Replying to Shaylyn Cochran's May 9 article, O say
can you sing in Spanish I express my utmost disagreement with our president and any other party that is against transforming the U.S. national anthem to Spanish. Our nation represents and depends on many races and languages.
As Shaylyn reported, Spanish is spoken by 29 million U.S. residents aged 5 and older. According to Simmons Market Research, 19 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population speaks only Spanish and 55 percent have limited English proficiency. Many Latinos are full American citizens; however, Spanish is their main language. Although English is the most spoken language of this country, these Latinos are still an official part of this country and they deserve to have its official song in the language that is most meaningful to them.
In opposition to the translation of the national anthem, Bush said it is imperative that we not lose our national soul.
In my opinion, this nation's soul was put together by immigrants of different ethnicities, cultures and languages. The word immigrant is starting to have a terrible and false reputation. An immigrant is someone who leaves one country to settle in another. Didn't our ancestors come here as immigrants? Didn't many of our ancestors come here as non-English speakers?
As for the non-American citizen supporters of the conversion of the national anthem, they too are worthy to have the anthem in Spanish. Think of the importance that non-citizen Latinos have on this country.
Here at Ohio University there are many influential teachers and students who are of Latino decent, but not full American citizens. The landscapers that make your lawn look so attractive might be Latinos, but they came to this nation with work visas. According the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 38 million Hispanics in this country. Think of their role in today's market and economy. Spanish surrounds us. Think of all the products on the market now that are written in English and Spanish. Why can't the national anthem be in Spanish?
The number of Hispanics will jump from 38 million to 50 million by 2015 and will reach 100 million by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. With this boost of Hispanics in this nation, the increase and importance of the Spanish language is inevitable. Spanish is an official language in two American states, so the language definitely has credibility to be a part of this nation's official song. People need to realize that America is changing ' we are becoming more of a multilingual country.' Clay Martin is a junior communications major and Spanish minor.
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