Bilingual Brouhaha

The bilingual problem in California upsets me (NATION, Aug. 25). Americans should have only one language, and that is English. As an Indian, I know whereof I speak. When I travel to southern or eastern India, I am a foreigner ) in my own country because I cannot speak the local language. No country can have a sense of unity if it speaks 35 or 40 different languages. That is what will happen to the U.S. if it gives in to the supporters of bilingualism.

Hari Singh

West Lafayette, Ind.

As a member of a Cajun family that has spoken French since 1699. I resent the efforts to banish our language and render us foreigners in the land of our birth. Abolishing bilingual ballots, for example, will disenfranchise millions of American citizens who are more at ease in languages others than English. This crusade against bilingualism is not just xenophobia; it is fear of the diversity that is the essence of America itself.

David Emile Marcantel

Jennings, La.

In a nation of immigrants, people of diverse ethnic backgrounds must have a common bond through which to exchange ideas. How can this be accomplished if there is no common language? Those who shelter the immigrant from learning English by creating a multilingual society are the ones who are creating a xenophobic atmosphere. They allow the immigrant to surround himself with a cocoon of language from which he cannot escape and which others cannot penetrate.

Rita Toften

Chalfont, Pa.