The Anthem in Spanish

Today's media tempest in a teapot is the news that The Star-Spangled Banner has been translated and recorded in Spanish. That seems entirely sensible to me, given that a large percentage of residents of the United States speak Spanish. Predictably, though, the troglodyte right has seized this as some sort of rallying cry, and our fearless leader, Boob McNutt, er, George W. Bush, has said it should not be sung in Spanish. Good grief!

First of all, English is not the official language of the United States of America. We have no official language. If, at some point in the near future, there are a majority of Spanish speakers in this country, then those of us who don't speak Spanish will have to learn to habla Espanol. History is fluid, and nothing can be taken for granted. I believe there are models that predict that those of Northern European descent will not be the majority in the U.S. in the next 100 years, and if so, so be it.

Secondly, just because people want to sing the national anthem in Spanish doesn't mean that they can't speak English. Bush says that immigrants to this nation should learn to speak English. That's correct, I would say, as your chances at economic success brighten considerably if you can speak English (although there are many people who go very comfortably cradle to grave without speaking English, particularly in consolidated areas like Chinatowns, etc.) But just because an immigrant learns English shouldn't mean they ditch their old language like an old pair of shoes. The ability to speak several languages should be seen as an attribute. How many can Bush speak? He can barely speak one.

Good old American xenophobia really seems to be inflamed by a fear of the Spanish language. I've witnessed people who are disgusted to see two employees in a store having a private conversation in Spanish. The implication seems to be that if you are on American soil, you should speak English, even if both speakers don't have English as a first language. This reminds me of the British ban on the Irish speaking their native language, or, closer to home, the stamping out of Native American languages when those folks were rounded up and sent to reservation schools.

English will be the language of commerce and culture for this planet for the foreseeable future. There's no need to worry about it disappearing. If we're so proud of being the melting pot or mosaic or what have you then let's have the National Anthem in Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Armenian and everything else.

Finally, the Star-Spangled Banner is an odd fixture in our culture. It's set to the tune of an English drinking song, and seems only to be heard before sporting events and when we win Olympic medals. There's nothing about it that compels it to be treated as sacred.