No Safe Place

I’ve been enjoying Carolyn Tate’s and Maizie Jesse’s column in the Nevada Appeal for years. Every Tuesday, they print up twn to fiften blurbs on their special insights on Nevada’s capital city and they give us a couple of knee-slapping jokes. This last column on Tuesday, however, kind of pushed my button.

They said:

We think Congressman Dean Heller is absolutely on the right track in asking that all our ballots be printed in English. New York City and Los Angeles already print their ballots in over 40 different languages. Excuse us … that’s madness. Aren’t all citizens supposed to speak and read English before they become naturalized? Do you really think Germany, France, Mexico or China print their ballots in English? Fat chance.

If you move to a country to reside there, you should get with the program and learn their language. That’s what made our country great … the assimilation of immigrants into a “melting pot,” where we could all get along. Our forefathers worked hard to become citizens. So should it be with voting … if there’s no challenge, there’s no value. Print the ballots in English. Period.

I posted my response in the comments section on the same page (after the jump). I suspect there will be no response on their part.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that Maizie’s daughter and I work for the same state agency, and I respect her daughter immensely.)

Interesting range of comments on your column, inspired by your stand on English and ballots. I admit I was surprised to read what you wrote because I always thought you were sensible and wise in your views, so I hope you’ll listen to some sense on the subject.

In yours and my lifetimes, we’ve seen much hate and injustice within our own borders, some of which was institutionalized and passed off as the Law of the Land. For instance, do you remember the ordinances forbidding native-born and legalized Americans from participating in the election process and denying them the right to a democratic process? Here’s some examples: poll taxes, citizenship tests, must be a registered property owner, and so on.

You know them better as Jim Crow laws, the written and unwritten edicts that stopped non-white Americans in the South from entering places to eat, sitting in the front of the bus, and seeking quality medical case. All of this led to inferior economic, educational, and social opportunities for African Americans, and the country had to endure years of their righteous anger and protests before they received the rights due to them under the Constitution.

And now you agree that we throw up new legal barriers to another generation of Americans, both native-born and naturalized. I would think that with your vast experience, you would understand that any laws that disenfranchise an entire class of legal citizens would only hurt our country and would, eventually, lead only to more violence and hate.

Please stop wrapping yourself in other people’s flags, come to your senses, and call these actions for what they are: reprehensible and sad. A 21st century literacy test for legal citizens is no different than a 1960s citizenship test or poll tax. If you’re going to insist on this, then let’s label the laws governing the tests. Let’s call them what our grandchildren will call them: Jim Cuervo Laws.