"Why Aren't You Speaking English?"

That was the question that Texas Senator Chris Harris, a Republican from Arlington, was asking last week of Antolin Aguirre who was testifying against Senate Bill 9 which cracks down on illegal immigration. Aguirre used an interpreter and in his testimony said that he came here in 1988. Sen. Harris interrupted his statement saying, "Did I understand him correctly that he has been here since 1988? Why aren't you speaking in English then?" Good question but while we're asking that, please explain why we have to press "1" on calls to speak English.

Sen. Harris is a Republican and his remarks were then excused by the committee's vice-chairman, Democrat Kirk Watson who said, "As individuals come forward and speak their personal point of view about how they feel about things, senators also are entitled to speak their personal point of view and may not be speaking for everybody as well."

That's right, Senator Watson, make sure you and others in your party don't identify with what most Americans, including many Hispanics, object to which is the diminishing influence of our American culture.

After Mr. Aguirre explained that he was speaking in Spanish because that was his first language, Sen. Harris countered with, "It is insulting to us. It is very insulting. And if he knows English, he needs to be speaking in English."

It is also very insulting to Hispanic immigrants who want to be treated the same as the other immigrants from around the world who learned English to assimilate into our American way of life and who became real Americans.

Mr. Aguirre has been here for 23 years and still considers himself Mexican and had the chutzpah to testify before an American government committee against a bill that would ensure the safety and wellbeing of American citizens.

When I first read this news report I was reminded of the days I visited my father after he left us to move in with his mother and my aunt and uncle. My "abuela" lived on 117th Street in Spanish Harlem and always dressed in a black dress not unlike the typical Sicilian widow portrayed in Hollywood movies. She did not speak English but her children spoke it fluently with a slight accent and her grandchildren spoke without any accent at all (although I do admit to having a New York one). This was the way it was with all new arrivals into the city until the 1960s when politicians pushed bilingualism onto the government and down our throats. But it was inevitable that once politicians found a way to seduce Puerto Ricans who can legally vote by pushing these destructive bilingual programs that mindless multiculturalism would take over.

The former congressman, Herman Badillo, who helped write the original bilingual legislation, said he regretted that such programs had often become monolingual - in the native language - and too open-ended.

"You mustn't forget your culture and heritage" we were told by the demagogues in power which was really a lot of hooey. I was born in Manhattan not Ponce, Puerto Rico, like my father. The nuns at our elementary school would have assemblies and concert honoring our heritage and at Christmas we would sing Spanish songs and hymns.

However English was spoken in class and we learned American history and by the eighth grade everyone spoke perfect English and was prepared for a good job market.

It's ironic that Mr. Badillo now recognizes the mistake he made while in Congress when he was a liberal. Had he been a conservative from the get-go he would have known that the road to success for Hispanics is the same as it has always been for immigrants. It wouldn't have taken him more than fifty years to know that the "real path to prosperity, political unity, and the American mainstream is self-reliance not dependence on government" as he has written in his book, 'One Nation, One Standard: An Ex-Liberal on How Hispanics Can Succeed Just Like Other Immigrant Groups.'

Speaking English is a prerequisite for success in a global economy and systemic accommodation to a native tongue only keeps the new immigrant out of the mainstream and on the last rung of the wage ladder.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has been named as a potential presidential candidate but some conservatives have been wary of his stance on illegal immigration. One correspondent wrote that she thought that he would be for amnesty as some towns in Texas have adopted Spanish as its official language. Sure enough, I discovered that the Town of El Cenizo is a border town where the majority of residents are Mexican. In addition, the town made itself a haven for illegals and its mayor, Rafael Rodriquez told Reuters that he had entered the U.S. illegally but was now a U.S. citizen. This occurred during George Bush's term as governor but I'm not sure if any governor has the authority to stop a community from enacting its own by-laws since we have not made English the official national language. Governor Perry has indicated that he is against amnesty for illegal immigrants but if he appears weak on the issue of illegals then he will not pass muster for the nomination.

In 1969 I spent an extended 42 day vacation in Southern Spain where my childhood Spanish came in handy and I even ended up dreaming in that language. Nevertheless I was so glad to come home to the good old USA. Imagine my surprise when I was transferred temporarily to Miami Florida and found that the signs in the corner deli were only in Spanish. I felt as if I were back in Torremolinos and it no longer felt like I was home and it was quite unsettling. I could understand the animosity many native Floridians felt towards the Cuban influx into their city.

I grew up in one of the most international cities of the world when there were more New Yorkers from different countries than in their capital cities. These immigrants came here to be part of the American dream not to supplant our culture with the one they left behind. Xenophobia was unheard of in New York back then because legal immigrants were hard working families striving to achieve success in the land of opportunity. That was then but no more.

When the multiculturalists start preaching about our nation being built by immigrants please remind them that these were legal immigrants who longed to become free Americans not the illegal ones who are here now only to pick its pockets.

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com