think that's the farthest thing from anything.
I think most people here welcome people of other cultures and enjoy them.
But at the same time, I think that they want people
to come here to adapt to our country and learn our language.
That doesn't mean that they should abandon theirs or their culture.
In fact, sharing that culture with us is, I think, a real important thing to us.
>> Daniel Garcia: You know some people say that they--
When you come here, you forget everything about your roots.
And that's not true. For myself, that's not true.
No, I'm still Mexican. No matter what,
even if I'm citizen, I know I'm still Mexican.
And I'm still proud of that.
For me, the most challenge is the culture, is this culture.
Because challenging--
because not only for myself, it's for my entire family.
And it's challenge because you have to come here, learn how this culture works.
You can mix it up, the cultures here.
And that way, you can live better.
And that's what a lot of people doing.
On the church, we are bringing different-- how we celebrate the Virgin Mary.
How we do this. And they like it.
They love it because it's getting more rich.
That's a good thing, you know.
>> David Littig: The values that are important in the cultures of the new immigrants
are the same values that are important to American culture.
Strong religious convictions, strong family, they believe in hard work.
And education is seen as vehicle for social mobility.
>> (translated): I taught my children that God has make all kinds of culture
many different cultures.
And we have to keep our culture because our ancestor has had this culture,
so we've got to keep this culture alive and teach them what to do.
>> Her Yer (translated): I hope that in the future, when the kids grow up
and they move on and marry, and come back and visit me,
I want them to still feel that I'm still the same culture to
you know, do everything the same that as when they still lived with me,
and everything is still the same.
>> Carol Cornelius: So, everything that who we are is in our culture and our language.
So, it's very important to know those things.
They always say we don't have swear words in our language,
so it must be that we need to talk in good ways
because we don't have bad ways to talk.
So, all of that lays down the groundwork for who we are and what we value,
how we perceive the world, our world view.
And every culture of the world has that perception of the world.
And it's contained in their language.
So, we need that. We have to have that as human beings.
And I always say it's our birth right.
If we were supposed to all be the same, I guess we would all have been born the same.
But the creator gave us diversity for a reason.
There are many, many values in that diversity.
>> Loretta V. Metoxen: Any culture, whether it's Oneida
or any one of the thousands of cultures that cross the world,
the people need to speak their own language in order to retain the culture,
in order to retain their identities.
>> Patrick Evans: I think the county board could have done a little better job,
or the media, really, could have done a better job of explaining, really,
what the resolution was.
There was a lot a pomp and circumstance and a lot a screaming and yelling
on both sides of the aisle
over a subject matter that did not really pertain to the resolution.
And I think that's why it got out of hand the way that it did.
>> Guy Zima: I think most people felt that this was the way of saying,
hey, you have to become part of our country if you want to stay here, too,
if you want to be prosperous, if you want to be happy,
if you want to be accepted
because English is our language here.
>> David Littig: I know some of you have desires
to get personally involved in local politics.
But the core, ultimately, to become really effective
is to have a constituency that is also knowledgeable.
What makes this country truly remarkable
as a nation of immigrants is that a person's race, color,
place of national origin, or native language
is not a barrier for them to become an American.
To become an American involves accepting the American Creed.
It is the belief in liberty, social egalitarianism,
equality of opportunity, individualism, capitalism and democracy.
Now, when immigrants first arrive in the country,
it in fact it is their culture that separates them from mainstream America.
After they become assimilated, it's their culture that enriches our society.
(speaking Hmong)
More immigrants and political refugees are coming to the United States every day.
Hmong from Thailand are finally joining their families.
>> Yia Thao: A lot of them doesn't have education background.
They are farmer, a lot of them probably never go to school.
That's why when they come to this country,
this is a technology country, every where and every place
it's all technology and language thing.
It is hard, because they never had any English or any education background.
And try to learn other language, it is just impossible,
because of their age, also totally different language.
And they're dropped into a place where they're not expect to be
and different language and different society.
And that why it is so hard.
I'd say a lot of the elderly, they try very hard to learn the English.
But I don't think that they will be able to get what they think it should be.
We are coming to live in this city, we're not just to hang around the city.
But we wanted to be part of the city, and we wanted to support the city.
We wanted to contribute and do everything we can to support the city.
This is the philosophy of the Hmong, because the Hmong live in a village back in Thailand
and that is how we support each other and live together as a team or work together.
So this is the philosophy of the Hmong that Hmong want.
And we wanted to help the city.
But when the English resolution passed and that's what caused a lot of the Hmong
lack of how we can support the city, because we're not quite sure, even though
we do every thing we can to support them,
but we are not sure that we are included or not.
>> David Littig: A major step toward having a voice in community affairs
is becoming politically involved.
That means learning about local politics,
certainly becoming a citizen, registering to vote,
voting in elections, supporting candidates, even running for office.
>> Alex Zacarias: We as a community, the Latinos, the Hmong, whomever it may be,
we have to make an effort. We have to step up and take a part
and be included in those governments by actually participating.
We're not civically involved.
And that's important that we start doing that,
because if we're not heard, then it's assumed that everything is okay.
And I think that is starting to happen.
Many people in the community are starting to realize that, that they do have a voice.
And they are taking parts and programs specifically geared for learning
how to work with and deal with government.
>> Yia Thao: And we almost 30 years now, and we feel that it is time.
It is time that we should practice, and working with the government office
or working with the people in the community.
And that's why we wanted to get a lot of training in politics.
And it does not mean that we take that kind of training
so that we wanted to become a politics person,
but we wanted to know so that we can be part of the community
>> Maria Garcia: I think it's good idea for maybe to citizen, because I'm here.
And I need to study more, and for more opportunities, for different things.
In my head, I have different things, different ideas.
For me, it's a very good place to citizen. I think it's a good idea.
>> Daniel Garcia: When at first I came here, I know that
sometimes you walk to the mall or restaurant, and they start looking at you,
you know, like-- And you feel bad, you know,
you feel like something, somebody's looking at you.
And even, you can almost read their lips, they say,
"What those guys doing here?"
Of course, I have been voting three or four times already
in different categories in the state.
Of course, you know, your vote counts.
Your vote counts.
Every vote that you put in, it counts.
>> The United States has had more immigrants from more places in the world than any other nation.
Yet, English has become the most dominant language on the planet.
So, the question is, why do we need an English-only resolution?
>> I just think it was blown way out of proportion.
I don't think it should've even been brought up.
What good did it do after it was brought up?
What's changed?
I don't have to feel good about something like this.
I would feel the opposite way.
>> (translated): The saying that we have in Russia goes something like this.
How many languages you know, that's how many times you are a human being.
>> I really think it's a tempest in a teapot.
I don't think it's done anything to help or deteriorate any relations
between folks that speak English and folks that don't speak English.
>> I think we're going to learn from children. And they're telling us
that they want to learn English, they want to be a part of our community.
And what kind of messages are we going to send?
>> One more time, I'm sorry for not speaking English very well.
But one day, maybe you'll see. One day--
A year, maybe--
Oh, Maria, you speak English very well now.
Maybe. Thank you.
>> Was the resolution worth it? I don't know.
>> It's something that goes in your heart and warms you.
It makes you complete.
And that's what it is about knowing your own culture and you own language.
And I really don't believe any law can take that away from us.
>> And you know, one of the things I said after all the consternation we had on this issue,
I just said to one of my colleagues, I said you know, after all this here,
you know the sun is going to rise in the morning.
And you know what?
I was right.
I can't be right on everything, but I was right on that.
>> It doesn't mean nothing's changed, just because the sun comes up.
It may not change for him, but it's changed for other people.