European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Language backlash in Florida hispanic youngsters my g classroom in lot Angeles. Most hispanic immigrants want their children to learn English Taysen opponent at a proposal to tree Taro englishes Florida s Ettl Elbl language. By Jeffrey Schmalz. New York  Ith 300,000 hispanic immigrants a year pouring into the Sun Belt Spanish has supplanted English in some areas and. Many americans who say they feel like aliens in their own country arc escalating a Battle to reaffirm the use of English. In three states Florida. Arizona and Colorado proposals on their Mot 8 ballots would designate English As inc official language applying primarily to. Government documents and meetings. Proponents argue thai hispanic americans have Boon slower than previous immigrant groups to adopt English and thai Tho ballot measures arc necessary to encourage clarity of communication and the. Assimilation of hispanic immigrants "1 did t move to Miami to live in a Spanish speaking "  said or. Mark a. Laperla. A 32-year-old Miami Beach internist who is a Leader in the fight to declare English inc official language. ".-. Opponents argue thallie measures represent nothing less than bigotry against hispanic americans Freedom to express oneself the opponents contend includes the fight to Doc Ida whal language to speak. They say America might As Well face the fact thai Iho future by the country will to multilingual whether it i English Ami Spanish in Florida or English and japanese in California. Sociologists and political analysts say that in Arizona and Colorado As Well As in California where a declaration of English As the official language passed in 1986. The treatment of new immigrants is similar to the Way european immigrants were treated 100 years ago like their predecessors is hispanic immigrants lend to be poor and undereducated and Are often looked Down upon by americans whose Larri Ilies have been in Iho country for generations. 1 Bui in Florida and particularly in Miami where hispanic americans Are More than 55 percent of the City s population and 35 percent of the metropolitan area s population the Issue is different academics and civil rights Ali visas say. Although Many of the immigrants in Miami arc poor and undereducated a Large number Are successful and prominent the mayor. Xavier Suarez is hispanic As. Are Many business leaders. Ii is hispanic americans very Success in Florida sociologists say that is creating resentment against Idem. Some Blacks Lor example have Long been angry that hispanic immigrants Many of whom Camo from Iho educated Middle and upper Middle class in their own countries have skipped Over Blacks and Laken the better jobs. Thomas d. Boswell. A geography professor at the University of Miami who has studied Iha migration of people from the Caribbean said something has happened in Miami unlike anything in other United. Stales cities. In just one generation the hispanic population has come to dominate there s no question it has created a . What especially galls longtime floridians is not so much what they perceive As hispanic americans slowness to learn English As. The tact that native americans Are increasingly finding that they have to speak Spanish. Many i the major corporations in. Florida while not specifically requiring their executives to speak Spanish say thai any executive who wants to flourish should Loam it. " at Iho dal Monte tropical Fri co., for example. Which maintains ils world Headquarters in Coral Gables Fla Allredo Vela vice president for Public. A lairs said thai within the Headquarters three out of five senior executives speak Spanish just about ail of our support personnel Are. Bilingual a said. At one of Florida s largest Banks. Southeast banking corp the chairman Charles j. Zwick said Cedar Only a Young officer Al the Bank should learn Spanish if he wants to do  Miami is a Center by Banks dealing with latin America and Zwick said to was planning to learn Spanish. We to working on a transaction  he said where i could have been More effective if could have carried on the luncheon conversation in  in Northern cities new York for example any extensive use of Spanish is confined to hispanic neighbourhoods. Bui in Miami it is citywide. Some people with jobs that bring them into Contact with the Public such As store clerks arid Airport Security guards do not always speak . The City s main newspaper them am her publishes daily in both English and Spanish. The radio., station with the largest advertising revenues in the Miami area last year. Iqba. Broadcasts solely in Spanish la it is possible to work and Jive in Miami without. Speaking English. And at some major Banks dealing with latin America there Are executives who speak Only Spanish. But anyone who wants to move up in business generally has to learn English. The trend in Miami therefore. Is toward Talin dualism with economic pressures pushing hispanic americans to learn English and Anglo americans k learn Spanish. ._.--. Laporta who is the son of an italian immigrant and who has Learned Spanish said he welcomed Rimml giants. He said he was merely concerned that the formal language of government Lor the Sake of clarity. Be English. Yet he also voiced a frustration that is often heard in Florida. The latins Are coming up last to said. There s a heartiness a certain righteous sense of superiority supporters of the ballot proposal say hispanic immigration differs from that of other ethnic groups in several ways most importantly in its size. The census Bureau estimates hispanic immigration to the United Stales at 315,000 in 1937. By comparison italian immigration for example was Only 286,000 Al its. Highest in 1907.- supporters of the English language proposal Point out that previous immigrant groups came in spurts while hispanic immigration has been steady and increasing in addition they note thai immigrant groups in the late 19th and Early  were usually unable to return to visit their native countries once they arrived in the United states. But the new hispanic immigrants can travel Back and Lorah because of air planes and because they tend to have More Money than earlier immigrants. A those factors the supporters of the English. Proposal say keep Spanish entrenched among hispanic immigrants.  Osvaldo Solo a 59-year-old lawyer who fled Cuba in. 1959 and is a Leader in the opposition to uie Florida proposal Calls it the product of bigots and  he said English was already the official language of the country and that the Only purpose of passing the ballot. Proposal would be to belittle hispanic americans. Sold said most hispanic americans want to learn. English and want their children to learn because that s How they re going to succeed in this country he said hispanic americans were a relatively new immigrant group and that they would follow the pattern of previous groups in the use of English the first generation does not speak it the second generation Speaks both English and the language of the Home country the third generation Speaks Only English. Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday november 4.1988