The Collegian

Issue date: 5/2/06 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Ken Fung

I hear that the Star Spangled Banner is in Spanish now. Neustro Himno, as they're calling it, is not being well-received by the conservatives. "And I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English," G. W. Bush said. "And they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English."

That's right, Latinos. You live here so you better bone up on your bilabials, because we speak English here, and nothing else. We don't encourage people to be bilingual here, we don't require that people attempt to learn another language. We speak the King's language in this democracy.

Couple of things, though.

One: English is not United States' official language. Time and again there's been a push for this, and time and again Congress has said, "we'd rather not." Probably considering the vast cultural backgrounds of its citizens and the number of people, near 15%, who speak something else. True, we use it like our official language, but nowhere in the books are we required to speak English. Call it freedom of "speech."

Two: All Spanish-speaking people in America are not illegal immigrants. There are 30 million citizens who speak Spanish in their homes. That's people who live here, Social Security cards and all. There are even a fair number of newspapers, radio stations, and television stations in America that use Spanish. Spanish is already present in America; it's not sneaking across the border.

Three: It's not even the same damn song. Sure, the melody is familiar, but the lyrics are different, they take some liberties with the refrains, and basically, we're looking at a remix, just with Spanish words. If it were a crime to sing the Star Spangled Banner differently, every country singer would be in jail right now (and Jimi Hendrix). We've translated other countries' national anthems, I don't hear them complaining. I understand that the debate is politically fueled by this whole immigration debacle. People are standing on either side and shouting about how this greatly affects the battle somehow.

It's just a song. It's not a weapon. If anything, this song should have been here anyway. (Actually, it was. There's a Spanish version of the Star Spangled on record from 1919.) Somebody get to work on a French version, a Hawaiian version, a Shoshoni version, and a Yiddish version.

So, get off your English high horse, paco. This song has a right to be here, if only because we said so in Amendment One. Just don't overdo it, if this gets played thirty times in a row at a protest, even the most avid immigrant supporter will hope for some Toby Keith.

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