To the Atlantic
magazine:
You invited
comments on a recent article. Here are
mine:
Your use of
the word Apartheid to describe our
political reality is most unfortunate and misleading. Apartheid was official government policy in
South Africa and enforced by that government. Our government has promoted desegregation for half a century and promotes the rights of
minorities today.
What is
multiculturalism, a word much bandied about these days? Define what you mean, Atlantic! If you mean multi-lingual, we are headed for Quebec and
endless trouble. World views and values are
embedded in languages. Do we really want to import Spanish-speaking Latin
American politics?
Speaking English
is a critical part of what it is to be an American. There are two things that
unite our currently unhappy nation. One
is the Constitution and the values it promotes.
The other is the English language. Without both, we will be lost. I speak as a retired American diplomat who majored
in cultural anthropology in college and has followed that discipline ever since. Lewis Richard Luchs, LRLuchs1@msn.com
