Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Language barrier: The U.S. and its underwhelming approach to linguistic diversity

Language barrier: The U.S. and its underwhelming approach to linguistic diversity
Department of Justice

Kevin Frazier will join the Crump College of Law at St. Thomas University as an Assistant Professor starting this Fall. He currently is a clerk on the Montana Supreme Court.

Jeremy is the author of American Inequality and an adjunct professor at Presidio Graduate School. His research focuses on the interconnected nature of inequality across regions.


“Una Nación bajo Dios, entera, con libertad y justicia para todos.”

How can a nation promote liberty and justice for all if it does not do its utmost to communicate with its citizens?

More than 75 percent of residents in Miami-Dade County speak a language other than English at home. Nationwide, as of 2019, 70 percent of Latinos ages five and older spoke Spanish at home. In total, upwards of 37 million Americans, at a minimum, would prefer if not benefit from more government resources being available in Spanish.

En otras palabras, esta es una nación mucho diferente de los Estados Unidos cuando Jefferson, Washington, y Hamilton eran las personas más importantes. Even though the number of Americans who speak another language other than English at home has tripled since 1980, the majority of our textbooks and statutes resemble a bygone era.

As long as our schools and systems of government and commerce fail to reflect our multicultural and multilingual society, we will fall short of our collective potential. By way of example, consider that eight states, including Louisiana, still require high school students to pass exit-exams to graduate--despite substantial evidence that such exams disproportionately result in Black and Latino missing out on receiving their diplomas. There is also no evidence that exit exams improve academic achievement or employment rates. For “English Learners” or students who do not speak English as their first language, this out of date insistence on the supremacy of English can come at a cost to the individual student and their community.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter


Louisiana provides a useful and infuriating case study. In 2019, 80 percent of all Louisiana high school students graduated; yet, for English Learners the graduation rate hovered around 41 percent. This discrepancy can be partially explained by the state’s insistence on assigning exit-exams--the same exams that research suggests fail to actually hold schools accountable for providing students with adequate instruction in core concepts.

The outdated and discriminatory effect of such exams became clear during the pandemic. When several states gave up on exit exams due to the practical difficulties imposed by COVID, graduation rates for English Learners increased seven percent. Es obvio que esta práctica debe permanecer en el pasado.

A multilingual education system and economy would lift up communities across the country. As evidenced by the graphic, there are pockets of the country where an outdated systemic bias toward English has caused poverty to spread where diverse, multilingual systems could blossom. In Starr County, Texas, one in two residents lacks proficiency in English. It’s the least English-speaking county in America. One in three people there live in poverty – the median income is $31K. White students graduate at a 25% higher rate than Hispanic students.

Meanwhile, in Miami-Dade County, Florida, one in three residents lack English proficiency and yet the median income is nearly twice as high. Additionally, there is a much smaller gap in high school graduate rates. In 2019, Hispanic students in Miami had 89% graduate rate and White students had a 93% graduate rate. Miami has embraced Spanish and also helped English become its most studied language, ensuring that students thrive regardless of their first language.

An increase in Spanish in our school and legal system would not transform Starr County into Silicon Valley. No esa la meta. In some parts of the country, an excessive focus on English proficiency has unnecessarily and irrevocably robbed communities of graduates--as well as future leaders and entrepreneurs.

Just as other countries have long insisted on providing students with a multilingual education and distributing government materials in several languages, the United States must recognize that a global, interconnected world will not prioritize English. Es difícil hablar una lengua nueva. But when has America ever been the country that cowers when challenged?

Read More

Business professional watching stocks go down.
Getty Images, Bartolome Ozonas

The White House Is Booming, the Boardroom Is Panicking

The Confidence Collapse

Consumer confidence is plummeting—and that was before the latest Wall Street selloffs.

Keep ReadingShow less
Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship
Getty Images, Mykyta Ivanov

Drain—More Than Fight—Authoritarianism and Censorship

The current approaches to proactively counteracting authoritarianism and censorship fall into two main categories, which we call “fighting” and “Constitution-defending.” While Constitution-defending in particular has some value, this article advocates for a third major method: draining interest in authoritarianism and censorship.

“Draining” refers to sapping interest in these extreme possibilities of authoritarianism and censorship. In practical terms, it comes from reducing an overblown sense of threat of fellow Americans across the political spectrum. When there is less to fear about each other, there is less desire for authoritarianism or censorship.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote" pin.
Getty Images, William Whitehurst

Most Americans’ Votes Don’t Matter in Deciding Elections

New research from the Unite America Institute confirms a stark reality: Most ballots cast in American elections don’t matter in deciding the outcome. In 2024, just 14% of eligible voters cast a meaningful vote that actually influenced the outcome of a U.S. House race. For state house races, on average across all 50 states, just 13% cast meaningful votes.

“Too many Americans have no real say in their democracy,” said Unite America Executive Director Nick Troiano. “Every voter deserves a ballot that not only counts, but that truly matters. We should demand better than ‘elections in name only.’”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hands outside of bars.
Getty Images, stevanovicigor

Double Standard: Investing in Animal Redemption While Ignoring Human Rehabilitation

America and countries abroad have mastered the art of taming wild animals—training the most vicious killers, honing killer instincts, and even domesticating animals born for the hunt. Wild animals in this country receive extensive resources to facilitate their reintegration into society.

Americans spent more than $150 billion on their pets in 2024, with an estimated spending projection of $200 million by 2030. Millions of dollars are poured into shelters, rehabilitation programs, and veterinary care, as shown by industry statistics on animal welfare spending. Television ads and commercials plead for their adoption. Stray animal hotlines operate 24/7, ensuring immediate rescue services. Pet parks, relief stations in airports, and pageant shows showcase animals as celebrities.

Keep ReadingShow less