It's Not Just US

After reading a recent article entitled "Language Faultline Makes Belgians Foreigners in Their Own Country", I've had to rethink my position on America's own problem with languages and immigrants. In Belgium, a country where the majority speaks Flemish and a large minority speaks French, the problems of foreigners and their language(s) has reached a peak.

This Saturday marks the fifth month in which Belgium has been without a government; on June 10th elections were held, but a coalition government failed to be produced. This is all because of the striation between Dutch Belgiums in the north and French Belgiums in the South. The French Belgiums feel that they have no representation at all in politics and are especially enraged because there are bans against French-speaking in a lot of places including schools. Many feel as if they are foreigners in a place they do call home.

On the opposing side, Dutch Belgiums believe that the French Belgiums that are having issues with these policies are the die-hard French, who believe their language is superior. French did used to be the official language of Belgium, while it was still under French rule, but after WWII and with the rise of nationalism, Dutch Belgiums wanted a nation with a language uniquely theirs; therein came the rise of "Flemish-only" in many areas.

In Dilbeek, the city where most of this has come to head, the mayor, Stefaan Platteau, who is a descendent of French huguenots, has even said "If I moved to Paris, I would find it normal to learn French."

So this all brings me back to the US. The question that lies before us is should we allow Mexican immigrants to influence our politics and shape our language landscape? Will this lead to a breakdown in government like that in Belgium? How do we resolve the issue of integrationg without forcing assimilation?

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