English is California’s official language, but this was not always so.
California adopted its first state constitution in 1849. The document also contained a provision that may seem surprising to the Californians of 2010 – it insisted that official business be conducted in both English and Spanish.
This is no longer the law. California adopted a new constitution in 1879, and the state’s governing laws have since grown into a book-length document that voters have changed many, many times at the ballot box.
One of those changes was the decision to establish English as the state’s official language in 1986, when voters passed Proposition 63.
The proposition resulted in Article III, Sec. 6 of the state Constitution including the language declaring that English is the common language of the United States and the official language of California.
Proposition 63 went on to mandate that the Legislature “shall take all steps necessary to insure that the role of English as the common language of the State of California is preserved or enhanced.”
This has not happened. California agencies conduct business in English, Spanish and several other languages. The Department of Motor Vehicles allows those applying for a driver’s license to take written tests in English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Hmong, Russian, Farsi, Hebrew and many other languages.
There is a profound difference of opinion as to whether that is a good or bad thing.
The debates over whether English should be the official language can become passionate arguments reflecting cultural identity or echoes of other controversies, such as the immigration issue.
There are also differing opinions as to whether it’s more efficient for governments to do business in English and avoid the need of translators, or to use multiple languages since there are millions of immigrants from non-English speaking countries in the state.
“In a sense, the state is defying its own official language, but no one is making a big deal about it because they know it’s necessary,” said Carlos Cortes, a UC Riverside professor emeritus of history.
Those who voted for Proposition 63 would disagree with Cortes’ assertion. As would those who say that making English the official language is needed to prevent American society from fracturing along linguistic lines.
“It would be a common language that all Americans could come behind,” said Jayne Cannava, executive director of Arlington, Va.-based ProEnglish.
Cortes, however, considers the official English movement to be one that seeks what is essentially symbolic legislation.
The United States, Cortes said, has been able to function quite well as a country without ever having an official language. California was able to get by for more than a century before English became the official language.
He predicted that a strict application of Proposition 63 would result in turmoil and a state where vital public health and safety information would be provided in a language that many residents cannot understand.
Cannava disagreed. She said the kind of laws ProEnglish supports make exceptions for government business relating to health and safety, legal proceedings, state mottos and international trade and tourism.
Eliminating the need to translate documents would result in substantial taxpayer savings, she said.
The California of 1849 was much different from the California of 2010. California was ceded to the United States at the conclusion of the Mexican War. The state’s former status as part of Mexico – and previously, the Spanish Empire – meant that many of the people responsible for getting things done spoke and read Spanish.
Steven Hackel, a UC Riverside history professor, offered a pragmatic rationale to explain why Spanish was given special status in the 1849 constitution.
“You don’t have in 1850 a purging of Spanish,” Hackel said. “The people who are running the show are descendants of the Californios.”
The Californios ranchers’ influence would decline after 1849 due to a number of factors, including droughts, their inability to maintain title to their lands in legal proceedings and the westward movement of the Yankees who rose to power in California after statehood, Hackel said.
California is not unique in having multiple languages in its history. Spanish remains a common language in the southwestern states that were once under the authority of Mexico and Spain.
Hawaii was once an independent country, and English and Hawaiian are both official languages there. The French language is part of Louisiana’s history, and there also are French speakers in northern Maine, Cortes said.
