Re: Alabama Gov. Candidate Tim James: "We Speak English. If You Want to Live Here, Le
English may be our most widely spoken language but the US has no official national language. In fact some states have even declared multiple official languages for themselves. America has the world's fifth largest Spanish speaking population. It's definitely an advantage to learn the English but it's never been a nation with one language for all.
It's silly to make the driving test in just English, especially in a country that has, for the most part, a poor public transportation system. What about refugees? If they are expected to make a living they are almost certainly going to need a drivers license.
I could see this conversation played out in an Alabaman DMV:
Refugee: "Hi, I just moved here from Burma, where my father was killed and my sister was raped by the military. Anyway, I've been fleeing for the past 8 years and haven't been able to keep up on my English studies. Could you answer a few questions for me about the test?"
DMV Officer: "OK"
Refugee: "What's 'parallel parking'?"
DMV Officer: "It's a method of parking a vehicle in line with other parked cars parallel to the curb"
Refugee: "What's a 'vehicle'?"
DMV Officer: "It's a car"
Refugee: "I see. Thank you. Uh, What's a 'curb'?"
DMV Officer: "It's a the side of the road where the sidewalk is"
Refugee: "Ah, very good. And what's a 'method'?"
DMV Officer: "I"M NOT YOUR GODDAMN ENGLISH TEACHER! LEARN THE DAMN LANGUAGE BEFORE YOU COME TO MY COUNTRY AND TAKE ALL OUR JOBS AND CLOG THE SYSTEM!"