English as the official language is becoming more of an issue in modern day society. "Since there was no need to legislate English as the official language, our constitution is silent in the issue" (King, 239). The idea of English as the official language was first proposed in 1975 as an amendment to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (King).

"In 1981 Senator S. I. Hayakawa introduced to the U.S. senate a constitutional amendment that not only would have made English the official language, but prohibited federal law as well as state law to require the use of the language" (King, 240). The legislation was unpopular and did not pass through the 97th Congress. Mr. Hayakawa's view were forgotten and in submission until 1986, when ten states passed official language initiatives. The votes were substantial enough to gain the attention of Congress.

Due to the language barrier, many of those countries were divided not due to the politics guiding them, but simply because of the language they spoke. This was originally drafted to ensure peace within the country. Yet, blood has been shed and wars have erupted because of the differences among the people speaking a common language. This has been the case in several nations, even those close to home.

In this article, King addresses the present dangers of a diverse society, which is present in the United States today. King points out that the problem may solve itself over time, but in today's culture the solution is highly unlikely to come about. His views are strongly backed theoretically, however in my opinion, they are not stable enough to support his thesis.

ll as the American public opposed the idea at the time, but the question was still pertinent in the states. "Is America threatened by the preservation of other languages, other than English" (King 242)? Though a relatively new issue in the United States, the trouble of a multi-lingual society has been prevalent for years. Language has been known in many different societies to be the main cause of division among several world nations. "After the first World War, it came to drawing the boundary lines for va

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Approximate Word count = 865
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)