English Spoken Here, O.K.?

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Lily Lee Chen sputters when she recalls a sign at a local gas station, WILL THE LAST AMERICAN TO LEAVE MONTEREY PARK PLEASE BRING THE FLAG? For Chen, the placard is testimony to a conflict that threatens to split Monterey Park, a city of about 59,000 next to Los Angeles, along ethnic lines. During the past 25 years, the Asian population has grown from 5% to 40%, and the increasingly prosperous city has been tagged the Asian Beverly Hills. But changes have bred resentment. A cultural cross fire over language -- English vs. Chinese -- has erupted in Monterey Park, with one side seeking to make English the city's official language and the other hurling charges of racism and xenophobia.

Monterey Park has become a vivid example of a statewide and even nationwide debate. Three other California towns have already adopted English as their official language, and in November, Californians will vote on Proposition 63, a resolution that would make English the state's official language. It directs the legislature and state officials to "take all steps necessary to insure that the role of English as the common language of the state of California is preserved and enhanced" and requires that no law be made that "diminishes or ignores the role of English." Nationally, a Washington-based group called U.S.English -- boasting 200,000 members and a linguist, former California Senator S.I. Hayakawa, as its honorary chairman -- is waging a direct-mail campaign to raise money and lobby for a constitutional amendment that would honor English as the country's single official language.

English-only advocates argue that bilingualism is a barrier to a unified nation. It allows immigrants to avoid learning English and to form self- perpetuating linguistic ghettos. "English, which has been our common bond, our unifying force, is being eroded," said Stanley Diamond, chairman of the California English Campaign. Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado, an outspoken leader on the issue, echoed the idea of English as this country's social glue before a congressional committee. "We should be color-blind but not linguistically deaf," he said. "We should be a rainbow but not a cacophony. We should welcome different people but not adopt different languages."

The ethnic activists and civil rights groups opposing Proposition 63 believe that arguments about the need for national unity are a thin veil for a nativist, xenophobic crusade. "We oppose it because it would breed intolerance, divisiveness and bigotry," says Jessica Fiske of the American Civil Liberties Union. Opponents fear that because of its loose wording, the measure could open the way for legislation that would endanger bilingual ballots, educational programs, emergency services and television programming, all of which aid immigrants, especially the elderly, to adjust to an English-speaking soci- ety. It could also, warns Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, "stir hatred and animosity. It could tear us apart as a people."