----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 12:57 AM Subject: Re: Death of the West (L3ish) >
> I'm not sure which ballot initiative you are referencing - Proposition 63 in 1986 which made English the official language of California. > one in that passed in 1998 that ended bilingual (read spanish only) > education in favor of English emersion. I think this has been a > much of a success as bilingual education has been a failure. In any > case, as Texas does not allow statewide ballot initiatives it's > pretty tough to compare the two states in that regard. But, it has a conservative ledge. That did not passed an English as an official language law in Texas, as far as I know. > I'm not sure that that kind of thing doesn't happen in Texas because the > non-Hispanic and Hispanic communities have forged closer ties with > non-Hispanics or because Texas just isn't very tolerant of dissent. Well, there have been a lot of different opinions raised in Texas. It is a conservative state, but the liberals are feisty. One example of this is a comment Jim Hightower, who is a very liberal populist, made when he was Texas Agriculture Commissioner. He was asked, since he was an elected official, why wasn't he more middle of the road, considering the fact that his constituancy was rather conservative. He responsed: "In Texas, there ain't nothing in the middle of the road but a yeller line and dead armadillo." Lord knows that Texans tend to be very conservative. However, the liberals do not hide under their desks. Rather, they tend to fight with a good sense of humor. Molly Ivans and Ann Richards come to mind here too. Maybe the antagonism in California is overplayed in the national media. But, I don't think the lack of vemon here is just do the liberals hiding. Dan M.
